Finland (the Republic of Finland, Suomi in Finnish) is a country situated in Northern Europe (in the Scandinavian region). It borders Sweden to the West, Russian Federation to the East, and Norway to the North and Estonia to the South across the Gulf of Finland. Finland has total area of 338,145 square km and population of about 5,312,000 inhabitants. Official languages are Finnish and Swedish.

The capital and the largest city is Helsinki situated in the southern part of the country on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. It has population of about 570,000 people (about 1,300,000 inhabitants including satellite cities of Vantaa, Espoo, and Kauniainen which constitute the Greater Helsinki). Helsinki is the economic, administrative, educational and cultural center of the republic.

Finland is not a mountainous country. Its typical landscape is mostly flat and covered by coniferous forests and marshes and alternates by scattered hills. There are thousands of lakes in the country and thousands of islands near its shores. The climate in the Southern part of the country is a Northern temperate, in the Northern part (especially in Lapland) subarctic type of climate prevails.

As there are no real mountains in Finland, possibilities of downhill skiing in Finland are limited. But the country is a real paradise for amateurs of cross-country skiing. The majority of local ski areas is situated in Lapland and consists of combination of open terrain and pistes running through the woods. There’s plenty of snow there and skiing season lasts very long. Though not very cheap, there’ s variety of ski accommodation in Finland, mostly bed and breakfast hotels, half board apartments and condos for self-catering holidays.