Geography of Finland

Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands; 187,888 lakes (larger than 500 m²) and 179,584 islands to be precise. One of these lakes, Saimaa, is the 5th largest in Europe. The Finnish landscape is mostly flat with few hills and its highest point, the Halti at 1,328 metres (4,357 ft), is found in the extreme north of Lapland. Besides the many lakes the landscape is dominated by extensive boreal forests (about 75 per cent of land area) and little arable land. The greater part of the islands are found in south-west, part of the archipelago of the Åland Islands, and along the southern coast in the Gulf of Finland. Finland is one of the few countries in the world that is still growing. Owing to the post-glacial rebound that has been taking place since the last ice age, the surface area of the country is growing by about 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) a year.

Koli, one of the many national parks of Finland.

Lake Päijänne, one of the largest lakes. Päijätsalo island on the right belongs to the Päijänne National Park.