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LEFT FINLAND 134 FINLAND a network over a large proportion of its surface ; some of them being of very con- siderable size. The greater number of these are on the S. and E.; they have frequent communications with each other, and generally abound with islands. There are numerous rivers, but none of much importance. Climate. — The climate is rigorous. Even in the S. the winter lasts from 6 to 7 months, and in the N. from 8 to 9 months. Dense fogs are very frequent; heavy rains take place in autumn, and in May and June the thaws put a stop to nearly all traveling. In the N. the sun is absent during December and Janu- ary; but during the short summer, while that luminary is almost perpetually above the horizon, the heat is often very great; and near Uleaborg, in about lat. 65°, the corn is sown and reaped within 6 or 7 weeks. Crops in all parts of the land are exposed to thfe double danger of being destroyed by sudden frosts, and by the ravages of a variety of caterpillar called turila by the natives. Soil. — The principal geological forma- tions are granite, which very easily dis- integrates, hard limestone, and slate. Soil for the most part stony and poor. Production and Industry. — Finland is chiefly an agricultural country, although the cultivated area covers less than 10 per cent, of the land. There are about 300,000 farms. In 1919 the production of the principal agricultural crops was as follows, in bushels: rye, 11,030,560; barley, 5,634,560; oats, 22,659,000; pota- toes, 22,569,480; flax and hemp, 1,222 tons; hay, 2,012,200 tons. The produc- tion of butter is an important industry. Over half of the country is covered with pine and spruce forests. These form the chief natural wealth of the country. The main industry is lumbering. The chief mineral products are copper, pyrite, iron pyrite, magnetite, galenite, and molibdonite. Iron exists in consider- able quantities in Lapland, but has not been developed. A small amount of gold is also mined. On account of the war and the high cost of labor, the mineral pro- duction in recent years has been small. In 1918 about 2,000 tons of copper, about 3,000 tons of magnetite, about 800 tons of pyrite and about 1,000 tons of iron pyrite were mined. The production of ron ore was about 8,000 tons. There were in 1916 4,693 manufactur- ing establishments employing an aggre- ECate of 109,900 workers, and yielding a product valued at 1,458,993,100 marks. The most important industries are the nanufacture of paper, iron and mechani- .•al products, textiles, lumber, leather, to- bacco, chemicals, and liquors. Commerce. — The imports in 1919 amounted to £94,956,000, and the exports to £31,717,000. The largest quantity of imports was received from Sweden and Norway followed by Germany and Rus- sia. The chief exports were to Ger- many, Russia, Sweden and Norway. The chief articles of export were paper, paper mass and cardboard, tim- ber, butter, tar, iron and iron goods, textiles, leather, hides, pitch, and fish. The chief imports were cereals, cofl'ee, and chicory, sugar, fish, iron and iron ware, cotton, machinery, chemicals, and leather ware. Fisheries. — Fishing is an important Industry. Over 7,000 families are en- gaged in it, employing over 10,000 boats. The chief fish taken is Baltic herring. The catch in 1918 amounted to 9,000 tons. Transportation. — For inland commu- nication Finland has a remarkably developed system of lakes, which are connected with each other and with the Gulf of Finland by canal. Over 60,000 vessels pass along the canal yearly. There are about 2,600 miles of railway, prac- tically all of which belong to the State. Banking and Fitmnces. — There were in 1917 437 savings banks with 462,771 depositors, with deposits of nearly £25,- 000,000. In addition to the State Bank, there were in 1919 22 banks and 7 land mortgage banks. The deposits of all private banks amount to about 3,000,- 000,000 marks. The mark has a normal value of about 20 cents. Finances. — The estimated revenue for 1920 was £52,443,026, and the estimated expenditure £55,843,563. The consoli- dated debt on Jan. 1, 1919, amounted to 662,196,837 marks, of which the foreign debt comprised 329,217,278 marks. Education. — The system of education is well developed. There is a university at Helsingfors and another at Abo, which, however, is entirely Swedish. This was opened in 1919. There are 70 lyceums, 37 elementary schools for boys and girls, 25 girls' schools, 35 prelimi- nary schools, and 46 popular high schools. In the country there are 3,391 primary schools of higher grade, with 157,215 pupils. In the primary schools of lower grade are 75,332 pupils. There are pri- mary schools in 38 towns, with 43,357 pupils. In addition there are a large number of special schools, including commercial schools, navigation schools, trade schools, technical schools, agricul- tural schools, etc. The school age in the primary schools is from 7 to 15 years. There were in 1919-1920 in all schools 215,995 pupils, with about 6,000 teachers. Army. — The army is based on con-