Welcome

Welcome to Rotary Finland
- a briefing for visitors


Rotary at home in the Land of the Midnight Sun

The Rotary movement, established in Chicago in 1905, came to Finland in 1926. The 1920s in Finland were marked by the building up of the newly established Republic of Finland that had torn itself away from the position as a Grand Duchy under a Governor General of the Russian empire. Finland´s moment came in 1917 during the Russian revolution and in the aftermath of WWI. When WWII broke out there were eight clubs in Finland and 270 rotarians.

Cooperation with Germany during the actual fighting of the war and the uneasy peace concluded with the Soviet Union after the war left little leeway. Neither of the two totalitarian countries looked too kindly upon the Anglo-American influenced Rotary movement. The general trend in the post-war years, when the country sought a closer orientation towards the Western world, brought about a boom in the establishment of Rotary Clubs in all parts of the country. A social order for rotary had emerged. Similar trends in the other Nordic countries took all to the top ten league in rotary density per capita in the world. Today Finland has a good 300 rotary clubs and 12,000 Rotarians in a population of 5 million.

The Finnish Rotary clubs are divided into six Districts, with District 1420 being responsible for the administration of the Rotary clubs in Estonia.

Accessing clubs in Finland

English is spoken widely throughout Finland, and whilst all except one Finnish club use either Finnish or Swedish as the language-of-use at club meetings, there are invariably Rotarians at all club meetings with the ability to communicate quite easily in English. Club presentations are mostly given in Finnish, in Swedish in the Swedish-speaking regions, but occasionally also in English.

The foreign community of Finland is catered to, however, via the Helsinki International Rotary Club where English is the language used. The H.I.R.C. meets on Mondays at the Scandic Continental Hotel (Ambassador Room, 9th floor), Mannerheimintie, Helsinki. The meetings commence at 11.30 and end at 13.00. Visiting Rotarians and guests are most welcome. All Finnish rotary districts and Rotary Clubs have their own home pages with information on contact persons and current agendas.

A well-networked whole

Cooperation between Finnish Rotary Districts is carried out through a multi-district organisation, Suomen Rotary – Finlands Rotary. The home pages of Suomen Rotary-Finlands Rotary include general information about rotary in Finland and many useful links.

The Estonian Rotary clubs are included within District 1420 of Rotary Finland. The links between the Rotary movements in Finland and Estonia have always been close since the sponsor club for Estonia’s first Rotary club was Helsinki-Helsingfors RC. This was in 1929. The Rotary movement was banned in Estonia with effect from August 6, 1940 until the end of the Soviet occupation. Upon regaining independence in 1991, the Rotary movement was re-established in Estonia. The new Tallinn R.C. was chartered on May 5, 1991. Today, the 14 Estonian clubs are actively pursuing a normal Rotary agenda.