According to Newsweek, the best place to live in the world is Finland. Why? Finland has clean nature, thousands of lakes, the most educated workforce in the world, a vibrant business life, and an extraordinary geographical and cultural position between East and West. Finland also has a unique innovation system, transparent and highly developed institutions, excellent infrastructure and convenient transport connections to Asia, the Americas, Africa and Europe. And of course Finland has the world’s best hockey players.
5,4 million Finns live in an area of 338,000 square kilometres. Both geographically and culturally surrounded by East and West, Finland has a unique position as bridge between the two. Finland has a long history of doing business in the Baltic States and Russia – and on the other hand with Sweden, Germany and other Western states.
The Finnish workforce is highly educated. Nearly a third of the total population has higher level education. The Finnish school system provides world-leading universal education, as confirmed by PISA studies (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment) from year to year. In general, the workforce in Finland has very good ICT and language skills and is known for its high ethics and productivity.
Finland invests heavily in research, development and innovation. Finland’s world renowned, 12 billion Euro annual innovation system owes its success to the highly skilled professionals and researchers – both Finnish and international – working in Finland.
Finnish infrastructure excels in terms of physical transportation, housing as well as telecommunications. The society is transparent and has high respect for dignity and human rights.
- Population: 5,4 million
- Size: 338,000 square kilometers, 188,000 lakes, 35 national parks
- Type of state: Independent republic since December 6, 1917
- Head of State: President of the Republic, elected every 6 years
- Capital city: Helsinki
- Member of EU since 1995
- Currency: Euro
- Official languages: Finnish, Swedish
- Time zone: GMT + 2 h
