20 Cultural Facts About Finland

Tap to Read ➤ Finland is a North European country which shares borders with Russia, Norway as well as Sweden. It is one of the most geographically remote countries in the world. The nation boasts of a unique and distinctive culture. Prabhakar Pillai

Individualism is more important to the Finnish people compared to most of the other cultures.

Nature is extremely important to the people of Finland. Spending time in nature is an extremely popular and enjoyable activity for Finns.

The Finns usually greet each other by handshaking. Both men and women do the same. Cheek kissing is rare.

Finns do not wear shoes indoors. Guests usually take off their shoes before entering homes or ask whether they can keep their shoes on.

Sauna occupies an important place in Finnish culture. Several Finns visit saunas every week. Men and women visit saunas at separate times.

People here eat lunch earlier as compared to several other places. Usually lunch is served between 11 am to 12 am.

Finns consume a lot of coffee. Coffee is served at celebrations as well as office meetings.

Finns rarely vent out negative emotions in public. It is regarded rude to speak in a loud voice particularly in public settings.

Finnish speakers refer to other folk with their first names. This is applicable to strangers too. Exceptions are for very formal events.

Equality and liberalism are core values of Finnish culture.

One important Finnish tradition is the lighting of bonfires to keep the witches away.

Wife-carrying is a contest in which men have to carry their female partner(usually their wives as per custom) and run crossing obstacles. The race is popularly called in this country as 'eukonkanto'.

Easter is an event in which both Christian and Pagan customs are followed by the Finns.

A surprising fact is that the Finnish language is not similar to other Scandinavian languages. Swedish, Norwegian and Danish are pretty similar. Finnish shares more similarities with Estonian.

The most important Finnish holidays are Midsummer in late June as well as Christmas in December. During this time nearly all the market and public attractions shut shop. For the locals it is very important to enjoy these holidays together with friends and family.

Money matters are considered private in this country. So don't ask any Finn about his/her monetary assets.

Here the fine for violating traffic rules is determined by your annual income.

At parties you are expected to bring your own drinks. This is an unique Finnish custom.

The Finns have 'National Sleepy Head Day'. On this day, the last individual in a family to wake up is thrown into a water body by the remaining members of the family.

A recent Finnish custom is to celebrate failure on the 13th of October every year. Some university students of Finland introduced this event in 2010.