FINLAND, Grand Duchy of (called by the natives, Suomen-maa, "land of marshes"), a country of northern Europe, including, with the exception of part of Lapland, a territory on the northwest of Russia. It is bounded on the north by Russian Lapland; east by the province of Archangel and Olonetz; south by Lake Ladoga, the province of Petrograd, and the Gulf of Finland; and west by Sweden and the Gulf of Bothnia; length, 600 miles; average breadth, about 240 miles; area, 144,255 square miles.
Finland, which was formerly divided into eight provinces, consists principally of a tableland from 400 to 600 feet above the level of the sea and interspersed with hills of no great elevation. In the north, however, the Manselka Mountains have an average height of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. The coasts, par ticularly on the south, are surrounded by a vast number of rocky islets, separated from the mainland and from each other by intricate and narrow channels, rendering the shores of the country easy of defense in case of hostile at tack by sea. The chief natural feature of Fin land is its many lakes, which extend like a net work over a large proportion of its surface; some of them being of very considerable size. The greater number of these are in the south and east • several of them have intercommunica tion and they generally abound with islands. There are numerous rivers, but none of much importance.
The climate is rigorous. Even in the south the winter lasts from six to seven months, and in the north from eight to nine months. Dense fogs are very frequent; heavy rains take place in autumn, and in May and June the thaws put a stop to nearly all travel ing. In the north the sun is absent during De cember and January; but during the short sum mer, while the sun is almost constantly above the horizon, the heat is often very great; and near Uleaborg, in about latitude 65 , the corn is sown and reaped within six or seven weeks. Crops in all parts of the duchy are exposed to the double danger of being destroyed by sudden frosts, and by the ravages of a variety of cater pillar called turila by the natives.
The principal geological forma tions are granite, which very easily disinte grates, hard limestone and slate. The soil for the most part is stony and poor. Iron, copper, marble and sulphur are the chief minerals. Rye, oats and barley are grown. The most im portant products are timber, potash, pitch, tar and resin, which are extensively exported. Next to agriculture, stock breeding and fishing form the leading occupations of the inhabitants. The chief imports are salt, grain and articles of clothing. Finland's imports in 1914 amounted to $76,032,800 and exports to $57,036,000.
The Finns were pagans and most aggressive. They frequently attacked the neigh boring countries, but especially Sweden. They continued to live under their own independent kings till the 12th century, about the middle of which the country was conquered by the Swedes, whose king followed up the physical conquest by sending to the Finns the English born bishop of Upsala, to preach Christianity to the people. The province of Wiborg was conquered and annexed to Russia by Peter the Great in 1721; the remainder of the country became part of the Russian dominions (also by conquest) in 1809. The Russian government endeavored, by conciliating the Finnish party and promoting objects of national importance, to attach the bulk of the population to its interests; but in this it is said not to have been eminently successful, and since 1897 a repress ive policy, aiming at the thorough Russifica tion of the grand duchy, has been pursued. The natural result has been resistance — some times violent, at other times taking the form of pacifically organized protest, but always deter mined and resolute. Witness the assassination of Governor-General Bobrikoff, 16 June 1904. Again witness the public demonstrations a year or so later, converging simply informal de mands for the restoration of ancient rights or privileges. The results have been far indeed from measuring up to the desires of the Finns. Such as they are, they are indicated in the following paragraph.