LAPLAND

Autumn in Lapland

Lapland is the largest and northernmost of the regions of Finland. The changing of the seasons in Lapland is dramatic and distinctly noticeable. Lapland’s main seasons are spring, summer, autumn, and winter that lasts for around half a year. As the first night time frost of autumn sets in and the days get shorter, the vegetation starts preparations for the coming winter. The leaves of trees change colour from green into vibrant shades of golden yellow and glowing crimson to crown the period of natural colour and splendour called ruska. Ruska begins in the north where the best time to experience these remarkable colours of nature are after the first week in September. Ruska arrives in southern Lapland around a week later than in northern Lapland. Apart from admiring the countryside during ruska, the autumn is otherwise a good time to head for Lapland’s nature. The forests are full of berries and mushrooms just waiting to be picked. 

 

A beautiful stamp and postmarks.

Received from: Elenna

LIGHTS OF THE NORTH

Lapland

Lapland is the largest and northernmost of the regions of Finland. Lapland lies largely north of the Arctic Circle. The climate is subarctic and vegetation is sparse, except in the densely forested southern portion. North of the Arctic Circle polar night characterises the winter season and midnight sun the summer season—both phenomena are longer the further north one goes. The Aurora Borealis can be seen in all parts of Lapland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: anuemilia

WATER ANIMALS

Dolphins

These offshore dolphins are found in pods ranging from a few animals to several hundreds. They are small, fast, and agile and the calves can keep up with their mothers from an early age. Common dolphin often breach and bow ride with boats, displaying the very distinctive figure of eight pattern on their sides. Frenzied activity may be seen when a group of dolphins work together to drive shoaling fish to the surface, often attracting seabirds such as gannets.

 

 

 

 

 

Nice stamps.

Received from: Ichabodhides

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: saartwinkel

 

  

Seals

Seals can be found in all waters of the world, from the Arctic and Antarctic to tropical waters. They belong to the order Pinnipedia, which means "fin-footed". Pinnipeds have four flippers - one pair in front, and one pair in back. Pinnipeds are mammals. They're warm-blooded, give live birth, nurse their young, breathe air, and have hair. Eared seals (sea lions and fur seals) have external ear flaps and are able to use their flippers for walking on land by rotating their hind flippers forward. While swimming, they use their front flippers for power. All seals are carnivores. Their diet consists mostly of fish, crustaceans and shellfish.

Beautiful stamps.

Received from: Nordfriesland

Saimaan norppa

The Saimaa ringed seal is a subspecies of ringed seal. They are among the most endangered seals in the world, having a total population of only about 310 individuals. The only existing population of these seals is found in Lake Saimaa, Finland (hence the name). The population is descended from ringed seals that were separated from the rest when the land rose after the last ice age. This seal, along with the Ladoga Seal and the Baikal Seal, is one of the few living freshwater seals. They are coloured dark gray, with a gray-black dorsal with circular white rings. The Saimaa ringed seal has been protected since 1955. In order to protect the Saimaa ringed seal, there are voluntary fisheries restrictions in a part of their living areas.

Finnish EUROPA stamp.

Received from: Saint

ANIMALS - WOLVES

Eyesight

Wolves are usually born with deep blue eyes which lighten and then gradually fade into the adult eye color over the next six to ten weeks. A mature Wolf's eyes are often amber/brown or gold, but also commonly come in hues of brown, gray, yellow, and green. It is interesting to note that puppies are born with blue eyes, while mature Wolves do not retain blue as an eye color. Huskies often have blue eyes, and because of this people think there must be blue eyed Wolves as well, but this isn't true.

If you see a Wolf with blue eyes then he or she is likely a Wolf-hybrid and not a full-blooded Wolf. A Wolf's eye sight is just about as good as that of a human being. However some experts believe that Wolves may be nearsighted.  A Wolf's night vision is far superior to that of a human being.

 

A beautiful stamp.

Received from: nightrainboww

Timber wolf

The Mackenzie Valley Wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis) also known as the Canadian Timber Wolf is perhaps the largest subspecies of Gray Wolf in North America. Its range includes parts of the western United States, much of western Canada, and Alaska, including Unimak Island in the Aleutians, and was introduced into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. The Mackenzie Valley Wolf's thick, long limbs are proportionally built for traversing through rough terrain such as deep snow or the cliffy edges of the Rocky Mountains. The majority of the Mackenzie Valley Wolf's prey includes wild boar, wood bison, muskox, moose, caribou, deer, and elk.  

 

A lot of wonderful stamps.

Received from: zuisi

A nice stamp.

Received from: nismo

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: KassandraKing

FINLAND - OTHERS

Warm greetings from Finland

I don't know anything about this postcard, maybe typical things from Finland?

 

 

 

 

 

 

A beautiful stamp.

Received from: Rapu

if you want to color your life, come to the post office

Nice stamps.

Received from: sartsukka

An illustration

Cute, but who is this? Is it an illustration from a book? Can anyone tell me?

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: Minna71

 The Lighthouse Island of Norrskär

Norrskär is located in the middle of the Kvarken region, about 40 kilometres off the coast of Finland. This wave-washed island group consists of about ten reefs and islands, of which Västra and Östra Norrskär are the biggest. Västra Norrskär with its lighthouse, former pilot station and fishing village has been and is the most populated and visited island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice stamps.

Received from: Floranna

Aho & Soldan - Detail

Heikki Aho (1895-1961) and Björn Soldan (1902-1953) are viewed as pioneers of Finnish documentary film. Through their legendary film production company Aho & Soldan, founded in Helsinki in 1925 and active until 1961, the Finnish documentary film tradition was born. Aho & Soldan produced more than 400 documentary films, being the largest such producer in the 1930´s in Finland. Heikki Aho and Björn Soldan focused on documentary photography as well as artistic photography and created thousands of pictures. They were members of the modernistic ABISS-group inspired by the "New Objectivity". The group´s landmark exhibition at Salon Strindberg in May 1930 is regarded as a turning point in Finnish photography.

 

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: Primavista

 

An illustration by Rudolf Koivu

Rudolf Koivu (1890 - 1946) was a Finnish illustrator and painter, best known for illustrating books of fairytales for children, which are enduringly and timelessly popular.

 

EUROPA stamp.

Received from: miss_annie

A Finnish Cow

A beautiful stamp.

Received from: Kersantti_Magia

FINLAND - NATURE

Lakes

Finland is the country with the most waters in the whole world. 10% of Finland's surface is covered by lakes. There are 187,888 lakes in Finland larger than 5 ares (500 square metres). Most are small, but there are 309 lakes or reservoirs larger than 10 km².

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice stamps.

Received from: Winkkara

Winter greetings

Winter usually begins in mid-October in Lapland and during November in the rest of Finland, though not until December in the southwestern archipelago. It thus takes about two months for winter to proceed from Lapland to Åland. The sea and large lakes slow down the progress of winter. Winter is the longest season in Finland, lasting for about 100 days in southwestern Finland and 200 days in Lapland. North of the Arctic Circle, part of winter is the period known as the "polar night", when the sun does not rise above the horizon at all. In the northernmost corner of Finland, the polar night lasts for 51 days. In southern Finland, the shortest day is about 6 hours long.

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: Siru62

 

 

Tourist centre at Sallatunturi Fjeld

A beautiful stamp.

Received from: gimaho

 

Forests

Finland is the most extensively forested country in Europe. Forests cover 86 percent of its land area. There are about four and half hectares of forest to every Finn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice stamps.

Received from: Aqality

Finland

The landscape is covered mostly (seventy-five percent of land area) by coniferous taiga forests and fens, with little arable land. The most common type of rock is granite. It is a ubiquitous part of the scenery, visible wherever there is no soil cover. Moraine or till is the most common type of soil, covered by a thin layer of humus of biological origin. Podzol profile development is seen in most forest soils except where drainage is poor. Gleysols and peat bogs occupy poorly drained areas.

 

 

 

A nice Moomin stamp.

Received from: Elmanaakka

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. The Baltic Sea occupies a basin formed by glacial erosion during the last few Ice Ages. During winter, fast ice, which is attached to the shoreline, develops first, rendering the ports unusable without the services of icebreakers. In spring, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia normally thaw during in late April, with some ice ridges persisting until May in the eastern extremities of the Gulf of Finland. In the northernmost reaches of the Bothnian Bay, ice usually stays until late May; by early June it is practically always gone.

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: cicus

 

 

 

Autumn colours at Pallastunturi

Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is Finland’s third largest National Park. Geologically Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is located between Northern Finland, Forest Lapland and Fell Lapland, making it a very varied and interesting habitat. In the park’s forests and on its fells there is a mix of northern and southern species. It is also the area in which visitors can see the transition area where peoples livelihood changes from farming to reindeer husbandry. The picturesque beauty of the Pallastunturi Fells has made the area one of the Finnish national landscapes.  

 

 

A nice stamp.

Received from: Lilla

A Frozen Waterfall

Waterfalls are one of nature’s most dynamically beautiful phenomena, even when the water isn’t falling. This postcard of a frozen waterfall shows what happens when Mother Nature decides to take a snapshot of her most moving creations. Finland in winter is a frozen waterfall paradise.

A nice stamp.

Received from: Sami

FINLAND - CITIES

Turku

Turku is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper.  It is believed to have been first settled around the end of the 13th century, making it the oldest city in Finland. On the postcard you can see Handicraft Museum, Castle, the River Aura, Samppalinna's Theatre and Cathedral.

A nice stamp.

Received from: Tatveru

 

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. Helsinki is spread across a number of bays and peninsulas and over a number of islands. Czar Alexander I of Russia moved the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki in 1812 to reduce Swedish influence in Finland and bring the capital closer to St. Petersburg.

Nice stamps - flag and aurora borealis.

Received from: leyla (two postcards)

Juva

Juva is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region some 270 kilometres (170 mi) North-East of Helsinki. It was founded on 19 January 1442, and is the oldest parish/municipality in Finland whose exact date of birth is known. The Lake Jukajärvi is located in Juva municipality.

A beautiful stamp.

Received from: kukkapirjo

Oulu

Oulu is a city and municipality in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland.

A nice stamp.

Received from: Nepu

Frans Michael Franzén is an outdoor sculpture located in the city centre in Oulu, Finland. It is the eldest public monument in Oulu. Bronze bust of Oulu-born poet Frans Michael Franzén was made by Finnish sculptor Erland Stenberg, while he was working in Paris in 1878-1879. Unveiling of the sculpture in 1881 was a major social event in Oulu. The Church Square on which the bust was erected was later converted to park and named Franzén Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful stamps. 

Received from: Arianna Valori