Finland Birding Tours
The Republic of Finland (“Finland” hereafter) forms a huge part of Scandinavia, in northeast Europe, with national parks consisting of extensive taiga forest and attractive lakes dominating the landscape. At 130,678 square miles (338,455 square kilometers), Finland is the 8th largest country in Europe and is also the European Union’s most sparsely populated country at 41.4 people per square mile (16 people per square kilometer). Finland’s capital, Helsinki, sits in southern Finland and is a modern and grand city of 1.5 million people. Helsinki boasts stunning and pretty architecture in the northern European style and has plenty of attractions to visit.
The first people arrived in Finland in around 9000 BC and agriculture began in the region around 3000 BC. From the 13th century AD, Sweden began colonizing parts of the Finnish coastline and as a result Finland became an integral part of Sweden in this period. In 1906 Finland became the first country in Europe to allow all adult citizens the right to vote. Prior to the First World War, Finland was under Russian control with this ending in 1917 thanks to the Russian revolution. A little-known fact is that during World War Two Finland fought both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany to retain independence, which she did at some cost. In the 21st century Finland is considered one of the world’s most developed nations and has ranked first in the World Happiness Report in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Finland’s length of 720 miles (1,160 kilometers) results in a varied landscape. The country runs from its northern tip at 70° N latitude to its southern tip at 60° N and the changes in the landscape and climate are stark along this distance. Beginning in the north one can find a tundra climate, with northern Finland sitting just inside the Arctic circle. It is here that the coldest temperatures are found, with -45°C (-49°F) not uncommon in a winter that can last for 200 days. The majority of central Finland is subarctic in climate. It is in this area that our combined Finland and Norway tour begins as we take in the vast taiga forests and many thousands of lakes in the region. South Finland possesses a humid, continental climate, with the warming effect of mainland Europe and the presence of the Baltic Sea meaning that the south can have surprisingly mild summers for this latitude. It is in the south of Finland that most of the country’s 179,000 islands are found.