Boats in Finland

Finland is a country in the north east of Europe. It borders with Sweden on the west, with Russia on the east, to the north with Norway and to the west and south is surrounded by the Baltic Sea, which separates it from Sweden and Estonia across the Finnish Gulf. The capital, and the most important city, is Helsinki.

The visitor to the capital, Helsinki, will want to admire the island fortress of Suomenlinna, go back in time inside the castles of Turku, Hämeenlinna and Olavinlinna, walk among the admirably conserved wooden cities of Porvoo and Rauma. In the antique studios and residencies in romantic national style of the architects Saarinen, Lindgren and Geselius, await many cultural treasures. These are situated en beautiful settings on the edge of a lake nearby Helsinki. These are only some examples of a rich cultural heritage that also includes the cultural regions of Carelia in the east and of the Lapp people in the north. In Finland one finds many works counted as World Heritage landmarks: the fortress of Suomenlinna, Old Rauma, the antique church of Petäjävesi, the old loom in Verla, the bronze-age necropolis at Sammallahdenmäki.

Latitude is the major influence in the Finnish climate. Because of its geographical situation, winter is the longest season. On average, winter lasts 105 to 120 days in the archipelago, whereas it lasts 180 days in Lapland to the north. This means that in the south the snows lay for 3 to 4 months, while in the north they stay for 7 months. Finlands winter temperatures go below freezing point. In the south they descend to –15ºC in January and February, while in the north they are often below –30ºC. In this winter period this land has no sunlight during most of the day, whereas with the arrival of summer and the midnight sun there are temperatures of around 15ºC in the north and 20ºC in the south, although they can rise to 30ºC.

The Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Eurasian continent to the east interact to modify the climate of the country. The warm waters that the Gulf Stream brings to the north Atlantic, affecting Norway and Sweden, also affect Finland. As Finland lies in the medium latitude zones of the westerly winds at the border between the tropical air masses and the polar masses, the climatic types follow rapidly on from each other, especially in winter.