{"id":51083,"date":"2023-04-04T22:27:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T20:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=51083"},"modified":"2024-04-04T00:09:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T22:09:02","slug":"the-numbers-of-land-air-and-naval-resources-that-finland-incorporates-into-nato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/04\/04\/the-numbers-of-land-air-and-naval-resources-that-finland-incorporates-into-nato\/","title":{"rendered":"The numbers of land, air and naval resources that Finland incorporates into NATO"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of today, NATO has a new member country: Finland<\/a>. A Nordic country that comes to incorporate a considerable force into the Alliance.<\/p>\n

The formidable video of the Finnish Armed Forces in which they boast of allies<\/a><\/rel>
\n\"Min\u00e4 puolustan t\u00e4t\u00e4 maata!\" Finland shows its artillery systems after the Russian threats<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The bad historical relations between Russia and Finland<\/big><\/p>\n

The question that must be asked now is: what is the country that joins NATO like and what military forces does it contribute? Regarding its history, we have already seen here the wars that Finland had with Bolshevik Russia in the 20th century<\/a>. Despite the Soviet efforts, Finland has been a democratic country in all its years of history<\/strong> since its independence from Russia in 1917. Added to the historical reasons it already had for distrusting its Russian neighbor the threats of \"serious military consequences\" launched by Russia<\/a> on February 25, 2022, the day after the start of the invasion of Ukraine, if the Nordic country joined NATO.<\/p>\n

This is the population of Finland<\/big><\/p>\n

According to official statistics of Finland<\/a>, the country has a population 5,564,000 inhabitants<\/strong> (data from December 31, 2022). The majority of the Finnish population is Christian: 65.2% belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland<\/strong>, with a minority of Greek Orthodox (1.1%). The vast majority of the population (4.7 million) speak Finnish<\/strong>, there are 281,000 Swedish speakers (mainly in the south of the country) and a small Sami-speaking community in Lapland (almost 2,000 speakers).<\/p>\n

Foreigners make up 9.2% of the Finnish population<\/strong>, with significant minorities of some 93,000 Russian-speaking, 50,000 Estonians, 39,000 Arabs, some 24,000 Somalis and 18,000 Persians, among others. The country's cold climate and the difficulty of learning Finnish are two significant barriers to immigration.<\/p>\n

Most of the population resides in the southwest of the country<\/strong>, which has a less cold climate. It is there where the capital, Helsinki, which has 665,558 inhabitants, is located. Historically and culturally, Finland has many ties to Estonia<\/strong>. In fact, Finnish and Estonian belong to the same Balto-Finnish language group within the Finno-Ugric languages.<\/p>\n

The important strategic situation of Finland<\/big><\/p>\n

Finland has a very important strategic situation, since the Gulf of Finland gives access to the Baltic Sea to the Russian city of Saint Petersburg<\/strong>. Right now that access to the sea is controlled on both sides by NATO member countries: Finland to the north and Estonia to the south. In Kronshtadt, west of Saint Petersburg, is the Leningrad Naval Base of the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet<\/strong>, which houses several submarines, submarines and minesweepers.<\/p>\n

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Finnish Army soldiers during a military parade in Helsinki.<\/div>\n

The human resources of the Finnish Armed Forces<\/big><\/p>\n

In Finland there is compulsory military service for adult men only<\/strong>. Women also have the possibility to enlist as volunteers<\/a> . According to Global Fire Power<\/a> (data 2023), the population of military age is almost 2.3 million people.<\/p>\n

The report The Military Balance 2022<\/a> from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) indicates that the Finnish Armed Forces (Puolustusvoimat in Finnish and Puolustusvoimat in Swedish) maintain active personnel of 19,250 soldiers<\/strong> (13,400 in the Army, 3,150 in the Navy, 2,700 in the Air Force and 2,700 in the Border Guard) and a reserve force of 238,000 soldiers<\/strong> (185,000 Army, 24,000 Navy, 29,000 Air Force and 12,000 Border Guard).<\/p>\n

Reservists have a commitment up to age 60<\/strong>, generally assigned to units within their geographic area. In total, the country maintains a mobilization force of 285,000 soldiers.<\/strong> The Finnish Army is historically known for its great knowledge of its environment and its great adaptation to the harsh winter environment of the country<\/strong>, as demonstrated in the Winter War (1939-1940).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
A Finnish Army M-270 MLRS missile launcher.<\/div>\n

The Finnish Army<\/big><\/p>\n

Regarding the material means of the Finnish Armed Forces, the Army has the following vehicles and ground systems:<\/strong><\/p>\n