Yearbook 2007
Finland. The parliamentary elections in March became a
victory for the bourgeois parties, which meant that the
Social Democrats had to leave the center-led coalition
government. Opposition Party The Collective Party emerged as
the big winner. With the new party leader Jyrki Katainen,
the party made its second best choice to date, winning 10
new seats and finishing 50. It was only 1 seat less than the
Center Party, which lost 4 seats. The Social Democrats
returned with 5 seats and stayed at 45, the party's worst
result since 1962.
 The Swedish People's Party went ahead with 1 mandate to
9, the Green League also won 1 mandate and took a total of
15, while the Left League lost 2 and stayed on 17. A
newspaper wrote that Finland the day after the election woke
up more bourgeois than ever. Counting The Green Union into
the bourgeois bloc became the relationship of strength to
the left bloc 138–62.
According to
CountryAAH, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (c) continued in office,
but the government's color changed from green-red to
green-blue. Winners of the elections The Samling Party
replaced the Social Democrats in the coalition, where the
Green League and the Swedish People's Party were also
elected. New Foreign Minister became the Collection Party's
Ilkka Kanerva and party leader Katainen took over the
Ministry of Finance.
In August, the government began work on a new so-called
security policy report. will investigate what a possible
NATO membership would mean for Finland.
In Helsinki, the City Council decided in the autumn to
investigate how toll-free public transport would affect the
environment and traffic. The environmentally hazardous
emissions from traffic in Finland are among the highest in
Europe.
In October, the European Commission sued Finland before
the EU court, requesting a € 2 million fine for violating
the EU ban on the sale of snuff. According to the European
Commission, Finland has not complied with the 2006 convict,
as snus sales occur on Åland ferries when they leave Finnish
water. Only Sweden has exceptions to the EU snuff ban.
In November, Finland was shocked by a school massacre
that took nine lives. An 18-year-old student at the Jokela
school in Tusby north of Helsinki shot dead eight people
before taking his own life. Ten students were injured. The
victims were the school's principal and school nurse as well
as six students. An entire countryside was paralyzed with
sadness, the flags waved on half pole, hundreds of candles
burned around the lake next to the Jokela School and crisis
workers from the Red Cross took care of teachers and pupils.
The perpetrator was described as a Hitler fan, and on the
Internet he praised the young people who performed the
school massacre at Columbine High School in the United
States in 1999. The weeks before the murder, he posted
videos on the YouTube site about what he himself planned to
do.
The nurses' trade union Tehy announced in the autumn
about mass layoffs when wage negotiations were stranded. The
Government and Parliament responded with a law that meant
that healthcare workers who resigned could be forced to
call. Before the threat of chaos in the hospitals, the
employer side bowed, and the healthcare staff was able to
calculate the equivalent of between SEK 3,500 and 6,500 SEK
salary increase until 2011. Thus, wages are increased 22-28
percent during the contract period, 10 percent during the
first year.
The number of suicides in Finland has decreased by close
to 40 percent over the past 15 years, it was reported during
the year. Finland has thus become the first country in the
world to succeed in a national suicide prevention program.
Above all, drugs for depression and psychosis have been
effective tools in preventive work. Despite the decline,
around 1,000 Finns commit suicide each year.
Helsinki
History
The founding of Helsinki at the mouth of the Vantaa ridge in Helsinge parish
in 1550 was a step in Gustav Vasa's efforts to compete with the Hanseatic city
of Reval (Tallinn) on the Russian trade and to concentrate on New Zealand
peasant regulation. The citizens of Ulfsby, Raumo, Ekenäs and Borgå received
orders to move to Helsinki, but when the expected economic expansion failed,
they were granted permission to return. Helsinki maintained a thinning existence
even after 1640, when the city was moved closer to the sea (to Estnässkatan) and
was granted extensive stacking rights. At the Russian conquest of 1713, Helsinki
was burned by the retreating Swedish troops. The construction of Sveaborg's
fortress on the Vargskären from 1748 meant a boost. Helsinki was at the Russian
conquest of 1808, when the city was once again fire-ravaged, the second largest
city in Finland (about 3,500 residents).
Helsinki was appointed capital of the Grand Principality of Finland in 1812.
The measure was motivated by a desire to weaken the ties to Sweden that Turku
represented. The fire in 1808 meant that a magnificent building program could be
implemented. After the Turku fire in 1827, the university was also moved to
Helsinki, which was then the country's political and cultural center. However,
the population first reached 1840 at the same level as Turku (13,000 residents).
Helsinki received a rail link to Tavastehus in 1862 and in 1870 to Saint
Petersburg. With the expansion of the autonomy of the Grand Principality during
the second half of the 19th century, Helsinki's capital functions were
developed, symbolized by, among other things, Bank of Finland, Ständerhuset,
Riddarhuset, National Archives, National Museum and National Theater. The period
leading up to the First World War meant strong expansion and economic growth.
through a strong industrialization. It mainly covered the metal, graphic and
food industries and concentrated in Helsinki's southern and northern districts
outside the old city center. Helsinki also became one of the country's most
important ports.
The population grew to 127,000 (1910) and continued to grow since Finland
became independent (1917). After major incorporations in 1946, the population of
1970 reached up to over half a million residents. Suburban education outside the
city limits and relocation has subsequently reduced the population somewhat. A
strong move from the interior of the country meant that Helsinki, whose
traditional surrounding country was Swedish-speaking, gained a Finnish-speaking
majority in the 1890s. The Swedish-speaking population's share of the population
has since steadily declined.
|
