We’ve all been fed a massive lie (Picture Getty) We’re living in a golden age of conspiracy theories, with YouTube, Twitter and Facebook a fertile birthing pool for some of the most bonkers ideas ever created.

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But forget the idea that Melania Trump is a robot, or that the Earth is flat and we’re on some kind of magic pancake floating in space – how about the conspiracy that Finland doesn’t exist?

Yes, people really believe this one, and there’s an entire subreddit devoted to the idea that Finland is in fact an open expanse of ocean and ‘Finns’ actually live in Sweden.



The country was dreamt up by Russia and Japan in World War 2 so that Japan could secretly fish there without obeying environmental laws (Russia eats the fish).


The clues are how Russia and Japan always had friendly relations – with Japan signing a peace treaty with Russia, just before their WW2 ally, Germany went to war.

People who think they live in Finland actually live in Eastern Sweden or Western Russia and Estonia – and GPS signals are forged, so no one knows.

Other countries went along with the conspiracy to appease the Soviet Union – but since then, have gone along with it to hold up the fictional ‘Finland’ as a world leader in education, literacy and stability.

Oh, and the name Finland is a giveaway, because fish have fins.

Want to find out more? There’s an excellent FAQ pinned to the top of this subreddit.

Tin foil hats are advised.