Finland

Country Profile
Finland  officially the Republic of Finland is in Northern Europe.Finland was historically a part of Sweden  from the 12th to 19th Century.The Finnish Declaration of Independence from Russia in December1917 was followed by a Civil War in which the leftist side was defeated with German support.The independence was recognised by Russia on Jan 4,1918.
Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands – 187,888 lakes (larger than 500 m²/0.12 acre) and 179,584 islands.

The world's biggest curise ships(passenger ships) are built in Finnish shipyards

Nokia Corporation that manufactures MobilePhone and other devices related to communications is a Finnish MNC HQ in Keilaniemi,Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki

Finland's fundamental administrative divisions are the Municipalities(there are 336 municipalities)

Forest covers 86% of the country's area.

Capital                                  Helsinki
Currency                               Euro
Population                             6 Million
Official Language                 Finnish,Swedish
Religion                                 80% population are are members of the
                                             Evangelical Lutheran Church of  Finland


Government

The President is the Head of the State as defined by the Constitution of Finland.The term of office is 6 years
 and a maximum of 2 consecutive terms 
Finland's Parliament 'Eduskunta' is unicameral and has 200 members

 

The cabinet ( Finnish Council of State) exercises most executive powers headed by the PM of Finland and includes other ministers and the Chancellor of Justice.


2012 Finland Presidential Election
The 1st round of the Finnish Presidential Election  was held  on Jan 22, 2012, with advance voting from Jan 11-17, 2012; and the 2nd round held from  Jan 25-31,2012. The elected candidate's term will begin on March 1,2012 and last until 2018.
The incumbent Tarja Halonen(1st female to hold the office) of Social Democratic Party was ineligible for re-election, having served the maximum two terms.

Presidential Candidates


All the 8 political parties represented in the ' Eduskunta' (Finland Parliament) nominated a candidate.
No candidate received a majority of votes in the first round; with 37.0 percent of the vote, Sauli Niinisto of the National Coalition Party 


                                                            National Coalition Party

won the first round with 37.0 percent of the vote and faced off against Pekka Haavisto of the Green League  who got 18.8% of the vote
                                                                     Green League

In the second round, Sauli Niinistö provisionally won the election with 62.6 % of the votes (1.8 million votes), while Pekka Haavisto received 37.4 % of the votes (1.1 million votes).
The election marks an end to an era of '' Social Democratic Party'' presidents. The Social Democrats have held the office for a continuous period of 30 years
                                                     Social Democratic Party of Finland

 It is also the first time that a Green League candidate is on the runoff ballot
                                               Sauli Niinisto of the National Coalition Party

Sauli Niinisto of the National Coalition Party becomes the country's first conservative head of state in five decades.Niinisto will become the first president from the conservative National Coalition party since 1956, and the first in 30 years from a party other than the center-left Social Democrats.

Sauli Niinisto was finance minister when Finland adopted the euro in 2002.