Final answer:
The Baltic Republics are Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, not including Finland, which is false in the question's context. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined the EU and NATO, and their market economies have attracted multinationals. Finland is a Nordic country and was not incorporated into the USSR but maintained its independence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania are known as the Baltic Republics is false. The Baltic Republics refers to Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania—not Finland. Although these states are geographically close and share historical events, Finland is considered a Nordic country along with Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Instead, Finland has strong connections with these Nordic countries, sharing much of its history and cultural aspects including the influence of Viking heritage.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and later joined both NATO and the EU in 2004, aligning more with Western European economies. They have transitioned to market economies and are attractive to multinationals because they have rapidly expanded their economic conditions post-independence, despite being hard hit by the 2008 global downturn. The reference to Finland in the 1939 number of Soviet republics is due to the Winter War when the USSR attempted to assert control over Finnish territory, but Finland ultimately preserved its independence.