12/5    Random Facts About Finland Thread:
        I heard that the Fins are actually Huns, unlike the other
        Scandinavians who are Nordic.  Is that true?
        \_ IIRC, Finns don't consider themselves Scandinavian.
                \_ Most Scandinavians don't consider Finns Scandinavians
                   either.  -John
            \_ According to a recent _Scientific American_, there is no
               genetic basis for race.  (I didn't read the article and
               am somewhat skeptical (as i always am) but it is interesting
               if true).
                  \- richard lewontin just gave a talk here on this.
                     you can google for him. --psb
                        \_ how come nobody posted the day/tim, i possibly
                           would have sat in. :(
        \_ "/csua/bin/webster Scandinavia" says "2 Denmark, Norway, Sweden, &
           sometimes also Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, & Finland"
        \_ the finnish language is related to hungarian, as is estonian.
           they are the only three extant members of the finno-ugric
           language family i believe.  make what conclusions you will.
           \_ Don't forget Quenya. -- ilyas
        \_ BTW, in Finnish last name goes first, just like in East Asian
           languages.  This is rare in European languages.
           \- finnish is a central asian language.
        \_ I heard 1/4 of Finland's GDP is from Nokia and its subsideries.
        \_ From few Finnish Americans I know personally, I learned that despit
           the graphical proximity, Fins and Swedes have a very different
           culture (at least the language).  While Fins in some way still
           held some degree of animosity toward Swedes, they are forced to
           learn Swedish as part of their regular curriculum in their public
           education today.             -kngharv
           \_ Finland also has a section of the army that speaks primarily
              sweedish.  A finn i know joined the sweedish speaking finnish
              army to practice his sweedish during his army service.
              imagine if we had a spanish speaking army here in the US.
           \_ Finland was part of Sweden for 600 years or so before it became
              part of Russia.  Now Swedish is one of the official languages in
              Finland.
        \_ Are Finnish women slim and beautiful just like Swedes and Norwegians?
           Or are they more like fat american cows?
           \_ they are thin.  They also tend to dye their hair dark, unlike
                the Swedes who dye blonde.
           \_ Finns had the highest suicide rate in the world in 1997 (they've
              since begun an aggressive anti-suicide campaign, so it's hard to
              assess whether this ranking still holds true).  They also have
              one of the highest alcoholic rates in the world.  What does this
              tell you about Finnish women?  Nothing, but I'm just saying....
              \_ both of these are also true of alaska, canada, poland,
                 siberia and scandenavia.  it's the cold and dark, but
                 mostly the dark.
                 \_ eh, in the summer it's the opposite of dark. it stays light
                    basically all night long. the drunks get drunk regardless.
                    \_ well, ok. the only one i know much about is alaska,
                       since i grew up there, and worked there in the summers
                       in college.  the winter/alcoholism effect is worsened
                       by the number of seasonal industries like fishing
                       that can make you alot of money in the light months,
                       which you can save up to basically become a professional
                       drunk throughout the winter months.  I've known people
                       who lived that way.
        \_ Sigh. Huns are huns. People who call other people Huns are usually
           idiots, except in your case. You're just stupid.