Finland (Suomen tasavalta, Republiken Finland) is a Parliamentary Republic which is located in Northern Europe including the eastern section of Scandinavia. Neighboring countries are Norway to the north, Sweden to the north-west, Russia to the east and south-east, it is washed by the Baltic Sea to the west and south respectively from the gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. Among major cities, the capital Helsinki, Turku, Vaasa, Oulu, Tampere, Lahti, Kuopio and Rovaniemi. Finland is part of the European Union. 

The territory of Finland, is between the 60° and 70° latitude north, over one third of the territory lies north of the Arctic Circle that makes the country one of the northernmost in the world. The Finnish territory is mostly flat and sprinkled with more than 180,000 lakes of glacial origin (Saimaa (4377 square kilometers), Päijänne (1081 square kilometers), Inari (1040 square kilometers), Pielinen (894 sq. km), Oulujärvi (887 sq. km), Haukivesi ( 620 sq. km), Orivesi-Paasivesi (536 sq. km), Kallavesi (513 sq. km), Keitele (500 sq. km)), which are mainly located in the south-east. In central northern area, north of the river Oulu, there are a range of hills, in north-west of the country along the border with Norway, rises the extreme extension of the Scandinavian Alps, here is the highest Finland's peak, Mount Haltitunturi (1,324 m), on the rest of northern Finnish territory extends Lapland, full of large forested areas untouched.