Finnish culture is filled with quirky traditions and habits that make the Nordic country so unique. In this article, we explore some of the most interesting facts about Finnish culture.
What is the main culture of Finland?
The Finnish culture has been molded throughout Finland’s years of independence into a thriving, robust set of traditions and unspoken rules.
Finns are resilient, thoughtful people who may seem withdrawn and quiet to foreigners, but whose humor and warmth come out once they have made better acquaintances.
Finnish culture is very easygoing and relaxed, while also ensuring that rules are being followed and that all are respected equally.
In fact, equality is a large part of the Finnish culture and is palpable in everything from parental leaves to everyman’s rights, which mean that all Finnish land is available to everyone to visit and enjoy, regardless of land ownership.
Finns are known to be reliable and trustworthy people who enjoy the outdoors and working with their hands. A culture of honesty and integrity stands strong in Finland, and Finns thrive to remain true to the society that they have built.
What is Finnish culture known for?
A love of nature
Finland is well known for its abundant nature — roughly 70% of the country is covered in trees and the lakes can be counted in the hundreds of thousands — and all Finns, even those living in the capital or in other larger cities, are no more than fifteen minutes from nature.
According to a study by the Natural Resources Institute of Finland, 96% of Finns spend time in nature at least sporadically, and the average Finn spends time in woods or national parks 140 times each year.
A European Union study reports that Finns are the most outdoorsy people within all countries of the union.
Most Finns grow up spending a lot of time outdoors and, as adults, seek nature whenever they are feeling stressed or otherwise overwhelmed.
Roaming the woods is known as the typical Finnish “reset button” for the brain, as many Finns feel like they can think clearly after taking a long, leisurely walk among trees. Roaming the woods serves as a meditational routine.
The Finnish public access rights, better known as everyman’s rights, mean that nature is accessible for everyone.
As long as one acts responsibly and does not inflict damage on nature, they are free to camp, hike, pick berries and mushrooms, fish, and do other activities on any land regardless of ownership.
For some things, however, such as driving offroad, lighting fires, and hunting, a permission is typically required.
Exercise
Finns are active people, and not just in terms of roaming the woods. Staying active is a big part of Finnish culture, as is evident in the number of available sports: during winter, both cross-country and downhill skiing are popular, as are snowboarding, skating, hockey, and curling.
Some activities that may seem quite exotic to foreigners, such as snowshoeing and ice swimming, are very popular in Finland.
Finns do not let wintery conditions stop them from taking advantage of nature: when the seas and lakes freeze, hiking trails on the ice are often so packed on sunny weekend days that you might have to wait for your turn to get on.
Skiing to work is not unheard of either, nor is drilling a hole into the nearest frozen body of water for a quick morning dip in the frigid waters — everyman’s rights allow Finns to swim wherever they please!
Swimming is equally common, albeit much more pleasant, during summer. Beaches and lakesides fill with Finns hoping to take a quick dip, and many like to start the day with a swim if possible.
Football, frisbee, and bicycling are all popular among Finns. Paddleboarding is a fairly new trend but has gained notable popularity in the past decade or so.
Work / life balance
Perhaps one of the best-known facts about Finnish culture abroad is the work/life balance. Finnish workers are well protected in terms of overtime, paid vacation, and work stability.
Finnish laws mandate that working hours cannot exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours per week — if the job requires more hours than this, adequate overtime compensation must be offered. A typical Finnish working day is from 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday.
Finnish workers are entitled to thirty days of paid vacation each other, as long as the worker has been with the company for at least a year and works at least fourteen days each month.
Those working part-time or those who have been with the company for a shorter period of time receive less time off. July and August are the most common months for taking a vacation, resulting in empty cities and towns throughout Finland.
Public holidays in Finland include May Day (Vappu) and Midsummer (Juhannus), both of which are days off for everyone, aside for some essential workers.
Finnish families are equally well protected. Expectant Finnish mothers can start their maternity leave roughly five to eight weeks before their due date and are paid maternity allowance for 105 working days. Paternity allowance is available for 54 working days.
After the maternity and paternity allowances have been paid, parents can also apply for parental allowance, which allows them stay home for 158 extra working days, albeit for a lower pay.
The parental allowance can be granted to either the mother or the father, or both can take turns staying at home.
Finnish food culture
Finnish food culture is, in terms of the actual cuisine, largely a mix of Russian and Swedish influences with some traditional Finnish dishes thrown in. The way Finns eat, though, relies heavily in Finnish culture and the Finnish way of living.
When a host invites their guests to dig into the buffet they have laid out, the bashfulness of Finns tends to come out. No one wants to be the first one at the table, which results in a silent tug-of-war of who is willing to break the ice first and get up to fill their plate.
Often, the host may have to ask their guests to start eating twice or more before someone finally complies.
This behavior is reminiscent of olden times, when the fine people of the household were Swedes and the Finns typically served as the help — the desire to keep a low profile and not make a fuss of oneself is still, perhaps somewhat subconsciously, a part of Finnish culture.
If invited to a Finnish dinner party, a foreign guest may be surprised by the way the food is presented: everything is brought to the table and guests are expected to fill their plates to their liking, instead of being served pre-assembled plates.
In a less formal setting, for example when only family members are dining, the dishes are often brought to the table in their original pots and pans. If guests are present, the food can be presented in more formal serving platters and plates.
Some facts about Finnish culture surrounding food run back centuries: before the reformation took place in Finland in the 1500s, Fridays were fasting days, in accordance with Catholic religion.
In order to stay full for as long as possible before the fast, Finns stocked up on thick pea soup, which was often cooked with salted and smoked pork.
The tradition of eating pea soup on Thursdays has stuck since then, and to this day many school and workplace cafeterias offer pea soup and rye bread each Thursday. Pea soup is also sold in cans, considered by some Finns to be better than any homemade version.
Sauna
Of course, one cannot discuss facts about Finnish culture without mentioning the sauna. The use of sauna is so integral to Finnish culture that it is often the first thing people mention when asked what they know about Finland.
Indeed, Finns love their saunas — more than two million exist in a country of only five and a half million residents.
The most traditional Finnish sauna is a wood-heated one without electricity, but infrared saunas and smoke saunas have gained popularity in Finland in recent years as well.
Coffee
Did you know that Finns are the heaviest coffee drinkers in the world? Perhaps due to the all-encompassing darkness that falls over Finland in the fall and does not relent until spring, Finns consume the most coffee per capita in the world.
This comes out to approximately three cups per day, although many Finns drink as much as five to eight cups each day.
Coffee is one of the most notable Finnish culture facts in many ways, starting with the workplace: Finnish workers are legally entitled to two 15-minute coffee breaks during each day, in addition to the regular lunch break.
A common Finnish saying goes that coffee goes with every situation — whether the occasion is a happy one, like a wedding, a sad one, like a funeral, or just a regular day, coffee is present.
A catch-up with a friend? Both will be drinking coffee. Someone at work is celebrating a birthday or retiring? Coffee and pastries for everyone. Finland won a medal in a sporting competition? Time for a celebratory cup of coffee. A Finn just voted in an election?
Yep, you guessed it: coffee.
When visiting a Finn’s house, one will undoubtedly be asked if they’d like a cup of coffee, and declining this offer is seen as rude. Lightly roasted coffee is the most common variety in Finland, and special coffee drinks like espresso or a latte is considered fancy.
Many Finns, especially older generations, have a brand of roasted coffee that they prefer and always buy. Instant coffee is not popular among Finns and is considered an abomination by the most enthusiastic coffee drinkers.
Arts and crafts
Finns love to work with their hands, and arts and crafts have been a part of Finnish culture since its very beginning. Many traditional crafts can be traced back to Lapland, where such materials as wood, fur, and stone were readily available in the rural and difficult conditions.
Some of the artifacts that still remain popular to this day include the kuksa, a hand-carved wooden cup that is intended to be carried along on nature trips and should never be washed thoroughly. Sheath knives are also common, as is silver jewelry.
The national Adult Education Center (Työväenopisto) in Finland offers free or very affordable courses in arts, crafts, languages, cooking, and many other areas. Registering for a course can be done online, but spots go quickly and demand often exceeds supply.
The courses take place in schools and other common spaces throughout the country.
Recycling
Recycling became a part of Finnish culture quite recently but has grown exponentially in the last few decades. Having at least three trash receptables at the house is the norm and putting empty water and glass bottles and metallic cans in the garbage is nearly unheard of.
Most, if not all, Finnish grocery stores and supermarkets have a recycling machine near the entrance at the store, where bottles and cans can be returned for the 0.1–0.4€ deposit that was included in their original price.
Deposit hunters roam parks and other gathering spots on summer nights, hoping to collect the recyclable beer and cider bottles and cans that people don’t want to bother with themselves. One evening’s work can gather hundreds of euros’ worth of deposits.
Name days
The concept of name days is not a Finnish one by origin, but the custom has remained part of Finnish culture.
On the official Finnish calendar, each day of the year is appointed to a handful names, often similar in their first three letters (for example, Anna, Anne, Anni, Anneli, and Annika, among some others, all have their name day on December 9th).
The day is usually commemorated with wishing the person a happy name day, and perhaps a celebratory cup of coffee. The person celebrating their name day might bring some baked goods into the office to share in order to celebrate, for example.
No shoes inside the house
One of the facts about Finnish culture that tends to surprise foreigners is how seriously Finns take the “no shoes inside the house” rule. Step into a Finn’s house with your shoes on and you will likely encounter an expression of pure horror.
Taking shoes off at the front door has been a part of Finnish culture from the very early days, likely due to the local weather that inevitably brings snow, mud, and sleet from outside on the bottoms of shoes.
Finns often bring “indoor shoes” to parties, switching from the shoes they wore on their way to the event to a more presentable pair that has only ever been worn indoors.
At times, Finns offer slippers or other kinds of indoor shoes to visitors, but Finnish houses are typically so warm that socks are adequate.
Always warm indoors
Visiting a Finn in the dead of winter? You will find their house to be perfectly balmy and comfortable. Finnish houses are well insulated and heated, protecting Finns from the brutal weather conditions outside.
Wool socks, however, are incredibly common in Finnish culture. Always hand-knit and always warm, the socks are often made by grandmothers or other knitters in the family and given as gifts.
Putting on wool socks is usually not necessary inside Finnish houses due to how warm they are, but the socks carry a particular significance and sentimental value to Finns.
Unusual competitions
During summer, Finns like to spend as much outdoors as possible. After the long, cold, and dark winter has finally passed and given way to warmer weather and near-endless sunlight, Finns want to enjoy the nice days to the fullest.
Among some of most unusual facts about Finnish culture is sheer number of strange competitions that Finns enjoy taking part in. Most of these eccentric competitions take place during summertime.
These competitions include tossing a phone, boot, or a roll of toilet paper as far as possible, playing football in a swamp for as long as all players can stay up, and killing as many mosquitoes as possible in a limited amount of time.
Perhaps the most famous one, the wife-carrying competition, can be considered an institution at this point.
The competition first took place in 1992 and today attracts participants from all over the world to, quite simply, throw one’s wife (who needs to weigh a minimum of 49 kilos, or 110 pounds) over their shoulder and carry them through a 250-meter obstacle course.
What are Finns known for?
Greeting a Finn
If you run into your Finnish friend on the street, do you lean in for a hug or a kiss? Perhaps think twice. In Finnish culture, a handshake is often sufficient, regardless of the relationship between the people.
Hugs are, of course, common between good friends and family members, but a kiss on the cheek would be considered highly unusual. Two kisses might make Finns categorize you as either a lunatic or a foreigner.
In some situations, as in entering a room with multiple people in it, even a handshake can be too much; a simple wave or a quick hello suffices.
Finns are not fans of small talk, as it is generally considered to be a waste of time. Finns are comfortable in silence, and awkward silences are rare.
Such American customs as “How are you?” baffle Finns — when Finns ask each other questions, they generally expect a proper answer.
Punctuality
As mentioned, Finns are great fans of following rules, and punctuality is vital in Finnish culture. Arriving on time to meetings and gatherings is considered a given, and those who arrive late can expect being chastised.
Being on time is absolutely essential when it comes to one-on-one meetings and dates, but even at parties, the host can be certain that the person knocking at the door at the exact time they were told the party would start is a Finn.
Personal space
When listing Finnish culture facts, leaving out how much space Finns prefer to have around them at any given time would be misleading.
Needing plenty of personal space is a very Finnish desire — even at bus stops, where space is limited but sufficient under the rain cover, Finns can likely be found spread out at equal distances along the sidewalk to avoid being too close to one another.
Finns are experts at lining up, and confusion about who was first at a grocery store or a bar is rare, since Finns will have formed a perfectly spaced line upon arrival.
Facts about Finnish culture
As you can see in some of these facts about Finnish culture, the culture of Finland is as varied and complex as its countrymen themselves.
Finnish culture and traditions may seem somewhat eccentric to foreigners, but the culture is similar to Finns: once you get to know them better, they start to make sense! Finland is much more than just saunas and nature, although those are undoubtedly notable parts of it.
Finnish culture is also endless suitable situations for coffee, carving wood artifacts by hand by a fire, and, of course, a few wife-carrying competitions here and there.
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