The record: the most nationalities in one sauna. 2008, Japan: 57. 2009, Finland: 76, passports checked at the door. 2013, Beijing: 99, for a sports drink that replaces the ions you lose when you sweat. Finland wanted it back.

November 2019, the Naval Academy's sauna on Suomenlinna, built in 1904, the largest in Finland. The rule: five minutes at sixty degrees, low on purpose so everyone would be comfortable. One man had been there in 2009 too: "I had to come. This record belongs to Finland!" They counted 101, and the judge from Guinness confirmed it.

Open the record book today: 99. Equalled. Finland came to win and got a draw. Ninety-nine all. In a sauna, nobody wins. That is the point.

How many countries have you shared a sauna with?

Sources: Guinness World Records, "Most nationalities in a sauna" (read October 2026); Yle, 12 November 2009 and 15 November 2019; Finland Today, 14 November 2019. Quotes from Finland Today. The pictures are our drawings, not photographs.
Sounds: Freesound (CC0): I.fekry, eddies2000, Ambiabstract, brunoboselli, ivolipa, richwise, kyles, mcmikai, supaluci, ralph.whitehead, Breviceps, TRP; Mökkiperikunnalle sounds (CC0).