1.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
2.
Kymenlaakso
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Kymenlaakso is a region in Finland. It borders to the regions Uusimaa, Päijänne Tavastia, Southern Savonia and its name means literally The Valley of River Kymijoki. Kymijoki is one of the biggest rivers in Finland with a basin with 11% of the area of Finland. The city of Kotka with 55,000 inhabitants is located at the delta of River Kymijoki and has the most important import harbour in Finland, other cities are Kouvola further in the inland which has after a municipal merger 88,000 inhabitants and the old bastion town Hamina. For history, geography and culture see, Uusimaa, Karelia and Tavastia The region of Kymenlaakso is made up of seven municipalities, of which three have city status
3.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
4.
Helsinki
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Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of 629,512, a population of 1,231,595. Helsinki is located some 80 kilometres north of Tallinn, Estonia,400 km east of Stockholm, Sweden, Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities. The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen. It is the worlds northernmost metro area of one million people. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Nordic countries, Helsinki is Finlands major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center as well as one of northern Europes major cities. Approximately 75% of foreign companies operating in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region, the nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia. In 2009, Helsinki was chosen to be the World Design Capital for 2012 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, the city was the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest 2007. In 2011, the Monocle magazine ranked Helsinki the most liveable city in the world in its Liveable Cities Index 2011, in the Economist Intelligence Units August 2015 Liveability survey, assessing the best and worst cities to live in globally, Helsinki placed among the worlds top ten cities. Helsinki is used to refer to the city in most languages, the Swedish name Helsingfors is the original official name of the city. The Finnish name probably comes from Helsinga and similar names used for the river that is known as the Vantaa River. Helsingfors comes from the name of the parish, Helsinge and the rapids, which flowed through the original village. As part of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, one suggestion for the origin of the name Helsinge is that it originated with medieval Swedish settlers who came from Hälsingland in Sweden. Others have proposed that the name derives from the Swedish word helsing, other Scandinavian cities located at similar geographic locations were given similar names at the time, for example Helsingør and Helsingborg. The name Helsinki has been used in Finnish official documents and in Finnish language newspapers since 1819, the decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is how the form Helsinki came to be used in written Finnish, in Helsinki slang the city is called Stadi. Hesa, is not used by natives to the city, helsset is the Northern Sami name of Helsinki
5.
Hamina
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Hamina is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located approximately 145 km east of the countrys capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso region, the municipalitys population is 20800 and covers an area of 609.71 square kilometres, of which 545.66 km2 is water. The population density is 34.13 inhabitants per square kilometre, the population of the central town is approximately 10,000. Valtatie 7 is the road connection to Helsinki, after it was upgraded to a continuous motorway in September 2014. Hamina is also one of the most important harbors of Finland, the port specializes in forest products and transit cargo to Russia. One of Googles three European data centers is situated in Hamina, Vehkalahti county was mentioned in documents for the first time in 1336. At the proposal of Count Peter Brahe, the surrounding the Vehkalahti church was separated from rest of Vehkalahti in 1653. The town was destroyed during the Great Northern War in 1712, as the important foreign trade town of Vyborg was surrendered to Russia in 1721, this town was intended to replace it. The town, hitherto a small domestic trade port with restricted trade, was granted extensive privileges, finnish people soon shortened the name to Hamina. The rebuilding of the town took place in 1722–1724, the star-shaped fortress and the circular town plan, designed by Axel Löwen, are based on Central European and Italian Renaissance fortress concepts from the 16th century. Fortress towns like this are rare, other examples are Palmanova in Italy. In 1743, Hamina was surrendered to Russia, after the Russo–Swedish War, 1741–1743, Hamina became a Russian frontier town, for which a fortress was desirable. The Treaty of Fredrikshamn, by which Sweden ceded Finland, including parts of the province of Lappland and the Åland Islands, was signed in Hamina. Thus Sweden was split, and the half, along with previously conquered territories including Hamina, was formed into the Grand Duchy of Finland. Hamina Cadet School was founded in 1819 and was in operation until 1903, in 1920 the Reserve Officer School began in the same facilities. Because the town was founded next to the Vehkalahti Church, the center had always been inside the town borders. Vehkalahti and Hamina were consolidated in 2003, and the old coat of arms was replaced with Vehkalahtis coat of arms, the old coat of arms was readopted in January 2013. Town Hall, Originally built in 1798, it was renovated by Carl Ludvig Engel in 1840, shopkeepers Museum Google Data Center, Hamina Fortress, Built in the 18th century, it is one of the star forts in Finland
6.
Loviisa
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Loviisa is a municipality and town of 15,282 inhabitants on the southern coast of Finland. About 43 per cent of the population is Swedish-speaking, the municipality covers an area of 819.76 square kilometres of which 931.92 km2 is water. The population density is 18.65 inhabitants per square kilometre, the neighboring municipalities of Liljendal, Pernå and Ruotsinpyhtää were consolidated with Loviisa on January 1,2010. Loviisa was founded in 1745, as a fortress against Russia. Most of the fortifications have been preserved and it is named after Lovisa Ulrika, the Swedish Queen consort of Adolf Frederick of Sweden. Loviisa is the site of two of Finlands nuclear reactors, two VVER units each of 488 MWe, at the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant, the other operating reactors are at the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant
7.
Track (rail transport)
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The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties and ballast, plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a surface for their wheels to roll upon. For clarity it is referred to as railway track or railroad track. Tracks where electric trains or electric trams run are equipped with a system such as an overhead electrical power line or an additional electrified rail. The term permanent way also refers to the track in addition to structures such as fences etc. Most railroads with heavy traffic use continuously welded rails supported by sleepers attached via baseplates that spread the load, a plastic or rubber pad is usually placed between the rail and the tieplate where concrete sleepers are used. The rail is held down to the sleeper with resilient fastenings. For much of the 20th century, rail track used softwood timber sleepers and jointed rails, jointed rails were used at first because contemporary technology did not offer any alternative. The joints also needed to be lubricated, and wear at the mating surfaces needed to be rectified by shimming. For this reason jointed track is not financially appropriate for heavily operated railroads, timber sleepers are of many available timbers, and are often treated with creosote, copper-chrome-arsenic, or other wood preservative. Pre-stressed concrete sleepers are used where timber is scarce and where tonnage or speeds are high. Steel is used in some applications, the track ballast is customarily crushed stone, and the purpose of this is to support the sleepers and allow some adjustment of their position, while allowing free drainage. A disadvantage of traditional track structures is the demand for maintenance, particularly surfacing and lining to restore the desired track geometry. Weakness of the subgrade and drainage deficiencies also lead to maintenance costs. This can be overcome by using ballastless track, in its simplest form this consists of a continuous slab of concrete with the rails supported directly on its upper surface. There are a number of systems, and variations include a continuous reinforced concrete slab. Many permutations of design have been put forward, however, ballastless track has a high initial cost, and in the case of existing railroads the upgrade to such requires closure of the route for a long period. Its whole-life cost can be lower because of the reduction in maintenance, some rubber-tyred metros use ballastless tracks
8.
Finnish Civil War
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The Finnish Civil War concerned leadership and control of Finland during the transition from a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire to an independent state. The conflict formed a part of the national, political, the war was fought between the Reds, led by the Social Democratic Party and the Whites, conducted by the non-socialist, conservative-led senate. The paramilitary Red Guards, composed of industrial and agrarian workers, controlled the cities, the paramilitary White Guards, composed of peasants and middle-class and upper-class factions, controlled rural central and northern Finland. Finnish society had experienced population growth, industrialization, pre-urbanization. World War I led to the collapse of the Russian Empire, the Reds carried out an unsuccessful general offensive in February 1918, supplied with weapons by Soviet Russia. A counteroffensive by the Whites began in March, reinforced by an Imperial German Army squad in April, both the Reds and Whites engaged in political terror. A high number of Red POWs died due to malnutrition and disease, altogether, around 39,000 people -36,000 Finns - perished in the conflict. In the aftermath, the Finns passed from Russian government to the German power sphere with a plan to establish German-led Finnish monarchy, the outline was aborted by the defeat of Germany in World War I. Finland emerged as an independent, democratic republic, the main factor behind the Finnish Civil War was World War I, the Russian Empire collapsed under the pressures of the war, leading to the February and October Revolutions in 1917. The breakdown caused a power vacuum and subsequent power struggle in Eastern Europe. The Grand Duchy of Finland, a part of the Russian Empire since 1809, geopolitically less important than the continental Moscow-Warsaw gateway, the northerly Finnish ground, isolated by the Baltic sea was a peaceful sidefront until early 1918. The war between the German Empire and Russia had indirect effects on the Finns, the German Empire saw Eastern Europe - primarily Russia - as a major source of vital products and raw materials, both during World War I and in the future. Between 30 and 40 million marks were spent on this endeavor, controlling the Finnish area would allow the Imperial German Army to penetrate Petrograd and the Kola Peninsula, an area rich in raw materials for the mining industry. Finland possessed large ore reserves and a well-developed forest industry, russias defeat in the Crimean War in the 1850s led to attempts to speed up the modernization of the country. This caused more than 50 years of economic, industrial, cultural and educational progress in the Grand Duchy of Finland, in 1899, the Russian Empire initiated a policy of integration through the Russification of Finland. In the power struggle, the most radical political group opposing Russia, the Activist movement, included terrorist factions from the working class and the Swedish-speaking intelligentsia. The major reasons for rising tensions among the Finns were the autocratic rule of the Russian Czar. The system originated in the Swedish Empire regime, preceding the Russian power, Finlands population grew rapidly in the 19th century, and a class of industrial and agrarian workers and property-less peasants emerged
9.
Finland under Swedish rule
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Finland under Swedish rule refers to the period in the history of Finland when it was a part of Sweden. It has traditionally been considered as starting from 1150, when according to the legend of St. Erik the king Eric IX of Sweden, the actual starting point of the Swedish rule is however under a large amount of uncertainty and controversy. Clear historical evidence of the establishing of Swedish rule in Finland exist from 1249 onwards, the period of Swedish rule ended in the Finnish war in 1808–1809. Swedish-ruled Finland has in the 20th century also referred to as Sweden-Finland. The term has been used to refer to the realm consisting of the parts of current Sweden. Finland was the frontier of the realm, which brought many wars. The Finnish language, dating from prehistoric times, and some parts of folklore religion and culture remained under Swedish rule, for example, in this period Finnish adopted the Latin alphabet as its writing system and a huge amount of Swedish loanwords. The written history of Finland is said to have begun at the 12th century, up until the 14th century, information about Finland has been incomplete and unreliable. The latter part of the 12th century and the 13th century are sometimes called Finlands protohistory, according to the legend of Eric the Holy, the King of Sweden Eric the Holy began the conquest of Finland by making the first crusade to Finland to southwest Finland in the 1150s. According to the chronicle and other sources, the bishop Henry was converting people to Christianity in the areas of Finland Proper. There has been controversy over the factualness of this information, establishing the Christian church as an institution in Finland has probably caused some resistance in the native Finnish population, as told in the legend of the peasant Lalli. It is however probable that the western or eastern Christianity had spread to Finland already during Finlands prehistory, there have been hints about this for example in graves found during archaeological diggings. The old-fashioned romantic nationalist view of a quick conquest of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden was only starting to form in the 12th century. The area what is now Finland moved to or formed as a part of the Swedish realm gradually during the 12th or 13th century, most native people in the area spoke Finnish or Sami dialects. The Finnish-speaking population probably did not have a common identity, in the 13th century, Sweden made crusades to Western Finland or Tavastia and to Karelia. Apparently this caused the Swedish rule to be finally established, by approximately 1300, what is now Western and Southern Finland, up to the Karelian isthmus, had become part of Sweden and the Uppsala diocese, which was ruled from castles. The Käkisalmi area and the Ladoga Karelia retained their ties to the Orthodox southwest Russia, the collision between the Catholic and the Orthodox cultures happened in the area that is now Finland. The Treaty of Nöteborg, made in 1323, was the first peace treaty between Sweden and Novgorod and it also defined the eastern boundary of the Swedish realm and Finland at least for Karelia
10.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
Finland
Kymenlaakso
Finland under Swedish rule (Sweden) 
Grand Duchy of Finland (Russian Empire) 1809–1917
Finland 1917–1918
Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic 1918
Veszprém County, 
Hungary
Vologda Oblast, 
Russia
North Rhine-Westphalia, 
Germany
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 
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Kouvola travel guide from Wikivoyage
