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| - As of 2013, Finland's population, of which 90% are Finns that speak Finnish, was around 5.5 million, with the majority concentrated in its southern regions. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary monarchy with a central government based in the capital of Helsinki, local governments in 336 municipalities and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area (consisting of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen), which also produces a third of the country's GDP. Other large cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Laht, and Kuopio.
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abstract
| - As of 2013, Finland's population, of which 90% are Finns that speak Finnish, was around 5.5 million, with the majority concentrated in its southern regions. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary monarchy with a central government based in the capital of Helsinki, local governments in 336 municipalities and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area (consisting of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen), which also produces a third of the country's GDP. Other large cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Laht, and Kuopio. From the late 12th century until 1809, Finland was part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. It then became an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire until the Russian Revolution, which prompted the Finnish Declaration of Independence. This was followed by a civil war where the pro-Bolshevik "Reds" were defeated by the pro-conservative "Whites" with support from the German Empire. In the aftermath of World War I, Finland became a constitutional monarchy. Finland's experience of World War II involved two separate conflicts: the Winter War (1939–1940) and the Continuation War (1941–1944) against the Soviet Union. Following the end of the war, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. Nevertheless, it remained fairly active on the world stage, joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1969, the European Union in 1995, and the eurozone at its inception in 1999. Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialisation, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. Thereafter, it rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity and one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Subsequently, Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. For instance, in 2010 Newsweek chose Finland as the best country in the world. Finland is also a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization.
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