thisisFINLAND

Modern stories of Finland meet ancient Kalevala via Gallen-Kallela

Just outside Helsinki, a show at the Gallen-Kallela Museum ties together Finnish epic poetry, local storytelling in many languages, and rarely seen artworks by a famous painter.

Life & society Traditions

At Finland’s high schools, wild winter party precedes study break

Finnish tradition dictates that in mid-February, students in their last year of high school start their study break with a great big party. Meanwhile, the students below them celebrate their new status as the eldest kids in the building by dancing.

Life & society Sports

For Finland and China, hockey is a contact sport

On a midwinter afternoon in Finland, a Chinese ice hockey squad from Beijing, boys ages 14 to 15, bounded off the team bus and through shin-deep snow on their way to play their contemporaries from Helsinki.

in the world in gender equality

Source: Gender Equality Index

Business & innovation Technology

Finnish specialist helps make artificial intelligence human-centric

Meeri Haataja, an expert in AI ethics, believes that the data economy can flourish only if citizens and consumers can trust that artificial intelligence is used to drive their wellbeing.

Life & society Society

From good to “goodest”: Finland tops the Good Country Index

Finland is number one in the newest Good Country Index, which seeks to measure “what each country on earth contributes to the good of humanity.” We talk to the index’s creator, Simon Anholt, about what it means to be “goodest.”

Arts & culture Slideshows

Lux Helsinki fends off the winter darkness

Full of illuminated surprises, the annual Lux Helsinki light festival uses coloured beams to transform some of the city’s best loved buildings and streets in early January. You can see them in our photos without braving the cold.

Business & innovation Webpick

Pelimanni music meets pixels in Finland

Folk music and video game music are polar opposites – or are they?

Life & society Fun

6 + 3 New Year’s resolutions from ThisisFINLAND

Bored with the same old New Year’s resolutions? We’ve compiled a list of new and manageable resolutions for next year!

187,888

Number of lakes in Finland

things you should and shouldn’t know