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helsinki administrative divisions: 6 provinces (laanit. singular - laani); aland. etela-suomen laani. ita-suomen laani. lansi-suomen laani. lappi. oulun laani independence: 6 december 1917 (from russia) national holiday: independence day. 6 december (1917) constitution: 1 march 2000 legal system: civil law system based on swedish law; the president may request the supreme court to review laws; accepts compulsory icj jurisdiction. with reservations suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president tarja halonen (since 1 march 2000) head of government: prime minister matti vanhanen (since 24 june 2003) and deputy prime minister eero heinaluoma (since 24 september 2005) cabinet: council of state or valtioneuvosto appointed by the president. responsible to parliament elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 16 january 2000 and 6 february 2000 (next to be held february 2006); the president appoints the prime minister and deputy prime minister from the majority party or the majority coalition after parliamentary elections and the parliament must approve the appointment election results: tarja halonen elected president; percent of vote - tarja halonen (sdp) 51.6%. esko aho (kesk) 48.4% note: government coalition - kesk. sdp. and sfp legislative branch: unicameral parliament or eduskunta (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote on a proportional basis to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 16 march 2003 (next to be held march 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - kesk 24.7%. sdp 24.5%. kok 18.5%. vas 9.9%. vihr 8%. kd 5.3%. sfp 4.6%; seats by party - kesk 55. sdp 53. kok 40. vas 19. vihr 14. kd 7. sfp 8. others 4 judicial branch: supreme court or korkein oikeus (judges appointed by the president) political parties and leaders: center party or kesk [matti vanhanen]; christian democrats or kd [paivi rasanen]; green league or vihr [tarja cronberg]; left alliance or vas composed of people's democratic league and democratic alternative [suvi-anne siimes]; national coalition (conservative) party or kok [jyrki katainen]; social democratic party or sdp [eero heinaluoma]; swedish people's party or sfp [jan-erik enestam] international organization participation: afdb. asdb. australia group. bis. cbss. ce. cern. eapc. ebrd. eib. emu. esa. eu. fao. g- 9. iadb. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. iea. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso. itu. miga. nam (guest). nc. nea. nib. nsg. oas (observer). oecd. opcw. osce. paris club. pca. pfp. un. unctad. unesco. unficyp. unhcr. unido. unmee. unmil. unmis. unmogip. untso. upu. wco. weu (observer). wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wto. zc diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador jukka robert valtasaari chancery: 3301 massachusetts avenue nw. washington. dc 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 298-5800 fax: [1] (202) 298-6030 consulate(s) general: los angeles and new york diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador (vacant); charge d'affaires amy hyatt embassy: itainen puistotie 14b. 00140 helsinki mailing address: apo ae 09723 telephone: [358] (9) 616250 fax: [358] (9) 6162 5800 flag description: white with a blue cross extending to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the dannebrog (danish flag) economy - overview: finland has a highly industrialized. largely free-market economy. with per capita output roughly that of the uk. france. germany. and italy. its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood. metals. engineering. telecommunications. and electronics industries. trade is important. with exports equaling two-fifths of gdp. finland excels in high-tech exports. e.g.. mobile phones. except for timber and several minerals. finland depends on imports of raw materials. energy. and some components for manufactured goods. because of the climate. agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. forestry. an important export earner. provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. rapidly increasing integration with western europe - finland was one of the 12 countries joining the european economic and monetary union (emu) - will dominate the economic picture over the next several years. high unemployment remains a persistent problem. gdp (purchasing power parity): $158.4 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $191.3 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 1.7% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $30.300 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.1% industry: 30.4% services: 66.5% (2005 est.) labor force: 2.61 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture and forestry 8%. industry 22%. construction 6%. commerce 14%. finance. insurance. and business services 10%. transport and communications 8%. public services 32% unemployment rate: 7.9% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: na household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.2% highest 10%: 21.6% (1991) distribution of family income - gini index: 26.9 (2000) inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.2% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 19.4% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $99.61 billion expenditures: $97.14 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) public debt: 42% of gdp (2005 est.) agriculture - products: barley. wheat. sugar beets. potatoes; dairy cattle; fish industries: metals and metal products. electronics. machinery and scientific instruments. shipbuilding. pulp and paper. foodstuffs. chemicals. textiles. clothing industrial production growth rate: 3% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 79.61 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 39% hydro: 18.7% nuclear: 30.4% other: 11.8% (2001) electricity - consumption: 78.94 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 7 billion kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 11.9 billion kwh (2003) oil - production: 9.013 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - consumption: 219.700 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: 101.000 bbl/day (2001) oil - imports: 318.300 bbl/day (2001) natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 4.557 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 4.567 billion cu m (2001 est.) current account balance: $5.858 billion (2005 est.) exports: $67.88 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: sweden 11.1%. germany 10.7%. russia 8.9%. uk 7%. us 6.4%. netherlands 5.1% (2004) imports: $56.45 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: germany 16.2%. sweden 14.3%. russia 12.8%. netherlands 6.3%. denmark 5.2%. uk 4.6%. france 4.3% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $13.01 billion (2004 est.) debt - external: $211.7 billion (30 june 2005) economic aid - donor: oda. $379 million (2001) currency (code): euro (eur) note: on 1 january 1999. the european monetary union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 january 2002. the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries currency code: eur exchange rates: euros per us dollar - 0.79697 (2005). 0.8054 (2004). 0.886 (2003). 1.0626 (2002). 1.1175 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 2.548 million (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 4.7 million (2003) telephone system: general assessment: modern system with excellent service domestic: digital fiber-optic fixed-line network and an extensive cellular network provide domestic needs international: country code - 358; 1 submarine cable (finland estonia connection); satellite earth stations - access to intelsat transmission service via a swedish satellite earth station. 1 inmarsat (atlantic and indian ocean regions); note - finland shares the inmarsat earth station with the other nordic countries (denmark. iceland. norway. and sweden) radio broadcast stations: am 2. fm 186. shortwave 1 (1998) radios: 7.7 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 120 (plus 431 repeaters) (1999) televisions: 3.2 million (1997) internet country code: .fi internet hosts: 1.219.173 (2004) internet service providers (isps): 3 (2002) internet users: 2.65 million (2002) airports: 148 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 76 over 3.047 m: 2 2.438 to 3.047 m: 27 1.524 to 2.437 m: 10 914 to 1.523 m: 23 under 914 m: 14 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 72 914 to 1.523 m: 5 under 914 m: 67 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 694 km (2004) railways: total: 5.851 km broad gauge: 5.851 km 1.524-m gauge (2.400 km electrified) (2004) roadways: total: 78.168 km paved: 50.616 km (including 653 km of expressways) unpaved: 27.552 km (2004) waterways: 7.842 km note: includes saimaa canal system of 3.577 km; southern part leased from russia (2004) merchant marine: total: 94 ships (1.000 grt or over) 1.152.175 grt/1.053.906 dwt by type: bulk carrier 3. cargo 27. chemical tanker 6. container 1. passenger 5. passenger/cargo 20. petroleum tanker 7. roll on/roll off 25 foreign-owned: 2 (norway 1. united states 1) registered in other countries: 42 (2005) ports and terminals: hamina. hanko. helsinki. kotka. naantali. pori. porvoo. raahe. rauma. turku military branches: finnish defense forces: army. navy (includes coastal defense forces). air force (2003) military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary and compulsory military service (october 2004) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 1.121.275 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 913.617 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 32.040 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.8 billion (fy98/99) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 2% (fy98/99) disputes - international: various groups in finland advocate restoration of karelia and other areas ceded to the soviet union. but the finnish government asserts no territorial demands
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