The Finnish language (or suomen kieli, pronounced [‘suɒmen kiː’eli] in Finnish] is the main official language of Finland, spoken by 93% of the country’s 5 million inhabitants. The other official language, Swedish, is spoken by around 6% of the population. Sami is an ancient Uralic language, dating back to 1000 BCE, which is spoken by around 2,000 people in northern Finland nowadays. Prior to the Middle Ages, Finnish was an oral language – its first comprehensive writing system for Finnish was created by Mikael Agricola, a Finnish bishop, in the 16th century. Writing system: Latin (Finnish alphabet) Official language in: Finland, European Union