Finland facts - 1-5

Okay, so for the next four posts I’m going to be offering up a series of facts about Finland.

1. Unlike other countries that usually have a fixed penalty price, in Finland speeding tickets are calculated on a percentage of a person’s income. This has meant that some Finnish millionaires have had to pay fines as large as $100,000

2. There are roughly two million saunas in Finland, which means that there are enough for the entire Finnish population to take a sauna at the same time

3.  Finland has the ranking of 7th in the “Good Country Index”. This is a system which assesses how much each country contributes to humanity. Contributions such as those involving: science, technology, culture, peace, security, climate and prosperity

4. Helsinki has an event four times a year called ‘Restaurant Day’. The day allows anyone in the community the opportunity to set up a restaurant, cafe, or bar, for just one day, without having to apply for official permission.

5. In 2005, the Italian Prime Minister, Berlusconi, insulted Finnish cuisine and joked that Finns ate “marinated reindeer”. In 2008, Finland won an international pizza contest, beating Italy. The name of the winning pizza was “Pizza Berlusconi “which was made of smoked reindeer