Mainland Finland (, ) is a term used in

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

and in other contexts to describe the continental parts of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, an area which excludes

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

. In legal contexts, the relation between the mainland and Åland is depicted by the word pair ''the State–Åland'' (, ).Act on the Autonomy of Åland
(1144/1991)
the Swedish original
an
the Finnish original
E.g. § 27 shows the difference. The term "mainland Finland" is significant in the context of legal differences between Åland and mainland Finland, and in the context of differences of culture, language, history, and self-perceived nationhood between the Ålanders and the

Swedish-speaking Finns The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names—see below; ; ) is a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are seen either as a separate cultural, ethnic or linguistic group or ...

in mainland Finland. However, since the population of Åland is only about 0.5% of that of mainland Finland, and below 10% of that of the Swedish-speaking Finns in mainland Finland, there are many instances when this distinction is ignored. In a

geographical Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

sense the term "mainland Finland" can be used to exclude Finland's other sea islands, but when distinguishing between Åland and the rest of Finland, the term encompasses those islands.

References

{{coord, 65, N, 27, E, display=title Regions of Finland Geography of Finland NUTS 1 statistical regions of the European Union

See also

References