Nations in Finnish universities

Though membership is not compulsory, the nations provide one of the main nodes of student social life, along with the faculty-based organisations (ainejärjestöt) at the universities.

The first Finnish student nations were originally established at The Royal Academy of Turku.

Their institutional form is based on the original nation system of the University of Uppsala.

Today there are 15 nations, each one representing a historic region or province of Finland.

[1] Therefore, organizations termed "nations" at other Finnish universities founded in the 20th century are not nations in the legal sense of the word, but instead associations, regulated by the Associations Act.