Saksa

Saksa is the name used in Finnish and Estonian for Germany and for the German language. In Finnish, the country is commonly referred to as Saksa, and the German language is often described as Saksan kieli when clarity is needed. The Finnish demonym for a German person is saksalainen. The usage reflects how Finnic languages adapt foreign place names and linguistic terms.

The German language is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European family. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in the European Union and is used extensively in education, media, and government. It has official status in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and parts of Belgium and Italy, and is spoken by numerous communities worldwide.

Germany, or Deutschland, is a federal parliamentary republic located in central Europe. The modern German state emerged in the 19th century and was later divided into East and West during the Cold War; reunification occurred in 1990. Today Germany is a member of the European Union and NATO, with a highly developed economy and considerable cultural influence in science, philosophy, music, literature, and beyond.

In contexts involving language and geography, saksa serves as a language-specific label for Germany and the German language in several Finnic-speaking communities, highlighting how national names are rendered across languages. See also Germany, German language, and Finnish language.