Finland’s proud stamp history
Modern atlases locate Finland at the cul-de-sac end of the Baltic Sea and give the impression of a land somewhat isolated even from its Nordic neighbours. The history of earlier centuries, on the other hand, reveals Finland at the hub of an extensive network of trade ways, sea lanes and river porterage routes. In the Viking Age (8th-12th century) a commonplace response to poor harvests or inter-tribal wars saw young Finnic men volunteering as mercenary crew members aboard Viking expeditions that took them deep into Russia, or to southern Baltic foreshore markets. 21st century news reminds us of one of those busy trading ports at the confluence of the rivers Dnieper and Desna in the lands of the Russ. Its name: Kiev.
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