Rural Area Typology in Finland—Marginality within Rural Areas

With a land area of 337,000 square kilometres and only 5 million inhabitants, Finland is very thinly populated. Such a sparse population does not encourage the growth of urban centres on an international scale. Finland is one of the most northerly countries in which agriculture is carried on and, despite its sparse habitation, Rural Finland has a comprehensive infrastructure and network of social services (Malinen et al. 1993).