Finland

Official name of country: Republic of Finland
Capital: Helsinki
Official languages: Finnish and Swedish
Population: 5 375 276 (2011)
Size: 338 424 square kilometers
Currency: Euro
Form of government: Republic
Head of government: Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen
Head of state: President Tarja Halonen
Public holidays in 2011: January 1st (New Year’s Day), January 6th (Epiphany), April 22nd – 25th (Easter), May 1st (May Day), June 2nd (Ascension), June 12th (Whit Sunday), June 24th (Midsummer), October 31st (All Saints’ Eve), December 6th (Independence Day), December 25th (Christmas Day), December 26th (St. Stephen’s Day/Tapaninpäivä).


Government

Finland is a presidential republic with parliamentary rule. The people rule through the representation of an elected parliament, Eduskunta, which is the legislative power. The government and the president share the executive power. The Finnish system is called a semi-presidential system or a dual executive – it is a parliamentary system crossed with a presidential system, which makes the government answerable to the parliament even though there is a president.

The presidential power replaced the role of the Russian Tsar in Finnish politics, and the president had great power. Today, the president has somewhat the same role as the monarchs in the constitutional monarchies. He or she is head of state and appoints the prime minister, but after recent constitutional changes, the president has limited power compared to for instance the French or the American presidents.

The president is elected by direct election done by secret paper ballot. The candidates for presidency have to hold Finnish citizenship and be native-born Finns. The office term is six years, and the president can be re-elected once. Finland has a unicameral parliament with 200 seats, and the last parliamentary election was held in 2007.