Finland official name is Republic of Finland, Finnish Suomi or Suomen Tasa Valta, Swedish Finland, or Republiken Finland, European country. It is one of the world's most northern and geographically remote countries and is subject to a severe climate. It is bordered on the north by Norway, on the northwest by Sweden, on the southwest by the Gulf of Bothnia, on the south by the Gulf of Finland, and on the east by Russia. Its area is 130,559 square miles, of which the Åland Islands, an archipelago at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, constitute 590 square miles. About one-third of the territory of Finland--most of the lääni of Lappi--lies north of the Arctic Circle. The capital is Helsinki. Finlan