There is a small community of Indians in Finland consisting mainly of Finnish citizens of Indian origin or descent as well as expatriates from India.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 11,634[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Espoo, Helsinki, Vantaa, Tampere | |
| Languages | |
| Finnish · Various Indian Languages · English | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism · Sikhism . Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| People of Indian Origin |
Overview
editAt the beginning of the 21st century there were about 450 Indians in the Helsinki region.[2] In 2022, Finland was home to 11,634 Indians.[3] The majority of the Indians live in and around the capital Helsinki. Most of them are engaged in businesses such as restaurants and stores selling garments, textiles, artificial jewellery, groceries and gift items. A number of young Indians, mainly computer and telecom experts, have in recent years joined Finnish high-tech companies such as Nokia.
There are hundreds of Indian engineers working in Finland. Many of them came to work there to get a quality life and also their salary would be double than what they would get in India even though taxes erode the difference.[4] At Nokia's research facility alone there are nearly 100 Indians working there. Wipro employed some 300 people in Finland while their competitor Tata Consultancy Services employed 600 individuals. Many of the engineers came with their spouses and children and have settled permanently in Finland.
There is also a sizable population of Indian postgraduate students, both Master's and PhD level students, in Finland and especially in Helsinki region. They are most prominent in technology related fields.[5]
There is a Gurudwara in Helsinki, which provides Sikh services and langar (free meals) to everyone. There are also Indian communities who celebrate Indian festivals such as Diwali, Pongal, etc. The sizes of the communities are growing.
Distribution
edit| No. | Municipality | Indians | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Espoo | 3000 | 0.9 |
| 2. | Helsinki | 2074 | 0.32 |
| 3. | Vantaa | 898 | 0.39 |
| 4. | Tampere | 574 | 0.24 |
Notable people
edit- Jenni Banerjee - Finnish actress
- Anya Lahiri - British actress, model and singer
- Jasmin Mäntylä - Finnish model and singer
- Sanal Edamaruku - a Malayali Indian Rationalist from Kerala
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Statistics Finland
- ^ HELSINGIN SANOMAT - INTERNATIONAL EDITION - METRO - South Asian population grows sharply in Helsinki region
- ^ Statistics Finland
- ^ Nordic Labour Journal - Finland's welfare system appeals to Indian IT engineers
- ^ Helsinki in on top in Technology and Research - Finland and India
- ^ "PX-Web - Valitse muuttuja ja arvot". Archived from the original on 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2018-12-25.
