ABSTRACT
The first inhabitants of Finland lived along the coast in the south and west of the country. From the Middle Ages Sweden exerted the strongest and most immediate influence. The Åland Islands (between Sweden and Finland) were inhabited around 500 A.D. by settlers from Sweden and ever since have had a Swedish-speaking population. Swedes ruled Finland for about 500 years. Finland was incorporated into Sweden in 1155 under the leadership of the Catholic St. Hendrick, Finland’s first Bishop of Turku. During that period Nordic institutions and traditions, religious practices, education and public administration were introduced in Finland (Häikiö, 1992). Also, the Swedish civil and criminal codes, approved at a meeting of the Swedish-Finnish Estates in 1734, remained in force during the period of Russian rule (Häikiö, 1992).
