Geography of Finland - Other Miscellaneous Information

Other Miscellaneous Information

• Finland contains an estimated 60,000 lakes within its borders.
• The Finnish capital, Helsinki, is the northernmost capital city on the mainland of the European continent, and ranks as third globally. (First place: Nuuk, Greenland; the Icelandic capital Rekyjavik takes second place globally and ranks as the northernmost capital city in all of Europe)
• The nation itself is the second northernmost country in Europe after Iceland, third place if one considers the Norwegian overseas-territory of Svalbard, an island in the Arctic Ocean, part of Europe.
• At 1,313 kilometres (816 mi), Finland owns the distinction of having the second-longest border with Russia of any European country, surpassed only by Ukraine (1,576 km/979 mi).
• The third largest of the country's 60,000 lakes, Lake Inari in the Lapland province of extreme northern Finland, has a surface area of 1,040.28 square kilometres (401.65 sq mi), a total shore length of 3,308 kilometres (2,055 mi), a maximum depth of 92 metres (302 ft), some 3,318 islands, and a total water volume of 15.9 cubic kilometres (3.8 cu mi). Despite its beauty, size and numerous recreational opportunities, the lake is scarcely visited sheerly to its 1,100-kilometre (680 mi) distance from Helsinki, and its daunting distance to other similarly-populated areas in the south of the country.