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Questions about Finland

Living in Holland and knowing a little bit about Finland makes it very interesting to hear and view some nice stories about Finland and the Finns. Let's try to explain some things about how things really are in Finland, so you are more prepared when you go there.

Isn't Finland a cold place?

When people in Holland think about the Finnish weather they think of Eskimo's chasing penguins. No joke. Of course there are a few differences between Finland (and the other nordic countries) and the north- and southpole. First of all Finland is a big country, from north to south about 1300 km. So there can be a very big difference in temperature and length of the day. When it is snowing in Lapland it does not mean it is cold in Helsinki. It would be assuming that when the sun shines nicely in the south of France, the weather is nice in Amsterdam too. Secondly, the protected position of Finland makes for a mild landclimate, unlike for example Norway. Adding to that the Gulfstream that warms up the air and water. Especially in summer it is often as warm or even warmer than in Holland.

The winters are cold. Temperature up north can be at night 30 degrees below zero. But then again if you travel say 500 kilometres south it will hardly ever get that cold. And when you think 10 degrees is cold, there are two major differences between the Dutch and the Finnish minus 10. The first is that the wind is not so hard and not so humid as in Holland. In fact when the sun shines it feels warm, even with your coat open. The other difference is the way the Finns have build their houses. In Holland you feel the nice minus 10 winterbreeze entering your house, something all Finns are surprised about.

In general you can say that the summers are like in Middle Europe, the winters are often colder, but without the windchill factor like in Holland. If you still don't believe it check out average temperatures in European capitols here on the Europa-site and to show that Amsterdam is colder than Helsinki in summer here on the Infoplease-site !

Isn't Finland an expensive place?

One might assume that, like all Scandinavian countries, Finland would be an expensive place. That is also not completely true. Prices in the supermarket for groceries are as high as in Holland. Alcohol is also not as expensive as it used to be. Hard liquor is as expensive as in Holland, wine and beer slightly more. Prices of gasoline and diesel about 10 to 20 cents lower.

Is Finland part of the European Union?

Finland is part of the EU, and yes, Finland uses the euro. Not the 1 and 2 cents from the start but a lot of countries seem to follow the Finnish example now. Furthermore it is Sweden and Denmark that wait with the euro and Norway that is not member of the EU. Strictly put, Finland is a Nordic country. Not Scandinavian. But they do not really mind if you think so, because they like the Scandinavians. Of course a real Finn would never admit that he likes the Swedes, but that is another story!