Duke of Finland
Duke of Finland (in Finnish Suomen herttua; Swedish hertig av Finland) was an occasional medieval title granted as a tertiogeniture to the relatives of the King of Sweden between the 13th and 16th centuries. It included a duchy along with feudal customs, and often represented a veritably independent principality. Grand Duke of Finland was a nominal royal title used by Swedish monarchs from the 1580s until 1720, was revived again briefly 1802-1805 (then as Great Prince of Finland) and was also used by Russia's monarchs until 1917.
History of actual duchy
Bishop-Duke Kol
In the late 15th century, historian Ericus Olai claimed that Bishop Kol of Linköping (died about 1196) had been the Duke of Finland (Dux Finlandiae). In the late 12th century in Sweden, the Latin title "dux" was still used in the meaning of jarl and came to mean duke only a hundred years later (see Swedish duchies). Ericus Olai's claim is not supported by other sources. However, some historians date the small Stenberga Castle in Masku to the late 12th century, when the Novgorodian wars reached Finland and may have resulted in a temporary Swedish military presence in the area.
Finland
Finland (
i/ˈfɪnlənd/; Finnish: Suomi [suomi]; Swedish: Finland [ˈfɪnland]), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, a peninsula with Gulf of Finland to the south and Gulf of Bothnia to the west. It has land borders with Sweden and Norway to the north and Russia to the east. Finland is part of the geographic region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia and parts of Russia.
Finland's population is 5.5 million (2014), staying roughly on the same level with only about 9% increase in 24 years since the last economic depression in 1990. The majority live in the southern regions. The single largest group of foreigners living in Finland are Russians and Estonians, 36% of all of the foreigners (2014). 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 republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 317 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which produces a third of the country's GDP. Other large cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, and Kuopio.
Finland (comedy song)
"Finland" is a Monty Python comedy song written and performed by Michael Palin and arranged by John Du Prez with a guitar accompaniment. It features on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album from 1980, is also included on the CD Monty Python Sings, and was incorporated into the musical Spamalot.
It purports to be a celebration of Finland, a country that is overlooked when travelling abroad as "a poor second to Belgium", despite the fact that it "has it all" with lofty mountains and tall trees and pleasures including: pony trekking, camping or "just watching TV". In reality "mountains so lofty" are not characteristic of Finland as the Scandinavian Mountains only just touch the northwesternmost corner of the country.
Palin gave an impromptu rendition of the song while travelling through Finland for the 1992 travel documentary Pole to Pole.
References
Finland (European Parliament constituency)
In European elections, Finland is a constituency of the European Parliament, currently represented by thirteen MEPs. It covers the member state of Finland.
2014 election
The 2014 European election was the eight election to the European Parliament. Finland's representation remained at 13 MEPs.
2009 election
The 2009 European election was the seventh election to the European Parliament. The number of seats was decreased to thirteen.
MEPs 2009-2014
At the end of the Seventh European Parliament:
2004 election
The 2004 European election was the sixth election to the European Parliament.
Both the Finnish Social Democratic Party and the Finnish Centre Party improved their vote at the expense of the conservative National Coalition Party and the Greens.
1999 election
The 1999 European election was the fifth election to the European Parliament.
1996 election
This was the first European election in Finland.
