Please click here to enter
activity, Adventure, dog, index, spain, trekking, whale, finland, indexphp
Finland's first inhabitants, holidays in finland dating from about 7000 BC, probably followed the holidays in finland melting ice northward, attracted by a good supply of holidays in finland game. The first Finnish-speaking persons to enter the region, who were mostly nomadic hunters and fishers, migrated into Finland from the south. By the 8th cent. they had displaced the small number holidays in finland of Lapps who lived in central and S Finland and who were forced to move to the far north of the country, where they live today. The Finns were organized in holidays in finland small-scale political units, with only loose ties beyond the clan level. From the 11th cent. Christian missionaries were active in Finland. In the 13th cent. holidays in finland Sweden conquered holidays in finland the country. Under the Swedes, Finland enjoyed considerable independence, its political sophistication grew, commerce increased, and the Swedish language and culture were spread. holidays in finland In the mid-16th cent. Lutheranism was established in Finland, and in 1581 the country was raised to the rank of grand duchy. holidays in finland Finland suffered severely in the recurring wars between Sweden and Russia. In 1696 famine wiped out almost a third of the population. By the Treaty of Nystad (1721), which ended the Northern War , Peter I of Russia acquired the province of Vyborg (Viipuri), and additional areas were lost to Russia in 1743. During the Napoleonic Wars, Finland was invaded (1808) by Russia, at the time an ally of Napoleon I, in an attempt to pressure Sweden into altering its pro-British stance. Despite considerable Finnish resistance, Russia conquered the country and annexed it in 1809. In the 19th cent., the czars, who were also grand dukes of Finland, allowed the country wide-ranging holidays in finland autonomy, and as a result Finland was able to develop its own democratic system with little interference from St. Petersburg. In 1811, Russia returned to Finland the territory it had taken in 1721 and 1743. In 1812, Finland's capital was moved from Turku to Helsinki. Government holidays in finland in the country was headed by a Russian governor-general (the personal representative of the czar) in conjunction with the Finnish senate; holidays in finland in addition, there was a Finnish minister of state in St. Petersburg who dealt directly with the czar.