thisisFINLAND

Filming the unusual story of Moomin creator Tove Jansson in Helsinki

We speak to director Zaida Bergroth about a film that shows viewers a new side of Finland’s Tove Jansson, the much-loved writer and artist who created the world-famous Moomin stories.

Business & innovation Sustainability

Three Finnish companies at the forefront of reducing and reusing waste

In “re” life: See how Finnish innovations and companies are contributing to responsibly recycling, replacing, reducing, repurposing and reusing plastic and other materials.

Arts & culture Design

How Finland’s Moomins moved from beloved books to coveted mugs

The first Moomin book, in 1945, introduced a cast of characters that gained international fame. We talk to the designer behind one of the most unusual Moomin success stories: the mugs that you can find in almost every Finnish household. They’re so popular that someone even wrote a master’s thesis about them.

700,000

Amount of trips Finns make to Lapland each year

Source: Statistics Finland

Life & society Sports

The Finnish summer ice hockey article you didn’t even know you were waiting for

Why talk about ice hockey during the summer? Funny you should ask. The answer has to do with Finland, climate change, a group called Save Pond Hockey, the NHL and more.

Arts & culture Visual arts

New audiences continue to find Finland’s number one painter, Helene Schjerfbeck

Early in 2020, record-breaking attendance at Helsinki’s Ateneum Art Museum and the release of a feature film signalled that artist Helene Schjerfbeck is getting much-deserved attention from audiences of all ages. We talk with actor Laura Birn and curator Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff.

Life & society Nature

Life on the edge: Living on the western and eastern borders of Finland

At Finland’s easternmost and westernmost points, people go about their lives in locations that contain direct connections to the nation’s history.

Life & society Webpick

Finnish city of Tampere declares itself sauna capital of the world

Tampereans are known for authenticity and warmth, and the same goes for Tampere’s sauna culture. In the sauna, everyone is equal, as the Finnish saying goes, and Tampere has the largest number of public saunas in Finland. And if you’re the sauna capital of Finland, you’re the sauna capital of the world.

Life & society Business

How a Finnish fish market stays afloat when Russian customers must stay home

Some eastern Finnish merchants normally get most of their income from Russian cross-border shoppers. To see how businesses are coping with the coronavirus situation, we visit a fish market where the parking lot is empty but the boss is already focusing on the future.

37.2 °C (99 °F)

Record high temperature, measured in Liperi, July 2010

Source: Finnish Meteorological Institute

things you should and shouldn’t know