User:Herostratus/Finland does not exist

Finland does not exist is an Internet meme that centers around a joke conspiracy theory which holds that the country of Finland does not actually exist, and that the land mass the country physically occupies is actually part of an enlarged Baltic Sea. Originating from a 2015 Reddit post made in jest, the theory claims that Finland was fabricated during the Cold War by the Soviet Union and Japan to secure fishing rights in the secret open water.

Origin and spread
An early proposal of this idea could be heard on the Danish satire radio show Gramsespektrum in a broadcasting from 1996. A comedy sketch was made describing a fictional speak in the venue K.B. Hallen, where a public speaker would convince a crowd that Finland doesn't exist.

The satirical idea holds that the country of Finland is a construct by various interests, chiefly the governments of Japan and Russia, and carefully nurtured by the promulgation of fake maps, histories, tour guides, and other methods. Under the theory, the landmass believed by most people to be occupied by Finland is actually open sea, part of an enlarged Baltic Sea.

The concept was first promulgated on the website Reddit in 2015. A subreddit (a forum section of the site) was set aside for discussion of the idea. From there, interest spread to other parts of the Internet. The original promulgator of the hoax, known as Raregans on Reddit claims that his parents taught him the "theory" in all seriousness, and that he no longer believes that it is true but that he thinks that some now do. Raregans also claimed that Finland "was merely a fictional creation designed to create fishing quotas to aid the export of sushi to Japan from Russia."

Performance artist Stephen Sheehan developed "Finland Does Not Exist" and presented it at the Crown Building Studios in Liverpool. The piece explores concepts such as life, death, and the absurdity of existence while referencing the conspiracy theory. A film is planned.

The Guardian used the Finland story in 2017 as one of eight examples of Internet conspiracy theories.

Details
According to the supposed conspiracy theory, the concept of "Finland" was created sometime during the Cold War.

The idea continues that, according to proponents of the conspiracy theory, Japanese–Soviet relations, and Japanese–Russian relations before and after the existence of the Soviet Union, have been in some ways secretive and mysterious. For instance, as early as 1925 Japan and the Soviet Union had secret bilateral fishing rights agreements, with the Soviet Union giving up much of its fishing rights to Japan with no obvious motive or explanation. (In reality, the two countries were involved in a series of military conflicts, beginning in 1812, over Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, the resolution of which involved territorial-waters agreements lasting until 1945.)

It is pointed out (by "Finland does not exist" aficionados) that during World War II the two countries (which then shared a common border) did not fight except at the very end, even though they belonged to enemy alliances. And Japan signed a peace treaty with the Soviets in 1941, just months before their German allies invaded the Soviet Union.

During the Cold War, according to proponents (or pretend proponents) of the conspiracy theory, relations between Japan and the Soviet Union were always good, despite the major geopolitical differences and competing alliances to which each belonged. These secret relations supposedly continued up to the end of the Soviet Union, with Mikhail Gorbachev making trips to Japan months before the fall of the Soviet Union even when Soviet relations with the rest of the world were deteriorating.

The explanation, according to the satire, is that they shared a common secret, a common asset that benefited both: Finland. It is not known exactly when Finland was first invented – possibly during the Cold War, or possibly as far back as the 1920s.

The construct "Finland" is said to allow Japan to fish in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Russia without restriction from competition, catch limits, environmental regulations, or other concerns. In return, Russia gets a percentage of the catch. The catch is transported across Russia to eastern Russia (the real reason the Trans-Siberian Railway was completed, the satire assert) then shipped to Japan under the guise of Nokia products. This is said to be why Nokia is the largest "Finnish" company and why Japan the largest importer of Nokia products despite the fact that very few Japanese people own Nokia phones.

The "theory" explains the Finns themselves thusly: Finnish people exist, and believe they live in Finland, although they actually live in small towns in eastern Sweden, western Russia, and northern Estonia. Helsinki is located in eastern Sweden. And most of "Finland" is described to the world as scantily populated or unpopulated forest and lake areas. In the parts of Estonia, Sweden, and Russia that are allocated as Finnish zones, the GPS locations are manipulated to match that of Finland. Satellite images are forged. IP addresses are spoofed.

Social Democratic Western countries in on the conspiracy are said to benefit by using Finland as an aspirational model. Finland is thus arranged to always place first in global surveys of healthcare, gender equality, literacy rates, lack of corruption, press freedom, education, and so forth, to serve as a model for these states to hold up to their populations as a goal for policy developments in their own country.

Another point made is that Finnish people make up 0.09% of the world's population, which is within the margin of error in censuses; that is, that 0.09% can be 0% within the margin of error.