We\u2019ll start in Kouvola. It\u2019s a Finnish town, pretty much like any other, with a population of around 32,000. It sits at 60\u00b0 88’N, 26\u00b0 70’E. <\/p>\n
The location is only significant in the sense that if one were to draw a line horizontally across the map at this point, half of the Finnish population would lie to the north, and half to the south. <\/p>\n
Kouvola is a good starting point: the great majority of the Finnish population lives in a built-up area like this today. <\/p>\n
Finland is one big Kouvola.<\/strong> <\/p>\n This is what Finland looks like in the early years of the 21st century. Walking along a pedestrian precinct in the centre of Kouvola, you could be in any Finnish city whatsoever, on any pedestrian precinct whatsoever: a lot of glass, a lot of steel, logos just above head height, brick-tiled walls and paving-stones. <\/p>\n And in the middle of all this sit some old people, talking about their ailments. They were born into a very different Finland, one that you can no longer see hide nor hair of. <\/p>\n But at least it\u2019s clean and tidy. =)<\/p>\n