finance company Specialized financial institution that supplies credit for the purchase of consumer goods and services. Finance companies pur¬ chase unpaid customer accounts at a discount from merchants and collect payments due from customers. They also grant small loans directly to consumers at a relatively high rate of interest.
Financial Times Morning daily newspaper published in London. Founded in 1888, it competed for many years with four other finance- oriented papers, finally in 1945 absorbing the last of them. Known as one of England’s best papers, it specializes in reporting international business and financial news while maintaining an independent editorial outlook. Printed as a broadsheet on distinctive pink newsprint, it has had a strong influence on the British government’s financial policies, and its circula¬ tion is one of the world’s highest among financial newspapers.
finback whale See fin whale
finch Any of several hundred species of small, conical-billed, seed-eating songbirds (in several families), including the bunting, canary, cardinal, chaffinch, crossbill, Darwin's (Galapagos) finch, goldfinch, grass finch, grosbeak, sparrow, and weaver. Finches are small, compact birds 3-10 in. (10-27 cm) long. Most use their heavy bill to crack seeds; many also eat insects. Many finches are brightly coloured, often with shades of red and yellow. Found throughout the temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere and South America and in parts of Africa, finches are among the domi¬ nant birds in many areas, both in numbers of individuals and species. They are often kept as singing cage birds.
Fine Gael Vfe-no-'gaH Irish "Gaelic Nation" Major political party in Ireland, also known as United Ireland Party. It was founded in 1933 in the amalgamation of several parties, including the Cumann na nGaedheal (“Society of Gaels”), which had been formed by members of the Dail
(assembly) who accepted the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921. It held power briefly in 1948, but Fianna Fail dominated Irish politics until 1973. From the mid-1970s, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail vied for power in com¬ petitive elections, with Fine Gael forming several coalition governments.
finery process Early method of converting cast iron to wrought iron, superseding the bloomery process after blast furnaces became widespread. Pieces of cast iron (see pig iron) were placed on a finery hearth, on which charcoal was being burned with a plentiful supply of air, so that carbon in the iron was removed by oxidation, leaving semisolid malleable iron behind. From the 15th century on, this two-stage process gradually replaced direct making of malleable iron. It was in turn replaced by the PUDDLING PROCESS.
Finger Lakes Group of narrow, glacial lakes, western New York state, U.S. They lie in north-to-south valleys between Syracuse and Geneseo. The region, which embraces more than 20 state parks, is noted for its scenery, has many resorts, and produces fruits (especially grapes) and vegetables. Seneca Lake, the largest in the group, is 67 sq mi (174 sq km).
fingerprinting Act of taking an impression of a person’s fingerprint. Because each person’s fingerprints are unique, fingerprinting is used as a method of identification, especially in police investigations. The standard method of fingerprint classification was developed by Sir Francis Galton and Sir Edward Henry; their system was officially introduced at Scotland Yard in 1901. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation maintains a finger¬ print file on more than 250 million people; fingerprints retrieved from a crime scene may be compared with those on file to identify suspects. DNA analysis, which examines regions of DNA unique to each person, is some¬ times called DNA fingerprinting.
Fink, Mike (b. 1770/80, Fort Pitt, Pa.—d. 1823, Fort Henry? [North Dakota]) U.S. keelboatman. He won fame in his youth as a local marks¬ man and Indian scout. Later, when keelboats became the chief vessels of commerce on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, he was known as “king of the keelboatmen.” Renowned as a marksman, roisterer, and champion rough-and-tumble fighter, he became a legendary hero of the American tall tale; even in his own time, his name was synonymous with the brag¬ gadocio of Western frontiersmen. He was shot and killed on a fur-trapping expedition to the upper Missouri River.
Finke River \'fiqk\ River, central Australia. Rising south of Mount Ziel in the MacDonnell Ranges, it flows southeast for some 400 mi (640 km) through the southern Northern Territories and northern South Australia. It reaches Lake Eyre in South Australia only during times of flood, when it may spread for hundreds of square miles beyond its banks. It contains Finke Gorge National Park.
Finland officially Republic of Finland Country, northern Europe. Area: 130,559 sq mi (338,145 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 5,244,000. Capitaclass="underline" Helsinki. The majority of the people are Finns; there is a small Sami (Lapp) population in Lapland. Languages: Finnish and Swedish are both “national” languages; the Sami speak a Finno-Ugric language. Reli¬ gion: Christianity (predominantly Protestant; also Eastern Orthodox). Currency: euro. Finland is one of the world’s most northern and geo¬ graphically remote countries, about one-third of it lying north of the Arc¬ tic Circle. Heavily forested, it contains thousands of lakes, numerous rivers, and extensive areas of marshland. Except for a small highland region in the extreme northwest, Finland’s relief doesn’t vary greatly. The south has relatively mild weather; the north has severe and prolonged winters and short summers. Finland has a developed free-market economy combined with state ownership of a few key industries. It is among the wealthiest countries in Europe and in the world. Lumbering is a major industry, and manufacturing is highly developed; service industries are also notable. Finland is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Archaeological discoveries have led some to suggest that human habita¬ tion in Finland dates back at least 100,000 years. Ancestors of the Sami apparently were present in Finland by about 7000 bc. The ancestors of the present-day Finns came from the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland in the 1st millennium bc. The area was gradually Christianized from the 11th century ad. From the 12th century Sweden and Russia contested for supremacy in Finland, until in 1323 Sweden ruled most of the country. Russia was ceded part of Finnish territory in 1721; in 1808 Alexander I of Russia invaded Finland, which in 1809 was formally ceded to Russia. The subsequent period saw the growth of Finnish nationalism. Russia’s losses
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in World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917 set the stage for Finland’s inde¬ pendence in 1917. Finland was defeated by the Soviet Union in the Russo-Finnish War (1939—40) but renewed its fight with the Soviets (the “War of Continu¬ ation”) after Germany attacked the U.S.S.R. in 1941. In 1944, facing defeat again, Finland made peace with the Soviets, ceding territory and paying reparations. Finland’s economy recovered after World War II. It joined the European Union in 1995.
Finlay \fin-'ll\, Carlos J(uan) (b. Dec. 3, 1833, Puerto Principe, Cuba—d. Aug. 20, 1915, Havana) Cuban epidemiologist. He is known for his discovery that yellow fever is transmitted by a mosquito. Though he published experimental evidence in 1886, his ideas were ignored for nearly 20 years. He urged the study of means of transmission and stated that the carrier was the mosquito Culex fasciatus (now called Aedes aegypti). In 1900 Walter Reed confirmed Finlay’s theory, leading to the eradication of yellow fever in Cuba and Panama by William Gorgas. After his death, the Cuban government created the Finlay Institute for Investi¬ gations in Tropical Medicine.