It's not exactly tiny (5.5M people and a land area larger than Arizona). It's not a monoculture either with a history of multiple ethnicities, diverse languages

It's not exactly tiny (5.5M people and a land area larger than Arizona). It's not a monoculture either with a history of multiple ethnicities, diverse languages and a sequence of foreign rulers from both East and West. The Swedish-speaking minority was dominant in Finland until the early 20th century and it was part of the Russian empire. If anything, Finland is a lesson in how a disparate group of people in the poorest corner of Europe can come together, say "Looks like we're a country now, how do we want to do this thing?" and succeed.