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Finland
Culture & Identity
Finland's Personality
Finland, like his ethnic brother,
Estonia has never quite fit in with his neighbors. For those who know him,
he's quite unique and independent, but for those who don't, Finland is just
lumped in as that "other Scandinavian
country" (although Finland is not technically Scandinavia, but is a Nordic
country) or "that other stop on our Baltic Sea cruise."
Geographically next to Sweden and Russia,
Finland has been the abused in a horrific way between
the two, although Finland has nothing in common with either. This submission was
only possible due to their nomadic existence and freedom of movement on their own
land. Today's culture is still based on the land and, even for those who live
in the cities, the people escape to the lakes and forests nearly every weekend to
be closer to nature.
Identity
Finns identify as Finns and this is defined by a combination
of ethnicity, language, and lifestyle. Some defining characteristic are rarely attached
to their identity. Religion for example is not truly an identifying factor for most
and local foods, although there are multiple, are being pushed aside for international
cuisine; in fact most Finns would rather eat at Hess Burger, the Finnish equivalent
of McDonald's, than eat most traditional dishes. The minority Sami (or Lapps)
tend to identify as such and this is primarily defined as a person who is ethnically,
linguistically, and culturally a Sami.
This page was last updated: February, 2012