general information about language situation in Finland

Finnish and swedish are the two national languages of Finland. 90% of Finlands population has finnish as their mother tongue, which is spoken in all parts of Finland and 5.4% swedish, which is mostly spoken on the western and southern coasts. According to the National Constitution both languages have the same right to receive public service and to be educated in their mother tongue. There are two swedish-language universities in Finland and six universities where both finnish and swedish are used as a language of instruction and examination.

Furthermore Sami languages, which are spoken from the indigenous people (about 0.03% of the population) living in the northernmost parts of Finland, are hold a special status ensured by law. They have the right to maintain and develop their own language and culture. The Sami language may be a language of instruction in basic, general upper secondary and vocational education. It can be taught as the mother tongue and as a foreign language. In the four municipalities of the Sami domicile area, Sami-speaking pupils must be provided with basic education primarily in the sami language, if their parents so wish.

Within the framework of basic education system, romany and finnish sign language are also two  other mother tongue that have a similar position in the National Curriculum. Romany can be taught as the mother tongue or as an elective subject in basic education. The actually use of this language in their everyday lives is somewhat difficult to estimate.

This means that the first part of the subject called mother tongue and literature may actually mean a choice of different mother tongues: Finnish, Swedish, Saami, Romany or Finnish sign language.

Beside the five languages, which have a special legal positin, there are about 80 other languages in Finland that have more than 100 native speakers. Russian (around 54000 speakers), Estonian (around 28000 speakers), Somali (around 13000 speakers) and Arabic (around 10000) are the biggest language groups beside the national languages in Finland.