Government and general data
GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE
Surface: 338,145 Km²
Capital: Helsinki
Main cities: Espoo (217,000), Tampere (198,000), Vantaa (180,000), Turku (175,000), Oulu (123,000)
Official Name: Republic of Finland Suomen Tasavalta Republiken Finland
Government type: parliamentary government
Chief of State: Ms Tarja Halonen (Social Democratic Party)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Mr Matti Vahnanen (Centre Party)
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Mr Erkki Tuomioja (Social Democratic Party)
Legislative Branch: unicameral Parliament (Eduskunta)
Juridical system: Scandinavian system (Roman-germanic tradition and Scandinavian pragmatism)
Suffrage: Parliament members are elected by popular vote (universal suffrage) to serve four-year terms.
President is elected by popular vote (universal suffrage) to serve six-year terms.
International Organization participation:
AfDB, Arctic Council, 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, IPU, 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.
Population and social facts
Population: 5,200,000
Population growth rate: 0,22 %
Life expectancy at birth: 77,75 years (female 81,52 – male 74,1)
Ethic groups: Finn 92,4% Swede 5,7% local minorities: Sami 0,1%; Roma people, immigrants, and foreigners nearly 100 000 (mainly Russian, Estonian and Somali)
Religions: Lutheran National Church 85,7%, Greek Orthodox in Finland 1,1%
Languages: The official languages are Finnish and Swedish
Main political Parties: Centre Party (Keskusta), in power; Social Democratic Party (SDP), in power; National Coalition (conservative) (Kokoomus), Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto), Green League (Vihreä Liitto), Swedish People’s Party (SFP/RKP), in power, Christian Democrats (KD), True Finns (PS)
Political pressure groups: Main trade-unions SAK, STTK and AKAVA, and the Federation of Finnish Enterprises.
Finland – Parliament election results on 16th March 2003
|
Parties |
Votes |
Votes
in % |
Vote difference
in from year
1999 in % |
Seats
(on 200) |
Difference from
year 1999 |
|
Centre Party KESK |
689,147 |
24,7 |
+2,3 |
55 |
+7 |
|
Social Democratic
Party SDP |
682,219 |
24,5 |
+1,6 |
53 |
+2 |
|
National Coalition KOK |
517,171 |
18,5 |
-2,5 |
40 |
-6 |
|
Left Alliance VAS |
276,756 |
9,9 |
-1,0 |
19 |
-1 |
|
Green Alliance VIHR |
223,267 |
8,0 |
+0,7 |
14 |
+3 |
|
Swedish People's Party SFP |
128,617 |
4,6 |
-0,5 |
8 |
-3 |
|
Christian Democrats
KD |
148,965 |
5,3 |
+1,2 |
8 |
-3 |
|
True Finns PS |
43,791 |
1,6 |
+0,6 |
3 |
+2 |
|
Communist Party SKP |
21,111 |
0,8 |
=== |
0 |
=== |
|
Others |
57,970 |
2,1 |
+0,8 |
1* |
=== |
*Representative of the Åland Islands, member of the Swedish People’s Party parliamentary group.
legals
|
credits | F.A.Q.