At the first glance you can’t see many differences but there a few of them between Germany and Finland. Finland has a size of 338.472 square kilometers and Germany 357.588 square kilometers what means that Finland isn’t bigger than Germany even though it may look like it. It is also thinnerly populated: only 5,5 million people live in Finland while about 80 milion people live in Germany. But Finland has more than twice as much forest area because Germany only has 32,7% and Finland has 73,7% forest. In general, Finland has a lot of untouched nature, what makes it the most forested country of the world. Also in the animal world there a few differences. For example, reindeers and elks live in Finland. Furthermore, Finland is one hour ahead of Germany and especially in the north it is much more darker and colder than here in Germany. Also in regard to the mentality there are a few differences. For example Finland is considered the happiest country in the world and on one hand rumors say that alcohol plays a big role and that finns are often shy and introvert people, but on the other hand they have very much trust to their fellow people, because some don’t lock their front doors. They also say that they don’t work as persistently and dogged as the German do. Because many movies, series, and books are in English, many Finns speak English from an early age. Unlike in Germany, in Finland it is also the case that all school restaurants have to cook for free for all students and in the Steiner school in Tampere ( I don’t know if it is common in all schools in Finland ) all teachers are called by there first names. When we were in Finland we often used the tram and it was always on the time and that was a big difference to German trains. The only bad thing about the ticket system in Tampere is that you can’t by a ticket if you don’t have the app on your phone and a credit card. The last difference between the two countries is the fact that in Finnish politic more women are represented than in German politic: 39,7% in Germany and in Finland 47%.
By Sophia