- published: 21 May 2016
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The President of the Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavallan presidentti, Swedish: Republiken Finlands president) is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing only residual powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years. Since 1991, no President may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. The President must be a native-born Finnish citizen. The office was established by the Constitution Act of 1919. The current office-holder is Sauli Niinistö.
Officially the head of state is known as the President of the Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavallan presidentti; Swedish: Republiken Finlands president) or, more often, the President of the Republic (tasavallan presidentti, republikens president). This is in contrast to the former presidents, who retain the title "President". In other contexts, the generic term for "President" is puheenjohtaja – except for appeals courts and supreme courts where the term presidentti is used.
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finland i/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.