Impressions of Finland depend on whose view you seek. Those who live in the other Nordic countries know that Finland has a population of some 5 million who look and behave in more or less the same way as they do themselves, although they speak a completely different language.
Some think first of Nokia mobile telephones, intrepid racing drivers or stunning blondes. First-time visitors to the north from the further a field may expect an exotic land of eternal winter, not far from the North Pole and even imagine Finland to be the home of polar bears.
The Finns have always cared greatly about what other think of Finland, but how do they perceive their own country? Surveys of Finnish impressions put countless lakes at the top of the list of Finnish characteristics, alongside the sauna, vast forests, unspoiled nature, a caring society, rye bread, determination and Sibelius. Of course the ultimate truth doesn’t come simply by comparing stereotypes but together these different impressions are important pieces of the mosaic called Finland.
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