Portal:Finland

Welcome to the Finnish Portal!
Tervetuloa Suomen teemasivulle!

The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavalta Swedish: Republiken Finland) is a Nordic country in northeastern Europe, bordered by the Baltic Sea to the southwest, the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west. Finland has land frontiers with Sweden, Norway and Russia. The Åland Islands, off the southwestern coast, are under Finnish sovereignty while enjoying extensive autonomy. The Finnish name for Finland is Suomi; in Swedish it is Finland.

Finland gained independence from Russia on 6 December 1917. Prior to that, it had been part of the Kingdom of Sweden and an autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland under Imperial Russia. After fighting two wars with the Soviet Union in the mid-20th century, it has grown quickly from a largely agrarian society to one of the world's most developed countries. Finland has a high standard of living, one of the best educational systems in the world, and it has been the birthplace to many technological phenomena such as Nokia, sms, Linux, Angry Birds and IRC.

Finland has been a member of the European Union since 1995.

Selected article

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a third-person shooter video game developed by the Finnish Remedy Entertainment and produced by 3D Realms. The game is a direct sequel to the 2001 video game Max Payne. It was released by Rockstar Games for Windows on October 15, 2003, for Xbox on November 25, 2003, and for PlayStation 2 on December 2, 2003. In Max Payne 2, the player controls Max, a detective for the New York City Police Department (NYPD). In the game's predecessor, Max Payne, the developers played all the roles, except for Max. In Max Payne 2, however, professional actors were used to model and voice all the characters.

Max Payne 2 continues the story of Max Payne, who was a fugitive undercover cop framed for murder in New York City at the end of Max Payne. Two years after the events of the first game, Max has cleared his name and is now an NYPD detective. He reunites with Mona Sax, whom he first met in the previous game. Max meets his new NYPD partner, Valerie Winterson, who later tries to kill Mona because she is a fugitive and had stumbled upon secrets that were not meant for her to know. However, Max kills Winterson first, and he and Mona set out to resolve a conspiracy of death and betrayal, finding the mysterious Inner Circle in the center of it all.

Video game critics gave Max Payne 2 generally favorable reviews. Praise focused on its action and story, while criticism targeted its short length. Despite the positive reception, the game sold poorly, leading Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive to cite Max Payne 2's sales as a cause for the company's reforecasted finances of 2004. Max Payne 2 received several industry awards, including Outstanding Art Direction at the Golden Satellite Awards 2004, and Editors' Choice Awards from GamePro, IGN, and GameSpy.

Selected picture

Did you know...

• ...that according to Lapsiporno.info, a blacklist of websites compiled by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation included those containing legal pornography?
• ...that Ismo Alanko Säätiö's accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen has been dubbed the "Jimi Hendrix of the accordion" by the Finnish music press?
• ...that the Christmas carol Personent hodie, first published in the 1582 Finnish song book Piae Cantiones, is thought to be a parody of a 12th-century carol?
• ...that Anssi Koivuranta is leading the 2008–09 Nordic Combined World Cup right now?
• ...that the Finnish tango is an established variation of the Argentine tango and one of the most enduring and popular music forms in Finland?

Selected biography

Saint Henry was a legendary Swedish clergyman. Conquering Finland together with King Eric the Saint of Sweden and dying as a martyr, Henry became central in the local Roman Catholic Church. Even today, together with his alleged murderer Lalli, he remains one of the best recognized persons from the history of Finland. The authenticity of the accounts of Henry's life, ministry, and death is widely disputed. On the basis of the traditional accounts of Henry's death, he was locally recognized as a saint, prior to the founding of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. He continues to be remembered as a local observance in the Catholic Church of Finland. He is also commemorated in several Protestant liturgical calendars. (more...)

Finland News

• February 22: Austria leads medal count after second day of 2013 IPC Alpine World Championships
• February 16: 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships preparations underway
• October 9: Tomatoes, watermelons, peppers reduce stroke risk, Finnish study suggests
• June 29: African Olympians and Paralympians prepare for their London odyssey
• December 5: Finnish trio shot dead in Brazil
• August 10: Finnish police to receive guidance on Internet 'hate speech'
• August 9: Former Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri dies aged 74
• July 8: Finnish Olympic champion skier Mika Myllylä found dead
• May 15: Azerbaijan win 2011 Eurovision Song Contest
• November 10: Nokia takes over Symbian OS development

Things you can do

• Add {{Portal|Finland}} to existing See also sections of Finland-related articles.
• Tag the talk pages of Finland-related articles with the {{Finland}} banner.
• Rate the Unassessed Finland articles in the Finland WikiProject.
• Stubs: Fix a Finland stub by expanding it into a full article.
• Help with the Finland articles needing attention.
• Look at Wikipedia:WikiProject Finland/New article announcements.

Wikiprojects

You are invited to participate in Finland WikiProject, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Finland.

• WikiProject Finland
• WikiProject Åland Islands

Selected panorama

Panoramic photo shot of Helsinki, Finland.

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