'''Mainland Finland''' ''(Manner-Suomi)'' is a term used for instance in
statistics to exclude the
autonomous Ã…land Islands under
Finnish sovereignty. ''Mainland Finland'' is not to be confused with
Finland Proper, which is the
province adjacent to Ã…land.
In a
geographical sense it could, of course, also be used to exclude the other islands off Finland's coast.
The term is significant in the context of legal differences between Ã…land and mainland Finland, and also in the context of differences of culture, language, history, and self-perceived nationhood between the Ã…landers and the
Swedish-speaking Finns in mainland Finland. However, since the size of Ã…land is well below one percent of that of mainland Finland and since the size of its population is below ten percent of that of the Swedish-speaking Finns in mainland Finland, there are many instances when this distinction is ignored.