Mindful Ramblings

This is my first official post for the Where in the World? Wednesday meme.  This meme originates at The Blessings Pour Out blog where they are participating in a postcard exchange with home educating families across The United States.   So I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to share some of the postcards I have received through Postcrossing and learn a little geography.   We’ll begin in the beautiful country of….

 FINLAND

Capital:  Helsinki

Government:  Parliamentary Republic

Independence:  1917

Language:  Finnish, Swedish

Population:  5,371,000 (estimated)

Religion:  Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, 79%

Location:  60N, 24E

Finland is a country of many lakes…over 187,000 of them!  It is pretty flat, with the highest point only about 4,300 feet.  That’s up in Lapland, near the country’s border with Norway, pictured in the postcard.  The country is largely coniferous tiaga forest and fens.  In fact, over 80% of the country is forested!

Approximately 1/4 of Finland’s territory lies within the Artic Circle, so during the summer months the sun may set for more than 70 days and may not rise at all for 50 days during winter!  I’m not sure I’d enjoy that too much!

The national animal of Finland is the Brown Bear, but some other animals that can be seen there are the Gray Wolf, the Wolverine, Reindeer and Elk.

What do they eat in Finland?  From what I read, they enjoy fish, meat and mushrooms.  Because of the wonderful forests, it is the perfect ecosystem for many types of mushrooms.  The Finnish people also enjoy wholegrains and berries.  Some of the favorites are blueberries, lingonberries, cloudberries and sea buckthorn.

I received this postcard showing a cluster of ripe cloudberries:

According to the sender, “The berries on this postcard taste bitter, but if you add sugar or eat them with vanilla ice cream, they are delicious!”

The following is a video of the National Anthem of Finland, “Our Land”, or as the Finn’s say “Maamme”.  It includes a slideshow of pictures from across the country:

“Our Land”  (Maamme)

Our land, our land, our motherland,
Sound loud, O name of worth!
No mount that meets the heaven’s band,
No hidden vale, no wavewashed strand,
Is loved, as is our native North,
Our own forefathers’ earth.

Thy blossom, in the bud laid low,
Yet ripened shall upspring.
See! From our love once more shall grow
Thy light, thy joy, thy hope, thy glow!
And clearer yet one day shall ring
The song our land shall sing.

Music by Fredrik Pacious

Lyrics by Finn Johan Ludvig Runeberg

1846

This postcard from Finland is one of my favorites!  It shows a tapestry called, Queen Blanka.  According to the sender, “it is handmade in Finland’s southwest archipelago.  Artisans there have an association called Gullkrona.  It has many kinds of hand made products.”

You can check out more information

and some beautiful pictures of Finland at:

 VisitFinland.com

Disclaimer:  No compensation of any kind has been received from any of the linked websites.  No pony from the Blessings farm, no trip to Finland, not even a bowl of Cloudberries!