Finland's history and geography - caught between the powerful kingdom in the west and the even bigger empire in the east - compelled it to pul the nation's interest first and not allow education policy to become victim to partisan politics. Finland is a small nation that the rest of the world sees as a strange place that speaks a language nobody else understands. Over the past half-century Finns have adopted an understanding that the only way to survive as a small, independent nation is by educating all people.