Facts about Finland

Finland, an EU member country, is located by the Baltic Sea in Northern
Europe. Most of the Finnish population is settled in Southern Finland, where
Salo is also located. The economy of the modern Finnish state is strongly
focused on the international market.

- Population: 5.4 million (2010)
- Official languages: Finnish and Swedish
- Form of government: Republic
- Currency: euro (EUR)
- Time zone: UTC+2 (summer (DST) UTC+3)
- GDP per capita: 33,618 euros (2010)
- Neighbouring states: Russia, Sweden, Norway
- Successful Finnish companies: Nokia Plc,
Stora Enso, Kone, Neste Oil

- Main industrial products: Paper and board, electronics and metal products.
Forests are still Finland´s most crucial raw material resource, although the
engineering and high technology industries, led by Nokia, have long been
the leading branches of manufacturing.

- Taxation: Corporation tax (26 %) is uniform for all types of corporate income,
including sales profits, interest income, dividends, royalties and rental
income; value-added tax (VAT) is charged at 23 % on most goods and
services. Reduced tax rate of 13 % is applied to the sale of food and animal
feed and another reduced rate of 8 % to certain services.

The nature loving Finns also love technology. The world´s first GSM
phone call was made in Finland in 1991, and the inhabitants of this land
of thousands of lakes are among the leading users of mobile phones in the
world. The ICT business and its new innovations are strong and powerful
especially in the Salo region.

Information on Finnish society