Prehistory , Kainuu The area that is now Finland was settled in, at the latest, around 8500 BC during the
Stone Age towards the end of the
last glacial period. The
artefacts the first settlers left behind present characteristics that are shared with those found in
Estonia, Russia, and Norway. The earliest people were
hunter-gatherers, using stone tools. The first pottery appeared in 5200 BC, when the
Comb Ceramic culture was introduced. The area of present-day Finland was in the western limits of the culture, which produced pottery with a distinct
comb pattern. The arrival of the
Corded Ware culture in the south of coastal Finland between 3000 and 2500 BC may have coincided with the start of agriculture. Even with the introduction of agriculture, hunting and fishing continued to be important parts of the subsistence economy. Based upon linguistic evidence, Finland seems to have been primarily inhabited by speakers of
Paleo-European languages prior to the migration of the Finno-Ugric peoples, which influenced the
Sámi languages who were the first Finno-Ugric peoples to move towards Finland. These languages have been divided into
Paleo-Laplandic languages which were spoken around Lappland, and the Lakelandic languages spoken in most of modern-day Finland. Many toponyms in Finland such as
Inari,
Saimaa,
Päijänne and
Imatra seem to derive from these Paleo-European languages, as their etymologies are not explainable by either Indo-European or Finno-Ugric roots. In the
Bronze Age, permanent all-year-round cultivation and
animal husbandry spread, but the cold climate slowed the change. The
Seima-Turbino phenomenon brought the first bronze artefacts to the region and possibly also the
Finno-Ugric languages. Commercial contacts that had so far mostly been to Estonia started to extend to Scandinavia. Domestic manufacture of bronze artefacts started 1300 BC. In the
Iron Age, population grew.
Finland Proper was the most densely populated area. Commercial contacts in the
Baltic Sea region grew and extended during the eighth and ninth centuries. Main exports from Finland were furs, slaves,
castoreum, and falcons to European courts. Imports included silk and other fabrics, jewelry,
Ulfberht swords, and, in lesser extent, glass. Production of iron started approximately in 500 BC. At the end of the ninth century, indigenous artefact culture, especially weapons and women's jewelry, had more common local features than ever before. This has been interpreted to be expressing common Finnish identity. . An early form of
Finnic languages spread to the Baltic Sea region approximately 1900 BC. Common Finnic language was spoken around
Gulf of Finland 2000 years ago. The dialects from which the modern-day Finnish language was developed came into existence during the Iron Age. Contacts with the ancient
Baltic and eastern
Germanic peoples greatly influenced the
Proto-Finnic language. Although distantly related, the
Sámi people retained the hunter-gatherer lifestyle longer than the Finns. The Sámi cultural identity and the
Sámi languages have survived in
Lapland, the northernmost province.
Swedish era and
Bishop Henry en
route to Finland. Late medieval depiction from
Uppland. The 12th and 13th centuries were a violent time in the northern Baltic Sea. The
Livonian Crusade was ongoing and the
Finnish tribes such as the
Tavastians and
Karelians were in
frequent conflicts with
Novgorod and with each other. Also, during the 12th and 13th centuries several crusades from the Catholic realms of the Baltic Sea area were made against the Finnish tribes.
Danes waged at least three crusades to Finland, in 1187 or slightly earlier, in 1191 and in 1202, and
Swedes, possibly the so-called
second Crusade to Finland, in 1249 against Tavastians and the
third Crusade to Finland in 1293 against the Karelians. The so-called
first Crusade to Finland, possibly in 1155, most likely never occurred. As a result of the Crusades, mostly with the Second Swedish Crusade led by
Birger Jarl, and the
colonization of some Finnish coastal areas with Christian
Swedes during the Middle Ages, Finland gradually became part of the kingdom of Sweden and the sphere of influence of the
Catholic Church. Under Sweden, Finland was annexed as part of the cultural order of
Western Europe. The Swedes built fortresses in
Häme and
Turku, while a Swedish royal council was instituted, an administrative structure and fiscal apparatus was created, and law codes were codified during the reigns of
Magnus Ladulås (1275–1290) and
Magnus Eriksson (1319–1364). As a result, the Finnish lands were firmly integrated into the Swedish realm.
Swedish was the dominant language of the nobility, administration, and education;
Finnish was chiefly a language for the
peasantry, clergy, and local
courts in predominantly Finnish-speaking areas. During the
Protestant Reformation, the
Finns gradually converted to
Lutheranism. The end of the
Kalmar Union ushered in an era of religious, social, and economic changes.
Gustav Vasa () made his second son
Johan the
duke of Finland, while
Gustav Adolf () created the office of
governor-general for Finland as part of his restructuring of the administration of the Swedish realm. In the 16th century, a bishop and Lutheran Reformer
Mikael Agricola published the first written works in Finnish; and Finland's current capital city,
Helsinki, was founded by King
Gustav Vasa in 1555. The first university in Finland, the
Royal Academy of Turku, was established by Queen
Christina of Sweden at the proposal of Count
Per Brahe in 1640. following the
Treaty of Roskilde of 1658 The Finns reaped a reputation in the
Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) as a well-trained
cavalrymen called "
Hakkapeliitta". Finland suffered a severe
famine in 1695–1697, during which about one third of the Finnish population died, It is estimated that almost an entire generation of young men was lost during the Great Wrath, due mainly to the destruction of homes and farms, and the burning of Helsinki.
Grand Duchy of Finland The Swedish era ended with the
Finnish War of 1809. On 29 March 1809, after being conquered by the armies of
Alexander I of Russia, Finland became
an autonomous grand duchy within the
Russian Empire, as recognised by the
Diet of Porvoo. This situation continued until the end of 1917. ,
The Attack, 1899. The
Russian eagle is attacking the
Finnish Maiden, trying to steal her book of laws Although Swedish was still widely spoken, the Finnish language began to gain recognition during this period. From the 1860s, a strong Finnish
nationalist movement, known as the
Fennoman movement, grew. As a leading Fennoman philosopher and statesman,
J.V. Snellman played a decisive role in the 19th-century Finnish national movement by championing the official status of the Finnish language and spearheading the introduction of the
Finnish markka in 1865, thereby strengthening the autonomy of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Milestones included the publication of what would become Finland's
national epic, the
Kalevala, in 1835 and the legal equality of the Finnish language with Swedish in 1892. In the spirit of
Adolf Ivar Arwidsson – "we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, so let us be Finns" – a Finnish national identity was established. Nevertheless, there was no real independence movement in Finland until the early 20th century. The
Finnish famine of 1866–1868 occurred after freezing temperatures in early September devastated crops and killed around 15% of the population, making it one of the worst
famines in European history. The famine led the Russian Empire to relax financial regulations, and investment increased in the following decades. Economic development was rapid. The
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was still half of that of the United States and a third of that of Britain. and
socialists, partly driven by a declaration called the
February Manifesto by the last tsar of the Russian Empire,
Nicholas II, on 15 February 1899.
Civil war and early independence After the
February Revolution of 1917, Finland's position as a Grand Duchy under the rule of the Russian Empire was questioned. The
Finnish parliament, controlled by the
Social Democrats, passed the so-called
Power Act to give the parliament supreme authority. This was rejected by the
Russian Provisional Government, which decided to dissolve the parliament. New elections were held in which the right-wing parties won by a small majority. Some social democrats refused to accept the result, claiming that the dissolution of parliament and the subsequent elections were extra-legal. The two almost equally powerful political blocs, the right-wing parties and the Social Democratic Party, were deeply divided. as
general officer leading the
White Victory Parade at the end of the
Finnish Civil War in Helsinki, 1918 The
October Revolution in Russia changed the geopolitical situation once again. Suddenly the right-wing parties in Finland began to reconsider their decision to block the transfer of supreme executive power from the Russian government to Finland when the
Bolsheviks came to power in Russia. The right-wing government, led by Prime Minister
P. E. Svinhufvud, presented the
Declaration of Independence on 4 December 1917, which was officially approved by the Finnish Parliament on 6 December. The
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), led by
Vladimir Lenin was the first country to recognise Finland's independence on 4 January 1918. On 27 January 1918, the government began to disarm the Russian forces in
Ostrobothnia. The socialists took control of southern Finland and Helsinki, but the white government continued in exile in
Vaasa. This led to a short but bitter
civil war. The
Whites, backed by
Imperial Germany, prevailed over the
Reds and their self-proclaimed
Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic. After the war, tens of thousands of Reds were interned in camps where thousands were executed or died of malnutrition and disease. A deep social and political enmity was sown between the Reds and the Whites that would last until the
Winter War and beyond. The civil war and the activist expeditions to Soviet Russia in 1918–1920, known as the "
Kinship Wars", strained relations with the East. in 1938 After a
brief experiment with monarchy, when an attempt to make
Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse the king of Finland failed, a
republican constitution was adopted and Finland became a
presidential republic, with
K. J. Ståhlberg elected as its first president on 25 July 1919. A
liberal nationalist with a legal background, Ståhlberg anchored the state in
liberal democracy, promoted the
rule of law and initiated internal reforms. Finland was also one of the first European countries to strongly promote
women's equality, with
Miina Sillanpää becoming the first female minister in Finnish history in
Väinö Tanner's cabinet in 1926–1927. The Finnish-Russian border was established in 1920 by the
Treaty of Tartu, which largely followed the historical border but gave Finland
Pechenga () and its
Barents Sea port.
World War II in April 1945 at the close of the
World War II in Finland. The
Soviet Union and
Nazi Germany signed the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1939, which divided Europe into spheres of influence between the two dictatorships. In accordance with the pact, the Soviet Union launched the
Winter War on 30 November 1939 in order to annex Finland. The
Finnish Democratic Republic was set up by
Joseph Stalin at the beginning of the war to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. There was widespread international condemnation of the unprovoked attack and it led to the Soviet Union being expelled from the
League of Nations. The
Red Army was defeated in numerous battles, most notably the
Battle of Suomussalmi. After two months of negligible progress on the battlefield, as well as heavy losses in men and material, Soviet forces began to advance in February and
reached Vyborg () in March. The
Moscow Peace Treaty was signed on 12 March 1940, and the war ended the following day. Finland had defended its independence, but ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Between 1939 and 1944, some 400,000 people were
evacuated from Karelia. during
World War II. The
Porkkala land lease was returned to Finland in 1956. Hostilities resumed in June 1941 with the
Continuation War, when Finland allied itself with Germany following the
latter's invasion of the Soviet Union; the main aim was to regain the territory lost to the Soviets barely a year earlier. Finnish troops
occupied Eastern Karelia from 1941 to 1944 and assisted the German Army in the
Siege of Leningrad. The massive Soviet
Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive in the summer of 1944 led to a breakthrough until the Finns finally repulsed it at
Tali–Ihantala. This partial Soviet success led to a stalemate and later an
armistice. This was followed by the
Lapland War of 1944–1945, when Finland fought retreating German forces in northern Finland. The
Armistice and
treaty signed with the Soviet Union in 1944 and 1948 included Finnish obligations, restraints, and reparations, as well as further territorial concessions. As a result of the two wars, Finland lost 12% of its land area, 20% of its industrial capacity, its second largest city,
Vyborg (), and the ice-free port of
Liinakhamari (). However, the country avoided occupation by Soviet forces and managed to retain its independence. Along with
Great Britain, Finland emerged from the war as one of the only European countries to have taken part in hostilities that was never occupied and managed to preserve its democracy throughout. In the decades following World War II, the
Communists were a strong political party. Furthermore, the Soviet Union persuaded Finland to refuse
Marshall Plan aid. However, in the hope of preserving Finland's independence, the United States provided secret development aid and supported the
Social Democratic Party.
After the war was Finland's longest-serving president in 1956–1982. The development of trade with the Western powers, such as the United Kingdom, and the payment of reparations to the Soviet Union led to Finland's transformation from a primarily
agrarian society to an industrialised one.
Valmet, originally a shipyard and then several metal workshops, was established to produce materials for war reparations. After the reparations were paid, Finland continued to trade with the Soviet Union as part of
bilateral trade. In 1950, 46% of Finnish workers were employed in agriculture and a third lived in urban areas, but new jobs in manufacturing, services and trade quickly attracted people to the cities. The average number of births per woman fell from a
baby boom peak of 3.5 in 1947 to 1.5 in 1973. As the baby boomers entered the workforce, the economy failed to create jobs fast enough and hundreds of thousands emigrated to more industrialised Sweden, with emigration peaking in 1969 and 1970. 's
Finlandia Hall hosted the
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1975. A
market economy was maintained in Finland. Various industries benefited from trade privileges with the Soviets. Economic growth was rapid in the post-war period, and by 1975 Finland's GDP per capita was the 15th highest in the world. During the 1970s and 1980s, Finland built one of the most extensive
welfare states in the world. In 1973, Finland negotiated a treaty with the
European Economic Community (EEC) that reduced tariffs, enhancing trade relations. Miscalculated macroeconomic decisions, a
banking crisis, the collapse of its largest trading partner, the Soviet Union, and a global economic downturn caused a deep recession in Finland in the
early 1990s. The recession bottomed out in 1993 and Finland enjoyed more than a decade of steady economic growth. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Finland began to integrate more closely with the West. Finland
joined the
European Union in 1995 and the
euro zone in 1999. Much of the economic growth of the late 1990s was fuelled by the success of mobile phone manufacturer
Nokia.
21st century and President
Sauli Niinistö at the press conference announcing Finland's intent to apply to NATO on 15 May 2022 The Finnish people elected
Tarja Halonen in the
2000 Presidential election, making her the first female President of Finland. Her predecessor, President
Martti Ahtisaari, later won the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. The
2008 financial crisis paralysed Finland's exports in 2008, leading to weaker economic growth throughout the decade.
Sauli Niinistö was elected President of Finland from 2012 until 2024, when
Alexander Stubb took over. Finnish support for
NATO rose sharply after the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Before February 2022, opinion polls showed a narrow but decisive majority against NATO membership; by April, a supermajority was in favour of membership. On 11 May 2022, Finland signed a mutual security pact with the United Kingdom. On 12 May, Finland's president and Prime Minister called for NATO membership "without delay". Subsequently, on 17 May, the Finnish Parliament voted 188–8 in favour of Finland's accession to NATO.
Finland became a member of NATO on 4 April 2023. ==Geography==