20 finns about world's strangest little nation
Mirror.co.uk 22 May 2006
AS FINLAND WIN EUROVISION, WE FIND..
THOSE crazy Finns! And that's not something you hear too often about the nation that makes a virtue of cool, calm and collected.
This year's Eurovision Song Contest winner Lordi - dressed like something unpleasant from Lord of the Rings - turned the annual cheesefest on its head when they stormed to victory with Hard Rock Hallelujah, taking 292 points to England's measly 25.
But heavy-metal Lordi, it has to be said, are not your typical Finns - so here are 20 things you never knew about a little country hardly any of us have ever been to ...
1. Wife Carrying World Championships : FORGET its champion skiers and rally drivers - every year, Finland plays host to an arduous men's race over 250 metres of obstacles, including a water jump. To make it harder, men must carry their wives on their backs to win her weight in beer. Drop her, and you lose.
2. Sleepyhead Day : A PUBLIC holiday in a land where, in summer, the sun sets for less than an hour. Traditionally, the last member of the family to wake on Sleepyhead Day (July 27) is thrown in the lake or sea.
3. Sweating contests : A Nordic endurance test in the land that invented sauna. Participants sit as still as possible, for as long as possible, while the heat in the sauna is cranked up. Good fun or what?
4. Forests and Lakes : TWO thirds of the country is forest-the highest proportion of any country in the world. And what isn't covered with trees is covered by water - there are 200,000 lakes.
5. Air Guitar contests : IN 1996 the Air Guitar World Championships began in the town of Oulu and is now an annual event. Last year's winner was Michael "Destroyer" Heffels from Holland who won a real guitar for his efforts.
6. Donald Duck : IN 1977 Walt Disney's duck was banned in Finland because he doesn't wear trousers. Actually, that's an urban myth. In fact, politicians in Helsinki decided they were wasting taxpayers money on mindless American comics and cut them from their library budget. But the story stuck...
7. Mobile phones : THE home of Nokia is the biggest user of mobiles in the world - 98 per cent of Finns use mobiles and only five per cent have land lines.
8. Hugging : FINNS prefer not hug a friend in public. In fact, expressions of strong emotion (unless a drink has been taken) are usually met with a blank stare.
9. Saunas : IT had to come... there is one for every three inhabitants and it is an ancient Finnish custom. Archaeologists have uncovered hot huts dating back to before Christ.
10. Language : THE Finnish language is widely regarded as one of the world's most difficult - which is why most Finns speak perfect English. It also has the world's longest word - lentokonesuihku-turbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoal-iupseerioppilas - a rank in the Finnish air force.
11. Ice : FINNS literally have to break free if they want to leave the country in the winter as thick ice prevents boats from travelling. Today Finland builds and supplies most of the world's icebreakers.
12. Youngest to win an Olympic gold medal : THE youngest male athlete ever to win an Olympic gold medal was 16-year-old Toni Nieminen of Finland. He won the ski jumping event at the 1992 Winter Games in France.
13. Road signs : DUE to the country being bilingual, all signs are in both Finnish and Swedish. Even the capital is Helsinki in Finnish, but Helsingfors in Swedish.
14. Equality : NOT only was Finland one the first countries in the world to give women the vote, in 1907 it became the very first country to allow them to stand for parliament
15. Christmas : YOUNGSTERS from Finland don't have to wait until Christmas Day to open their presents - Finns unwrap their gifts on Christmas Eve.
16. Computer licensing : FINLAND introduced the European Computer Drivers Licence in 1988. It is recognised in 17 European countries and in South Africa - and is a certificate of digital competence.
17. Alcohol : THE Finns like a drink - or three. There have been two alcohol bans over the last 100 years and today liquor sales are mostly state controlled.
18. Blondes : FINLAND has the highest proportion of blondes of any country. A study in 2002 predicted that the world's last natural blonde will die out in 200 years - but will have been born in Finland.
19. Northern Lights : IN Finland the Northern Lights are called "revontulet" which literally means foxfire.
20. Safety : FINLAND may have its eccentricities, but according to the World Audit study, it is also the least corrupted and most democratic country in the world.
Which, unlike Lordi, can't be bad.
