The British Isles has been pummeled by a Christmas storm during the last couple of days, yesterday it was the southern parts including London. Today the storm is moving north towards Scotland and Ireland. There is more rain and high winds predicted for the London area later on today. Travel was disrupted for many holiday travelers and people were stranded on trains for hours due to blockage from fallen trees and other debris.
Finland has a long history as a country, a big part of that was spent being under the rule of other countries. During the Viking period there is plenty of evidence of Swedish settlements on the Åland islands and there is also evidence of Viking settlers having settled on the Finnish mainland. In the 1500’s when Swedish ruler Birger Jarl established rule over Finland during the Second Swedish Crusade in 1249 it was the beginning of more than 650 years of Swedish rule.
In 1809 Sweden lost control over Finland to Russia after a war. That was the beginning of more than 100 years of Russian rule of Finland. In 1917 Finland gained its independence from Russia and the Republic of Finland was formed.
Today Finland has about 5.4 million people.
