Finland, Land of a Thousand Lakes Quiz

Answer: Helsinki

Helsinki lies on the Gulf of Finland in the southeastern region known as Uusimaa. From its beginnings as a trading post, Helsinki developed into a significant urban city. Suomenlinna, a fortress originally built by the Swedes, is on an island that forms part of Helsinki. The fortress, a Unesco World Heritage Site, houses the last remaining World War II submarine.

Answer: Denmark

Norway and Sweden lie west of Finland but only the northernmost regions of both countries share borders with it. Sweden is separated from Finland by the Gulf of Bothnia. The country shares an eastern border with Russia.

The photo is of a Danish pastry.

Answer: Rovaniemi

To get an idea of how far north this city is, it actually lies on the Arctic Circle. Of course we all know that the original location of Santa's village is a secret. Perhaps in keeping with the times, the jolly man himself has upgraded to an office in Rovaniemi where every day is Christmas. If you've had the urge to view the Northern Lights, the spectacular auroral displays appear on clear nights between September and March.

Answer: Sauna Bathing

The World Championships took place in Heinola until 2010, after which they were permanently cancelled. The idea of the game was simple: the temperature of the sauna started at 230°F and the bathers were instructed to sit upright without talking or otherwise disturbing each other for as long as they could.

The last one to leave the sauna on his own, without help, was the winner. Unfortunately one man died after the last championship in 2010, thus ending the World Sauna Championships. Here's an interesting fact: there are over two million saunas in Finland.

Answer: Molotov cocktail

The war was known as the Winter War. Stalin wanted to gain possession of Finland's Hanko Peninsula in order to turn it into a Russian naval port. The Finns declined. Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, decided to bomb Helsinki anyway under the guise that it was dropping food packages, not bombs.

The Finns fought back with a Molotov cocktail (Polttopullo). They came up with the name as an insult to Molotov. A Molotov cocktail is a type of incendiary device. Simple to make but definitely sends a message.

Answer: tango

The tango made its way to Finland during the 1960s and has managed to remain popular ever since. The Finnish tango is similar in style to the ballroom tango. Tangomarkkinat is celebrated every July and tango aficionados travel from around the world to participate in the festival.

Answer: Midsummer

Midsummer, also known as St. John's Day, is a day of celebration and a welcome relief from months of darkness. Saint John, for whom the holiday is named, honors St. John the Baptist, Christian martyr. Originally Midsummer was known as Ukon juhla in honor of the Finnish god Ukko.

While other European countries have their own Midsummer celebrations, the Finns enjoy cookouts, bonfires, saunas, and the long daylight hours spent with family and friends.

Answer: Sweden

Finland belonged to Sweden until Russia took possession from 1809 to 1917. December 6 is Finland's Independence Day since it was on that day in 1917 that Finland became an autonomous nation, freeing itself from the restrictive rules imposed by the Emperor of Russia.

Answer: Nightwish

The symphonic metal band Nightwish formed in 1996. The original members included Tarja Turunen, lead vocalist, Emppu Vuorinen, guitarist, and Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist and founder. Their debut album, "Angels Fall First," was followed by "Oceanborn" and "Wishmaster." In 2004 the band released the album "Once" which brought them to the attention of the U.S.

Answer: Erwise

In 1991 four students from Helsinki University of Technology developed Erwise as a school project. It was released in April 1992. Mosaic was released a year later but Erwise had something that Mosaic didn't: word search on web pages, loading multiple pages at a time. Erwise worked on Linux X Window systems.