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Finland Size, External Boundaries, and Geology
In area, Finland has 304,623 square kilometers of land
and
33,522 square kilometers of inland water, a total of
338,145
square kilometers. It shares borders on the west with
Sweden for
540 kilometers, on the north with Norway for 720
kilometers, and
on the east with the Soviet Union for 1,268 kilometers.
There are
approximately 1,107 kilometers of coastline on the Gulf of
Finland (south), the Baltic Sea (southwest), and the Gulf
of
Bothnia (west). The rugged coastline is deeply indented
with bays
and inlets. The offshore region is studded with islands.
The most predominant influences on Finland's geography
were
the continental glaciers that scoured and gouged the
country's
surface. When the glaciers receded about 10,000 years ago,
they
left behind them moraines, drumlins, and eskers. Other
indications of their presence are the thousands of lakes
they
helped to form in the southern part of the country. The
force of
the moving ice sheets gouged the lake beds, and meltwaters
helped
to fill them. The recession of the glaciers is so recent
(in
geologic terms) that modern-day drainage patterns are
immature
and poorly established. The direction of glacial advance
and
recession set the alignment of the lakes and streams in a
general
northeast to southwest lineation. The two Salpausselka
Ridges,
which run parallel to each other about twenty-five
kilometers
apart, are the terminal moraines. At their greatest height
they
reach an elevation of about 200 meters, the highest point
in
southern Finland.
Data as of December 1988
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