CHAPTER II. 



FINLAND. 



LTHOUGH forming part of tlie vast territorial possessions of 

 Russia, Finland enjoys a separate political status. Her natural 

 limits also are well defined, at least in the southern division, 

 and she presents special physical features. She borders west, 

 south, and south-east on the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland and 

 Lake Ladoga, while the territory of Uleâborg, stretching northwards towards the 

 Arctic Ocean, is separated only by river beds or purely conventional lines from 

 Sweden, Norway, and Russia. In her population, also, Finland is equally distinct 

 from all the surrounding lands. Part of the seaboard is occupied by Swedes, 

 descendants of old settlers ; but all the rest of the land is held by the Finns, 

 a race once spread over a considerable portion of the Old World. Now confined to 

 this region of rocks, lakes, and swamps, the ancient race retains but a slight portion 

 of its original domain, with a political independence little more than nominal. 

 After undergoing the Swedish yoke, Finland has had to change masters, for since 

 1809 the whole country has been annexed to Russia as a Grand Duchy, with special 

 local institutions. 



The Finns are fully conscious of forming a distinct nationality ; they cherish 

 their traditions and carefully cultivate their language, preparing confidently for a 

 future higher political standing. But in such a land and climate they cannot hope 

 to become powerful in numbers, industry, or wealth. The region occupied by 

 them is relatively twelve times less peopled than France, and three times less 

 than European Russia proper. The total area is 144,226 square miles, with an 

 estimated population (1879) of 2,020,000, or less than 15 to the square mile. 



Physical Aspect of the Land. 



Finland — that is, '' Fen-land," or Suomen-mca {" Lake-land ") — in its nature 

 and aspect forms a transition between Scandinavia and Russia, Here are granite 

 masses, rocky basins filled with pure water, and countless moraines strewn over 

 the land, as in Sweden, but no uplands like the Kjolen, for here begin the great 



