Fabulous Finland Trivia Quiz

Answer: Finnish and Swedish

Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language, and is definitely spoken by many more people than Swedish is, with Finnish at 93% and Swedish at 6%. The other 1% is made up of other languages such as Lapp and Russian.

Answer: A blue cross on a white background

In 1870, a poet described the flag as "The blue of our lakes and the white snow of our winters." Well put!

Answer: kantele

The kantele is classified as a cordophone, and has been found to be the oldest Finnish instrument. In the story of the epic hero Vainamoinen, the kantele is made up of the jawbone of a pike. However, the instrument was originally made of the hollow trunk of a spruce, pine or alder, and usually had 5 strings. Today, you can get a kantele with 30 or 40 strings, a large difference from the small hand-held instruments.

Answer: Saimaa

The Saimaa lake flows from the north by its outflow channel the Vuoski into Europe's largest lake, Lake Ladoga. Lake Saimaa is very large, with almost 15,000 km of shoreline.

Answer: Sweden

In 1809 it came under the power of Russia, and, with the Russian revolution in 1917, it finally attained its own independence.

Answer: 6

The Regional State Administrative Agencies of Finland take care of basic yet essential public services and the administrative work involved in various licences. Finland is also divided into nineteen regions called maakunta. Their governance of these regions administer and plan for development on a more detailed level.

Answer: December 6

This is to mark their independence from Russia in 1917 on December 6, but their independence was not recognized by the Russian government until December 31 of that same year.

Answer: 1952

Finland held the 25th Olympics at its capital, Helsinki.

Answer: Our Land

In Finnish the title is 'Maamme'. In English, the anthem translates into: 'Our land, our land, our Fatherland
Sound loud, O name of worth
No mount that meets the heaven's band
No hidden vale, no wavewashed strand
Is loved as is our native earth. Our own forefather's earth.

Thy blossom in the bud laid low
Yet ripened shall upspring.
See! From our love once more shall grow
Thy light, thy joy, thy hope shall glow!
And clearer yet one day shall ring the song our land shall sing.'
(Translation from 'Virtual Finland')

Answer: True

Unlike a lot of countries who have trouble with their natural resources running out, for the past 40 years, there have in fact been 20% more trees planted than cut down. The precise figure for forestation in Finland varies slightly year to year but it is consistently over 70%. I hope you enjoyed my quiz!