Maps of Finland vs. Europe that you didn’t know about

A physical map of Finland is a useful thing, but it doesn’t tell you much about the people who live there. The maps of Finland shown in this article put the country into a European context, and are useful for knowing more about what goes on within its borders.

Maps of Finland: genetics and more

Let’s start with a couple of maps of Finland that would confirm the Finnish physical stereotype: they are naturally blonde with blue eyes. One must add, though, that there are many Finns that dye their hair color dark.

Being Spanish, I have to admit that it comes as an interesting fact that Galicia is the region of the Iberian peninsula with the most blondes. Even so, Finland and the other Nordic countries still have the largest blonde population on the continent. In the north of Finland, where more Saami people live (they are naturally dark-haired), the blond concentration is smaller.

In terms of blue eyes, the same is true: Finland has a high concentration of blue-eyed people. In the far northern region, and due to the Saami population, the concentration of blue eyes drops. In a post at some point in the near future, we will talk about who the Saami people are and about their culture.

So far so good: most Finnish people I know fall into the patterns outlined above.

Maps of Finland: living standards

But what about going beyond the physical type? Here are some other interesting maps of Finland too.

Finland has been rated as one of the top (that is, best) countries to be a kid (in 4th place after the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, Source ^[4]), and one best countries to be a mother (6th place, Source ^[5]). Therefore, it’s no surprise to see Finland doing this well on this map either.

The Nordic countries, and Finland among them, have a broad reputation of being places with especially high salaries. That is true, but they also have some of the highest taxation in the world. In any case, we can also see on these maps of Finland VS Europe that they still are among the most productive countries in Europe, and Finland is therefore a good place to have a career. Iceland doesn’t seem to be doing too well after the crisis, and neither is my good old Spain.

Source of the maps: Eupedia.com ^[6]. You can check out many more maps of Finland vs. Europe there, but I found these ones to be the most interesting.

What do you think about these maps of Finland? Is there any  other that you’d like to point out?