Culture of Finland

The Culture of Finland is inherently hard to define. None the less, there are some general characteristics often associated with Finnish society and every day culture. Finns are generally a reserved people, like people in Norway and Sweden. Finns like peace and nature, but there are also a lot people, who like to have fun in cities. They are generally compassionate, articulate, and clean. Consequently, there is also a sense of melancholy and depression sometimes associated with the Finns. People there are reserved when meeting strangers and it sometimes takes long to become familiar with people, but respectively relationships are deep and longtime. People there like to compare themselves to others and their country to other countries. They are proud that when the country was very poor in the beginning of 20th century, its now one of the rich western countries. Equality is an important part of Finnish culture like in other Nordic countries, so much so that, 'success' or what may be seen as a deliberate attempt to distinguish oneself from others may be viewed with hostility.

Cultural Policy

Government contributions to culture have increased steadily in recent years, but viewed against the present government's firm objective to limit public expenditures, contributions will stabilize in the future. Most support goes to libraries and archives, theater, museums, arts and crafts training, and films.

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