Finland

Capital City: Helsinki

People: Finn 93.4%, Swede 5.7%, Russian 0.4%, Estonian 0.2%, Roma (Gypsy) 0.2%, Sami 0.1%

Religion: Lutheran Church of Finland 84.2%, Orthodox Church 1.1%, other Christian 1.1%, other 0.1%, none 13.5%

Language: Finnish 92% (official), Swedish 5.6% (official), other 2.4% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities)

Currency: Euro Dollar

Electrical Voltage: 230 volts

How to get there:
By plane: Finland's main international hub is Helsinki-Vantaa Airport near Helsinki, and both Finnair and Blue1 use it as a hub. Around 30 foreign airlines fly to Helsinki-Vantaa.
Ryanair's Finland hub is in Tampere, with flights around Europe. Other airlines have limited regional services to other cities, mostly just to Sweden, and, in the winter high season, occasional direct charters (especially in December) and seasonal scheduled flights (Dec-Mar) to Lapland. It may also be worth your while to get a cheap flight to Tallinn and follow the boat instructions below to get to Finland.

By train: VR and Russian Railways have two direct train services daily from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg and one daily to Moscow in Russia. There are no direct trains between Sweden or Norway and Finland (the rail gauge is different), but the bus over the gap from Boden/Luleå (Sweden) to Kemi (Finland) is free with an Eurail/Inter Rail/Scanrail pass, and you can also get a 50% discount from most ferries with these passes.

By Boat: One of the best ways to travel to and from Finland is by sea. The boats to Estonia and Sweden, in particular, are giant, multi-story floating palaces and department stores, with cheap prices subsidized by sales of tax-free booze: a return trip to Tallinn including a cabin for up to four people can go as low as 50€. If travelling by Inter Rail, you can get 50% off deck fares. The best way to arrive in Helsinki is standing on the outside deck with a view ahead.
 

Weather: Finland has a cold but temperate climate, which is actually comparatively mild for the latitude because of the moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current. Winter, however, is just as dark as everywhere in these latitudes, and temperatures can (rarely) reach -30°C in the south and even dip below -50°C in the north. The brief Finnish summer is considerably more pleasant, with average temperatures around +20°C, and is generally the best time of year to visit. July is the warmest month with temperatures up to +30°C. Early spring (March-April) is when the snows start to melt and Finns like to head north for skiing and winter sports, while the transition from fall to winter in October-December — wet, rainy, dark and generally miserable — is the worst time to visit.
Due to the extreme latitude, Finland experiences the famous Midnight Sun near the summer solstice, when (if above the Arctic Circle) the sun never sets during the night and even in southern Finland it never really gets dark. The flip side of the coin is the Arctic Night (kaamos) in the winter, when the sun never comes up at all in the North. In the South, daylight is limited to a few pitiful hours with the sun just barely climbing over the trees before it heads down again.

Travel Documentation and Custom Duty: http://www.visitfinland.com/w5/index.nsf/(pages)/Passport_and_Visa

Getting Around: Airplane, Train, Bus, Cars

Tourism Website: http://www.visitfinland.com/w5/index.nsf/(pages)/index

Medical Facilities:

Banks:

Emergency Numbers: Dial 112