Geography and climate
Finland is located across 60 degrees north latitude to 70 degrees north of Norway, east of Russia, and northwest of Sweden. Finland is 1,100 km long from north-south and has 540 km width from east-west. The narrowest point is 200 km. Most of the northern parts of the Arctic Circle have endless winter nights, and summer midnight sun is one of its wonders. Finland has continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. It has an area of 338,000 square kilometers. 70% of the land is forest, 6% is arable land, and there are more than 188,000 lakes . The national population is 5.1 million, and most are living in the southern and central regions. In 2000, there are 2529341 men and 2651774 women. Population density per square kilometer is 16 people. The urban population account for 62% of the total population and 38% is rural population. The capital city is Helsinki.

The main language
There are two official languages: Finnish 93% and 5.8% Russian. English is commonly used in the Helsinki region and other major cities.

Monetary: credit cards and checks
In January 1, 2002, with the introduction of the euro (EUR), the currency denomination is 500 euros, 200 euros, 100 euros, 50 euros, 20 euros, 10 euros and five euros. Euro coins are 2 euros, 50 cents, 20 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, 2 cents, and 1 cent (2 cents and 1 cents European currencies in the market is illiquid). Most commodity market still accepts Finnish markka in lieu of the euro. The euro and the Finnmark adopt a fixed exchange rate, one euro to 5.94573 Finnmark.
Transactions mainly use cash and credit cards. VISA and MASTER credit cards are being used in almost all the big and small shops, restaurants, and Taxi. Checks are not widely used and there are only few who utilize it because it is inconvenient and because of high fees.

Voltage and electrical equipment
220 volts, plugs and sockets are twin dual round, 电视及录放机为 TV and video recorders use the PAL system

Post
Finland postal service has good equipment. The operating hours is from 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday. Another international express delivery companies such as DHL and UPS have also branches in Finland. The rates for domestic and international mail:
20 grams letters and postcards, both domestic and foreign: 0.65 euros;
20-50 gm letter: 0.65 euros in Finland, 0.85 euros in the European countries, 1.20 euros in other countries.
1,000 grams mail: 3.70 euros in Finland, 6.50 euros in the European countries, 13.60 euros in other countries.

Emergency calls
112 for ambulances, fire station and police station
10,022 police in Finland
1893180 for lost and found ( Helsinki region)

Telephone
Card and coin are generally used in telephone booths. You can make domestic and international calls using coin phones. Prepaid cards have 10 hours or 50 minutes denominations and they are available in Kiosk (similar to 7-11 stores), in telephone companies and post office. If you want to make a phone call to Finland you should dial 999 (country code for Finland)—city code—phone number.
According to other statistics, there are 75% of people carrying mobile phones and local purchase of pre-paid phone cards is very high.

Diet
In metropolitan areas, there are restaurants, bars and fast food restaurants. Consumer prices were higher than Taiwan's food . In oriental food store, you can buy regular China's dry goods, canned food and seasonings. Supermarkets also sell soy sauce, chili sauce, vinegar, and oriental noodle seasoning materials.
Tap water is safe to drink and shops also sell bottled water.
 
Shopping
General store hours on weekdays are open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. They operate until 3 a.m. on Saturdays and they are closed during Sunday. Large department stores and large supermarket chains are open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. On Saturday, they operate until 18:00 with the exception during summer. They do not operate during Sunday. Several large supermarket chains in urban areas are open during Sundays from 12:00 to 18:00 p.m. General stores and supermarket accepts cash or credit card payment.

Study and study trips
Students who want to study in Finland or who want to have study trips to the University of Helsinki should follow application procedures and review curriculum content. They can also visit the University of Helsinki and the city government’s website www.helsinki.fi or the Finnish Ministry of Education website www.minedu.fi for inquiries. They should obtain permission from the embassy to be able to visit or study in Finland.
Finland has 20 universities, four of which have exchange and cooperation agreement with Chinese universities. You can contact the Ministry of Education of the Department of International Cultural and Education for to study matters.
 
Applicants
Visa applicants should obtain contract to prove to the Finland embassy that they were hired. After that they should also apply for residence and work permits. Please visit www.uvi.fi for inquiries. For families who want to go to Finland, they should bring household registration in English and notarized certificate of marriage and birth certificates also in English.

Immigrants
Application for immigration and naturalization in Finland is very strict, a prerequisite for at least 18 years old. You should have continuous residency in Finland for five years, no criminal records and other illegal activities and have a working knowledge of Finnish or Swedish. Please visit Finland’s Ministry of Interior website www.uvi.fi for inquiries.