People
The Finnish-speaking part of the population are called Finns, possibly including a subculture of Swedish-speaking Finns. Finns are somewhat genetically distinct from other Europeans. The major Y-haplogroup in Finland is haplogroup N. Y-haplogroup I is another haplogroup prevalent in Finland. The Finnish language is not an Indo-European language, and belongs to Uralic family of languages. Finns are traditionally divided to subgroups (heimo) according to dialect, but these groupings have only a minor importance due to 20th century urbanization and internal migration.
The Finnish society encourages equality and liberalism with a popular commitment to the ideals of the welfare state; discouraging disparity of wealth and division into social classes. Everyman's right (Ministry of Environment, 1999) is a philosophy carried over from ancient times. All citizens have access to public and private lands for agrarian activities or leisure. Finns value being close to nature, the agricultural roots are embedded in the rural lifestyle. Finns are also nationalistic, as opposed to self-identification with ethnicity or clan.
Religion began as paganism, mythology and magic. The traditions were partly indigenous, but also influenced by Norse paganism. Song magic and bear worship are distinctive marks of the ancient religion. However, modernization ended the traditions ultimately in the first decade of the 20th century. Christianity entered Finnish culture in the 12th century . Today, 80.6% of Finns belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church and 1.1% belong to the Finnish Orthodox Church. In general, Finns are secular in their views.
With the emergence of reform, the Compulsory Education Act made education a civil right and available to all citizens, except for tertiary education, which is free of charge and admissions are based strictly on test scores. The beliefs of the Finns are future employment security necessitating higher education in today's increasingly technological world (Kyr, M. & Nyysol, K., 2006).
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Finland
Famous quotes containing the word people:
“It seemed like this was one big Prozac nation, one big mess of malaise. Perhaps the next time half a million people gather for a protest march on the White House green it will not be for abortion rights or gay liberation, but because were all so bummed out.”
—Elizabeth Wurtzel, U.S. author. Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, p. 298, Houghton Mifflin (1994)
“Sensible people get the greater part of their own dying done during their own lifetime. A man at five and thirty should no more regret not having had a happier childhood than he should regret not having been born a prince of the blood.”
—Samuel Butler (18351902)
“There are some people who want to throw their arms round you simply because it is Christmas; there are other people who want to strangle you simply because it is Christmas.”
—Robert Lynd (18791949)