Helsinki Day (Finland)

Helsinki Day is an annual celebration in Finland, held on 12 June, to celebrate the city of Helsinki. The number of attendees in the events on the day exceeds one hundred thousand. On the day, the Helsinki Medal is awarded to noteworthy citizens by the city council.

Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia. Finland has a population of 5.6 million, the majority being ethnic Finns. Its capital and largest city is Helsinki. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, the mother tongues of 84.1 percent and 5.1 percent of the population, respectively. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. Its land is predominantly covered by boreal forest, with over 180,000 recorded lakes.