Most people speak Finnish as their mother tongue, while six per cent speak Swedish. A few thousand people in Lapland speak Sami. As you travel around the country, whether you're in a Swedish, Finnish or Sami speaking area, you'll find that most people speak at least a little English. So don't worry, you don't need to learn Finnish, except for one important word: Kiitos . Thank You.

The Sami in Finland
The Sami ("sapmelas" in Sami) are the indigenous people of northern Europe, with their own history, language, culture and way of life. There are over 75,000 Sami living in the Sami homeland ("Sapmi" in Sami). This area stretches from northernmost Finland westward into Norway and Sweden and eastward into the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Their way of life is based on herding reindeer, which the round up once a year. On special occasions they dress in the colorful traditional Sami national dress.

 

Finns can drive fast and ski fast but they are also very creative in artistic way.

Here´s a few globally known creative Finns:
Jean Sibelius (Composer)
Esa-Pekka Salonen (Conductor and Composer)
Alvar Aalto (Architect)

HIM (first and only Finnish band to have an album certified a gold record in the US)
Aki Kaurismäki (Filmmaker)
Linus Torvalds (Creator of Linux)