In February 1918 General Mannerheim weighed the question of where to focus the general offensive of the Whites, between two strategically vital enemy strongholds: Tampere, Finland's major industrial town in the south-west, and Viipuri, Karelia's main city.

Finland's main objective was to regain territory lost to the Soviet Union in the Winter War.

He is particularly remembered as a main architect of Finland's foreign policy after the Second World War.

The Swedish language is also one of the main agendas of the Swedish People's Party that has been a minor partner in most Cabinets since Finland's independence, and in all Cabinets since 1979.

The party receives its main electoral support from the Swedish speaking minority, which makes up about 5. 5 % of Finland's population.

Finland lost most of this area to the Soviet Union in World War II, when over 400, 000 people were evacuated over Finland's new border from the Karelian Isthmus, Ladoga Karelia and, to a lesser degree, from the main part of East Karelia that had been held by Finland 1941 – 1944.

The 90th Anniversary of Finland's Declaration of Independence was recently selected as the main motif for the € 5 90th Anniversary of Finland's Declaration of Independence commemorative coin, minted in 2007.

Finnish resistance to Russification was one of the main factors that ultimately led to Finland's declaration of independence in 1917.

The movement separated itself from the main Fennoman movement, the Finnish Party due to political competition between two political generations that had differing views on Finland's constitutional status in the Russian Empire.

Seven out of Finland's 17 universities and most of the headquarters of notable companies and governmental institutions are located in Greater Helsinki, as is Finland's main aviation hub, Helsinki Airport, which is located in Vantaa.

In 2008, the main employer's union Confederation of Finnish Industries, representing 70 % of Finland's GDP, announced that new national income policy agreements will not be made, and that they will radically reduce the influence of the central union, and close down the special office that has prepared previous agreements.

Like much of Scandinavia, Finland's main contribution to modern popular music may be heavy metal and related fields.

Finland's main rival is Sweden, which finished second to Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

The main right-wing candidate, Sauli Niinistö, stated in the last presidential debate that he would consider Finland's membership " in a more European " North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ( NATO ) after 2008 to achieve such an end, but this was strongly rejected by the other main candidates.

The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football.

The main figure behind Pelinpala and Haltya is producer / composer Tommi Sirkia, who is responsible for a wide range of musical contributions in Finnish modern electronic dance music, and is one of Finland's most internationally acknowledged electronic music producers today.

The Kalevala played an instrumental role in the development of the Finnish national identity, the intensification of Finland's language strife and the growing sense of nationality that ultimately led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917.

It was created by Psi ( Sami Tammilehto ) of Finland's Future Crew ( FC ) It was coded in C and assembly language.

Also very few Finns speak Estonian ( which is not taught in most schools ), a language of the same Finnic language group as Finnish, and national language of Finland's southern neighbour Estonia, although Finnish is popular in Estonia.

* Finland's language strife

* Finland's language strife

The language strife was one of the major conflicts of Finland's national history and domestic politics.

After Finland's independence in 1917, relations with Sweden unexpectedly became strained in connection with the Finnish Civil War and the Åland crisis, which further aggravated the language dispute, sharpening it into a prominent feature of domestic politics during the 1920s and 1930s.

Together with the Diet of Porvoo ( 1809 ), and the Oath of the Sovereign, the Treaty of Fredrikshamn constitutes the cornerstone for the autonomous Grand Duchy, its own administration and institutions, and thereby a start of the development which would lead to the revival of Finnish culture, to equal position of the Finnish language, and ultimately in 1917 to Finland's independence.

The council decided unanimously, that the islands would remain under Finland's sovereignty, but stated that the native population's rights to their own language had to be preserved, that the area had to stay demilitarized and that Åland was granted autonomy during peace time.

::* Finland: Finland's language strife

Kalm's ethnicity and mother tongue became a topic almost a century after his death, during Finland's so-called language strife.

Since 1992, Finland's Sami have had the right to interact with officials in their own language in areas where they have traditionally lived: in Enontekiö, Utsjoki, Inari and the northern part of Sodankylä as official policy favors the conservation of the language.

Impressions made ( in both countries ) in connection with Finland's independence, civil war, the Åland crisis, language strife, and the Lapua Movement all stuck.

Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the position of the Finnish language in Finnish society.

Antti Ahlström invested in the entire development of Noormarkku, setting up one of Finland's first Finnish language schools and building a road network.

# Redirect Finland's language strife

* Swedish-speaking Finns before the Finland's language strife

* Finland's language strife

Finland's export-dependent economy continuously adapted to the world market ; in doing so, it changed Finnish society as well.

The Finnish Maritime Administration is responsible for the maintenance of Finland's waterway network.

Following the October Revolution, Finnish socialists planned to ask the Bolsheviks for acceptance of Finland's sovereignty in a manifesto on 10 November, but the uncertain situation in Petrograd stalled it.

The majority of the Finnish labour movement supported Finland's independence.

* 1918 – Finland's " Mosaic Confessors " law went into effect, making Finnish Jews full citizens.

Finland ceded southeastern areas of Karelia ( 10 % of Finnish territory ), which resulted in approximately 422, 000 Karelians ( 12 % of Finland's population ) losing their homes.

Nurmi later coached Finnish runners, raised funds for Finland during the Winter War, and worked as a haberdasher, building contractor and share trader, eventually becoming one of Finland's richest people.

Despite Finnish resistance, a peace treaty was signed in March 1940, wherein Finland ceded some key territory to the Soviet Union, including the Karelian Isthmus, containing Finland's second-largest city, Viipuri, and the critical defensive structure of the Mannerheim Line.

He translated the New Testament into Finnish and also produced the prayer book and hymns used in Finland's new, Lutheran Church.

Otaniemi is home to many of Finland's research and development organizations: The most prominent institutions for science and engineering in Otaniemi are the Finnish Innovation Center, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Micronova Center of Micro and Nanotechnology, the KCL pulp and paper research center, the CSC IT Center for Scientific Computing, the Geological Survey of Finland ( GTK ), and the National Bureau of Measures ( MIKES ).

Maamme ( Finnish ) or Vårt land ( Swedish ) (“ our land ”) is the title of Finland's national anthem.

In 1863, Finnish and Swedish became official languages with equal status, and by the time of Finland's independence in 1917, Finnish clearly dominated in government and society.

President Ahtisaari supported Finland's entry into the European Union, and in a 1994 referendum, 57 percent of Finnish voters were in favour of EU membership.

Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim () ( 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951 ) was the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War, Commander-in-Chief of Finland's Defence Forces during World War II, Marshal of Finland, and a Finnish statesman.

In October 1918, he was sent to Britain and France, on behalf of the Finnish government, to attempt to gain recognition of Finland's independence by Britain and the United States.

Finnish historians, political scientists and journalists still debate whether President Kekkonen really wanted to dismiss Prime Minister Koivisto or whether Kekkonen wanted to speed up Koivisto's slow and ponderous decision-making or whether this government crisis was just a part of the ruthless " presidential game " that top politicians, such as Koivisto, Foreign Minister Väyrynen, Social Democratic Chairman Sorsa, acting Governor of the Bank of Finland Karjalainen, and Parliamentary Speaker Virolainen, were playing ( see, for example, Pekka Hyvärinen, " Finland's Man: Urho Kekkonen's Life " / Suomen mies.

They were, after all, Finland's largest political party with over 40 % of the deputies ( see, for example, Seppo Zetterberg et al., ed., " A Small Giant of the Finnish History " / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: Werner Söderström Publications Ltd., 2003 ; Virkkunen, " The Finnish Presidents I ").

Yet, the people of Estonia could often hear the melody, as Finland's state broadcaster Yleisradio, whose radio and television broadcasts were received in Northern Estonia, played an instrumental version of the Finnish national anthem, identical to this song ( except for an additional repetition of the last verse in the Finnish version ), at closedown every night.