tional coverage and some thirty local TV stations. The only radio broadcaster with full nationwide coverage is YLE. It transmits on four national channels in Finnish and two in Swedish and on various regional channels, including one in the Sami language in Lapland. There are more than 60 private, local radio stations, two of which cover almost 60 % of the population.YLE's TV Finland is broadcast to most of Europe by satellite. Radio Finland can be heard all around the world.The importance of electronic media is growing fast. Internet connections per capita in Finland were the highest in the world in 1999 with 25 Internet users per 100 inhabitants.Education and ResearchAll children receive compulsory basic education between the ages of 7 and 16. Education beyond the age of 16 is voluntary, taking the form of either a three to four-year course in upper secondary school or 2 to 5 years at a vocational school. There are 21 universities or institutes of higher education, with a total student population of around 135 000, of whom 52 % are women. 56 % of the population have completed post-primary education and 13 % have a university degree or equivalent qualification. In recent years there has been national focus on research and product development, with special emphasis on information technology. R&D expenditure in relation to GNP has risen continuously and reached 2.9 % of GNP in 1999.Industry and the EconomyFinland's road to industrialisation started in the 19th century with the harnessing of forest resources. Forests are still Finland's most crucial raw material resource, although the engineering and high technology industries, led by Nokia, have long been the leading branches of manufacturing. The most important export product today is the mobile phone and Finland is one of the few European countries whose exports exceed imports in data and communications technology. Finland has more mobile phones per capita than any other country, some 6...
