0_Wizard
I enjoy skiing in northern Finland and Sweden!
Asymmetrical skis were used at least in northern Finland and Sweden until the late 19th century.
chosen_Skiing_0
Skiing
chosen_topic_0_Skiing
Finland
Finland (; ; ), officially the Republic of Finland (, ) is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. The country has land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east. To the south is the Gulf of Finland with Estonia on the opposite side. Finland is a Nordic country and, together with Scandinavia, is situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia. Finland's population is 5.5 million (2016), and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region. 88.7% of the population is Finnish and speaks Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages; next come the Finland-Swedes (5.3%).
Winter War
The Winter War (, , ) was a military conflict between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Finland lasting three and a half months from 1939 to 1940. The war began with the Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union from the League. The Soviet Union ostensibly sought to claim parts of Finnish territory, demanding—amongst other concessions—that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons, primarily the protection of Leningrad, from the Finnish border.
Kvenland
Kvenland, known as "Cwenland", "Qwenland", "Kænland" or similar terms in medieval sources, is an ancient name for an area in Fennoscandia and Scandinavia. Kvenland, in that or nearly that spelling, is known from an Old English account written in the 9th century, which used the information provided by the Norwegian adventurer and traveler Ohthere, and from Nordic sources, primarily Icelandic. One possible additional source was written in the modern-day area of Norway — all the known Nordic sources date to the 12th and 13th centuries. Other possible references to Kvenland by other names or spellings are also discussed on this page.
Interim Peace
The Interim Peace (, ) was a short period in the history of Finland during the Second World War. The term is used for the time between the Winter War and the Continuation War, lasting a little over a year, from 13 March 1940 to 24 June 1941. The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940 and it ended the 105-day Winter War. In the aftermath of the Winter War, both the Soviet Union and Finland were preparing for a new war while the Soviets pressured the Finns politically. In early 1940 Finland sued for an alliance with Sweden but both the Soviet Union and Germany opposed it.
Culture of Finland
The culture of Finland combines indigenous heritage, as represented for example by the country's Uralic national language Finnish and the sauna, with common Nordic, Russian and European culture. Because of its history and geographic location Finland has been influenced by the adjacent areas, various Finnic and Baltic peoples as well as the former dominant powers of Sweden and Russia. Finnish culture may be seen to build upon the relatively ascetic environmental realities, traditional livelihoods and a heritage of egalitarianism, (see e.g. : Everyman's right and universal suffrage) and the traditionally widespread ideal of self-sufficiency (see, e.g.
Sami people
The Sami people (also known as the Sámi or the Saami) are a Finno-Ugric people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses large parts of Norway and Sweden, northern parts of Finland, and the Murmansk Oblast of Russia. The Sami have historically been known in English as the Lapps or the Laplanders, but these terms can be perceived as derogatory. The Sami are the only indigenous people in Scandinavia that are recognized and protected under the international conventions of indigenous peoples, and are hence one of the northernmost indigenous people of Europe. Sami ancestral lands are not well-defined.
History of Finland
The history of Finland begins around 9,000 BC during the end of the last glacial period. Stone Age cultures were Kunda, Comb Ceramic, Corded Ware, Kiukainen and Pöljä cultures. Finnish Bronze Age started approximately 1,500 BC and the Iron Age from approximately 500 BC and lasted until 1,300 AD. Finnish Iron Age cultures can be separated to Finnish proper, Tavastian and Karelian cultures. Earliest written sources mentioning Finland start to appear from 12th Century forwards when Catholic Church started to gain foothold in Southwest Finland. Due to the Northern Crusades and Swedish colonisation of some Finnish coastal areas most of the region became a part of the Kingdom of Sweden and the realm of the Catholic Church from the 13th century onwards.
1_Apprentice
That sounds like fun! I don't know a whole lot about skiing. Do you?