Global Sourcebook for International Data Management
by Graham Rhind
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Finland
Global Sourcebook | Index | Properties
| FINLAND |
For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here , to postal code pages here
and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here
.
Finland - Country information
Local short name form
Official name
Area
Population
Capital
Currency
International telephone access code
ISO 3166 country codes
FI, FIN, 246 (NB: Åland Islands now have the ISO 3166 code AX)
Car nationality plate code
Internet country code
GRC Country Code
Finland - Number format
1 234,45
(where , indicates the decimal separator and a space the thousands separator)
Finland - Date and time formats
Note: This section last updated 18th April 2021
dd.mm.yyyy
The 24-hour clock notation is used.
14.32
Finland - Languages
Finland has two official languages: Finnish , spoken by 94% of the population; and Swedish
, spoken by 6%. Some 22 900 of the Swedish speakers inhabit the Åland Islands, where they form 95% of the population. The Swedish speakers are concentrated in two areas, along the southern coast between Helsinki and Hangö, and along the western coast between Pori and Jakobstad.
There are 24 municipalities that are unilingually Swedish, 17 with a Swedish majority and 23 where the minority is Swedish (in all cases, the municipality must contain at least 3000 people or 8 per cent of the population as Swedish speakers to be declared bilingual). The names of the relevant municipalities are listed in the place names section of this chapter.
There are 10 000 speakers of Karelian in northern Finland close to the Russian border; 4-6 000 speakers of Romany
and 7 000 speakers of three dialects of Saami (Sámi)
in northern Finland, especially around the town of Utsjoki. There are also scattered speakers of Livvi
.
A bilingual Finnish/Swedish street name sign in Helsinki
Finland - Personal names
Note: This section last updated 20th January 2016
People are legally obliged to have at least one given name and one surname, and may have no more than three given names. Names may generally be chosen freely but may not be used predominantly for naming the other sex, may not be foreign to Finnish naming traditions, may not be a surname (except for a patronymic as the last given name) or (if only one name is to be given) already be in use by a sibling. These rules may be waived in some exceptional cases.
Since 1986, married Finns may take either the family name of the husband or wife, or retain their pre-marriage family names. Children take the shared family name, or one of the names if each parent has retained their pre-marriage names. All siblings share the same family name. Some women also use double-barrelled (hyphenated) family names upon marriage, e.g. Aarikka-Stenroos, the first being the pre-marriage family name, the second being the husband’s family name.
Tables of names can be acquired: given names, surnames/family names
Finland - Company legal forms
Note: This section last updated 10th July 2013
The following company type indications will be identified in address databases:
AB (Aktiebolag – stock company) Anl. (Andelslag) Apb (Publikt Aktiebolag – public limited company) Ay (Avoin yhtiö – partnership) Ideell förening(non-profit organisation) EEIG (Europeisk Ekonomisk Intressegruppering - European Economic Interest Grouping) Firma enskild näringsidkare - sole proprietorship Kb (Kommanditbolag – limited partnership) Kommunal affärsverk - municipal enterprise Ky (Kommandiittiyhtiö - limited partnership - usually followed by the name of the owner) Kunnallinen liikelaitos - municipal enterprise OK (osuuskunta) - co-operative Öppet bolag (partnership) OY (Osakeyhtiö - limited liability company) OYJ (Julkinen Osakeyhtiö – public limited company) RY (rekisteröity yhdistys) - voluntary association Säätiö - foundation Statens affärsverk - commercial government agency Stiftelse - Foundation Toiminimi, Yksityinen elinkeinonharjoittaja (T:mi, Tmi) - Sole proprietorship Valtion liikelaitos - commercial government agency
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
Finland - Addresses
Note: This section last updated 2nd July 2020
Finnish addresses are written in this format:
Recipient name
Thoroughfare[ ]number
[ ]
postal code[ ]TOWN NAME {[ ]sorting code}
For example:
The Finnish Post Office prefer addresses to follow a fixed six-line pattern with blank lines where necessary so that each component of an address will always fall on the same line:
Name Company Name Street Address blank line postal code[ ]SETTLEMENT NAME Country name
There should be two spaces between the postal code and the settlement name.
More recently addresses are most often found without any empty lines and without any sorting codes used:
In multilingual areas street addresses can be given in either language.
Jais the Finnish word for ‘and’.
In Finnish, articles do not exist as separate words but are added as endings to the words to which they refer. There is no separate word for Saint in Finnish.
The Finnish postal authorities prefer that ’FI-’ is placed before the postal codes, but the rules of the country from which the mail is sent must define if you do this - please refer to Formatting an international address.
Please refer to the chapter on Sweden for information on Swedish.
A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired
(Sub-) Building & Thoroughfare types
Note: This section last updated 19th January 2019
Please refer to the chapter on Sweden for thoroughfare lists in Swedish.
Below is a list of the most commonly occurring thoroughfare types in Finland, with the abbreviated form(s) which you are most likely to find in address databases. Finnish, one of Europe’s most complex languages, has 16 cases, and appropriate declensions are added at the ends of words, including words indicating thoroughfare types.
| Finnish/Swedish | Abbreviation | Translation |
| Asunto | as. | Residence, flat, apartment |
| Aukio | Auk. | Square |
| Bostad | bst | Residence, flat, apartment |
| Bulevardi, Bulevard | Avenue | |
| Esplanadi | Esplanade | |
| Gatan, Gate, Gata | Gt., G. | Street |
| Huvila | Cottage | |
| Kaari | Kri | Curve |
| Katu | Street | |
| Kerostallo | Apartment | |
| Koti | House | |
| Kuja | Alley (cul-de-sac) | |
| Palveluta | Block of service flats | |
| Penger | Pgr | Embankment |
| Polku | P. | Path |
| Porras | Staircase | |
| Portti | Gate | |
| Rinne | Street | |
| Talo | Building | |
| Tie | Street | |
| Tienhaara | Th. | Crossroads, Junction |
| Tori | Tr. | Marketplace, Square |
| Vägen, Väg | V. | Road |
| Väylä | Vlä. | Route, (Motor)way |
There is no rule governing hyphenation in street addresses.
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
Finland - Post office box
This is written as Postilokero (PL) in Finnish, Box in Swedish.
Finland - Postal codes
Note: This section last updated 2nd July 2020
Postal codes (Postinumero) are composed of a block of 5 digits. These are written on the same line, and before, the town name. The first 2 digits of the postal code indicate the area of Finland covered (the sorting office). The next two digits indicate the area within this region (on the basis of municipality/village or suburb). The last digit is usually a 0 (ordinary postal code) or a 1 (post office box). Note that large-user postal codes may also end with a 0 or 1.
In larger towns a sorting code following the town name may be found. For example:
02361 ESPOO 36
The Finnish Post Office prefers that this sorting code, which is included in the postal code, not be used.
Some isolated areas do not have door-to-door postal deliveries, and these areas are served, especially for newspaper deliveries, by buses. These delivery lines have postal codes ending in 899.
The Finnish postal authorities prefer that ’FI-’ is placed before the postal codes, but the rules of the country from which the mail is sent must define if you do this - please refer to Formatting an international address.
In many towns in Finland, different streets, and different house numbers within those streets, belong to different postal code areas.
Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired
Finland - Postal code format graphic
Finland - Postal code format
Finland - Postal code specifics
n/a.
Finland - Postal code regular expression
\A\d{5,5}\Z
Finland - Postal code level of coverage
Finland - Postal code map
Place names in Finland
Note: This section last updated 5th May 2016
As Finland is a bilingual country, many settlements have both a Finnish and a Swedish name. The following list gives the alternative names for these settlements:
Unilingually Swedish-speaking municipalities with Finnish exonyms
| Postal code | Swedish → Finnish | More information about this place |
| Houtskär → Houtskari |
Houtskär - Wikipedia | |
| Larsm → Luoto |
Larsmo - Wikipedia | |
| Malax → Maalahti |
Malax - Wikipedia | |
| Mariehamn → Maarianhamina |
Mariehamn - Wikipedia | |
| Maxmo → Maksamaa |
Maxmo - Wikipedia | |
| Närpes → Närpiö |
Närpes - Wikipedia |
Other unilingually Swedish-speaking municipalities are:
| Postal code | Swedish | More information about this place |
| Brändö |
Brändö - Wikipedia | |
| Eckerö |
Eckerö - Wikipedia | |
| Finström |
Finström - Wikipedia | |
| Föglö |
Föglö - Wikipedia | |
| Geta |
Geta Åland - Wikipedia | |
| Hammarland |
Hammarland - Wikipedia | |
| Iniö |
Iniö - Wikipedia | |
| Jomala |
Jomala - Wikipedia | |
| Kökar |
Kökar - Wikipedia | |
| Korsnäs |
Korsnäs - Wikipedia | |
| Kumlinge |
Kumlinge - Wikipedia | |
| Lemland |
Lemland - Wikipedia | |
| Lumparland |
Lumparland - Wikipedia | |
| Saltvik |
Saltvik - Wikipedia | |
| Sottunga |
Sottunga - Wikipedia | |
| Sund |
Sund Åland - Wikipedia | |
| Vårdö |
Vårdö - Wikipedia | |
| Västanfjärd |
Västanfjärd - Wikipedia |
Municipalities with a Swedish-speaking majority and Finnish exonyms
Other municipalities with a Swedish-speaking majority are:
| Postal code | Swedish | More information about this place |
| Dragsfjärd |
Dragsfjärd - Wikipedia | |
| Liljendal |
Liljendal - Wikipedia |
Municipalities with a Swedish-speaking minority and a Swedish exonym
Other municipalities with a Swedish-speaking minority are:
| Postal code | Finnish | More information about this place |
| Porvoon |
Other settlements
The predominant language of the Aland Islands (Ahvenanmaan lääni) is Swedish.
Finns often use abbreviations to indicate certain towns, such as HKI for Helsinki and MH for Mariehamn.
The following table gives Sámi equivalents of Finnish place names:
Refer to Exonyms in Finland for full lists of place names in Finland in other languages.
Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http:www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm
Finland - Administrative districts
Note: This section last updated 4th October 2011
Finland’s 5 provinces (Lääni ) were abolished on 1st January 2010. The 19 regions
(Finnish:maakunta, Swedish: lanskap) into which these provinces were split have become the first order administrative districts. They are not used in addresses. Aland Islands is an autonomous region. In the list below the Swedish name is shown in brackets:
Administrative districts graphic
Telephone numbers in Finland
All telephone numbers in Finland have ten digits, including the area code. Mobile area codes are 40-42, 4320-4321, 436, 438, 44, 450-453, 4541-4545, 4552, 4554-4556, 4558-4559, 456, 4570, 4573-4579, 46, 4944 and 50.
Tables of telephone number information/formats can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/telephone.htm
References
- ^ citypopulation.de/en/finland/admin/
Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.
All information copyright Graham Rhind 2024. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.