Mires, lakes, and Suomi

Mires and peatlands cover about 28% of Finland’s land area (roughly one-third if inland waters are included in the country’s total area). Finland has 187,888 lakes of at least 500 m²; the count depends on the size threshold used to define a lake. The popular link between the name *Suomi* and *suo* (“bog”) is not supported by current Finnish linguistic guidance: the name’s etymology remains unsettled. [1–4]