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135-862: The institute was established in 1918 as a temporary police training school by the Helsinki Police Department. It operated as the Police Academy in various parts of the Greater Helsinki area, such as Espoo and the Suomenlinna fortress , until 1974 when the academy's Police Course Centre was transferred to Tampere. In 1986, the Police Course Centre became an independent unit, the National Police School, and moved to its current campus in

270-468: A Finnish tribe , and the area in which the city lies on did most likely have a different name. The name of Espoo is believed to have derived from the Medieval Swedish village of Espaby (or Espoby ), which was located in the western part of the present-day city. It may refer to aspens that grew on a nearby riverbank, as the archaic Swedish word for the tree is "äspe", and the word for a river

405-613: A bachelor's and a master's degree in police services and specialized courses, such as driver's courses and an executive MBA in policing. Furthermore, the institution publishes targeted research on police matters, such as analysis on hate crime . All new police officers in Finland graduate from the institute and the bachelor's degree is considered a basic degree for law enforcement duties with training available in both Finnish and Swedish. In 2016, 132 police officers graduated from degree programmes and 6,100 people attended training outside

540-664: A 113-meter-tall hotel and a 24-story residential tower have been approved. 121- and 93-meter-tall office buildings are planned to be built in Ruoholahti . Well over 200 high-rise buildings will be built in Helsinki in the 2020s. Well-known statues and monuments strongly embedded in the cityscape of Helsinki include the Keisarinnankivi ("Stone of the Empress", 1835), the statue of Russian Emperor Alexander II (1894),

675-525: A central city area. Instead, it has five distinct city centres: Leppävaara , Tapiola , Matinkylä , Espoon keskus and Espoonlahti . Espoo has numerous local centres formed around historical manors . Because of its structure, Espoo is generally considered even "the most American suburban city of Finland". Aalto University is situated in Otaniemi , Espoo, alongside a thriving scientific community that comprises startups and associations such as VTT –

810-516: A church was founded near the village of Södrik, the name Espoonjoki was given to a river running from lake Kirkkojärvi to Kauklahti. Espoo became an independent parish in the 15th century. Previously Espoo had been a chapel parish under Kirkkonummi . The stone Espoo Cathedral was built in the 1480s by initiative from the peasants. Up to the 1670s the eastern parts of Espoo belonged to the Helsinki parish , after which they were officially annexed to

945-644: A few decades, the lands in Espoo had been dealt to seven noble families. In the early 18th century the Great Northern War and the Great Wrath caused poverty among the people. During this time, many members of the estates in Espoo moved to Sweden. The foundation of Sveaborg in front of Helsinki increased the traffic in Espoo and many officers bought villas in Espoo. Construction of the fortress required transport of bricks from factories in Espoo. In

1080-502: A landscape of small villages. Some of the old villages from the 1240s in the area of present-day Helsinki, such as Koskela and Töölö , are now Helsinki districts, as are the rest of the 27 medieval villages. The area gradually became part of the Kingdom of Sweden and Christianity. Kuninkaantie , or the "King's Road", ran through the area and two interesting medieval buildings were built here: Vartiokylä hillfort  [ fi ] in

1215-441: A local level, and local militias, citizens' guards, fire brigades and security forces were founded. These forces were not originally founded for military purposes but to uphold the general order. The activity was voluntary-based, and the forces were organised for example during strikes. In autumn 1917 the nature of the organisation became more military and the number of local workers' guards increased rapidly. The armed organisation

1350-529: A more solid naval defence in front of the city. Little came of these plans, however, as Helsinki remained a small town plagued by poverty, war and disease. The plague of 1710 killed most of Helsinki's population. After the Russians captured Helsinki in May 1713 during the Great Northern War , the retreating Swedish administration set fire to parts of the city. Despite this, the city's population grew to 3,000 by

1485-441: A network-like structure to the modern day. In the 16th century Espoo changed into a parish of many large farmsteads. The war between Sweden and Russia in the late 16th century attracted farmstead owners to found horse steads in hopes of reduced taxation. Horse stead owners were required to uphold a rider in the wars fought by the realm. In the late 17th century the crown had donated lands to noblemen with success in wars, and during

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1620-528: A total area of 95,480 acres (38,640 ha). Of the total area, 48,190 acres (19,500 ha) are water areas and 47,290 acres (19,140 ha) are land areas. The city also has seven nature reserves in Espoo , Sipoo , Hanko and Ingå . The largest nature reserve is the Vanhankaupunginselkä , with an area of 30,600 acres (12,400 ha). The city's first nature reserve, Tiiraluoto of Lauttasaari,

1755-580: A train") and frowned upon by locals. Helsset is the Northern Sami name for Helsinki. After the end of the Ice Age and the retreat of the ice sheet, the first settlers arrived in the Helsinki area around 5000 BC. Their presence has been documented by archaeologists in Vantaa , Pitäjänmäki and Kaarela . Permanent settlements did not appear until the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, during

1890-505: Is "å", with the suffix "-by" meaning village. The coat of arms of Espoo features a gold horseshoe topped by a gold crown on a blue shield. The crown refers to the old kungsgård of Espoo and the horseshoe refers to the obligation to transport officials, military or prisoners that parishes along the King's Road fell under. Many roads in Espoo still follow the old medieval King's Road. The King's Road in Finland, stretching from Turku in

2025-635: Is a city in Finland . It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki , in southern Uusimaa . The population is approximately 320,000. It is the 2nd most populous municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area , which has approximately 1.6 million inhabitants. Espoo is on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland and borders Helsinki , Vantaa , Kirkkonummi , Vihti and Nurmijärvi . The city includes

2160-516: Is around 19 to 22 °C (66 to 72 °F). Due to the sea effect, especially on hot summer days, daytime temperatures are slightly cooler and nighttime temperatures higher than further inland. The highest temperature recorded in the city was 33.2 °C (91.8 °F) on 28 July 2019 at the Kaisaniemi weather station, breaking the previous record of 33.1 °C (91.6 °F) set in July 1945 at

2295-652: Is chosen in the nationally held municipal elections , which are held every four years. Helsinki's city council consists of eighty-five members. Following the most recent municipal elections in 2017, the three largest parties are the National Coalition Party (25), the Green League (21), and the Social Democratic Party (12). The Mayor of Helsinki is Juhana Vartiainen . The city of Helsinki has 683,669 inhabitants, making it

2430-532: Is classified as a major port city, and in 2017 it was rated the world's busiest passenger port. According to a theory put forward in the 1630s, at the time of Swedish colonisation of the Finnish coast, colonists from Hälsingland in central Sweden arrived at what is now the Vantaa River and called it Helsingå ('Helsinge River'), giving rise to the names of the village and church of Helsinge in

2565-420: Is comparatively high in certain parts of downtown Helsinki, reaching 16,494 inhabitants per square kilometre (42,720/sq mi) in the district of Kallio , overall Helsinki's population density is 3,147 per square kilometre. Outside the city centre, much of Helsinki consists of post-war suburbs separated by patches of forest. A narrow, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) long Helsinki Central Park , which stretches from

2700-488: Is derived. Official Finnish government documents and Finnish language newspapers have used the name Helsinki since 1819, when the Senate of Finland moved to the city from Turku , the former capital of Finland. Decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is how the form Helsinki came to be used in written Finnish. When Finland became a Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state under

2835-541: Is divided into three major areas: Helsinki Downtown ( Finnish : Helsingin kantakaupunki , Swedish : Helsingfors innerstad ), North Helsinki ( Finnish : Pohjois-Helsinki , Swedish : Norra Helsingfors ) and East Helsinki ( Finnish : Itä-Helsinki , Swedish : Östra Helsingfors ). Of these, Helsinki Downtown means the undefined core area of capital, as opposed to suburbs . The designations business center and city center usually refer to Kluuvi , Kamppi and Punavuori . Other subdivisional centers outside

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2970-577: Is from as late as 1431. The construction of the Espoo Cathedral , the oldest preserved building in Espoo, marks the independence of Espoo. Administratively, Espoo was a part of Uusimaa . When the province was split to Eastern and Western provinces governed from the Porvoo and Raseborg castles , respectively, the eastern border of the Raseborg province was in Espoo. The 13th-century road connecting

3105-779: Is the Sederholm House  [ fr ] (1757) at the intersection of Senate Square and the Katariinankatu street. Suomenlinna also has buildings completed in the 18th century, including the Kuninkaanportti on the Kustaanmiekka Island  [ fr ] (1753–1754). The oldest church in Helsinki is the Östersundom church, built in 1754. Helsinki is also home to numerous Art Nouveau -influenced ( Jugend in Finnish) buildings belonging to

3240-657: Is the third-largest municipality in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Oslo . Its urban area is the third-largest in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Copenhagen. Helsinki Airport , in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, serves the city with frequent flights to numerous destinations in Europe, North America, and Asia. Helsinki is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 75% Finnish speakers, 5% Swedish speakers, and 20% speakers of other languages (which

3375-548: Is the largest such area in Finland, with a land area of 669.31 square kilometres (258.42 sq mi) and approximately 1.36  million inhabitants. Helsinki has a cold hemiboreal humid continental climate ( Köppen : Dfb , Trewartha Dcbo ). Due to the moderating influence of the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic Current (see also Extratropical cyclone ), winter temperatures are higher than

3510-473: Is the most densely populated area of Finland . The Capital Region spreads over a land area of 770 square kilometres (300 sq mi) and has a population density of 1,619 per sg km. With over 20 percent of the country's population in just 0.2 percent of its surface area, the area's housing density is high by Finnish standards. The Helsinki metropolitan area or the Greater Helsinki consists of

3645-517: Is well above the national average). Helsinki hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics , the first CSCE / OSCE Summit in 1975, the first World Athletics Championships in 1983, the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 and it was the 2012 World Design Capital . Helsinki has one of the highest standards of urban living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki as the world's most liveable city in its livable cities index . In

3780-592: The Battle at Herdaler was a battle between the Norse Viking leader Olav Haraldsson (later King Olaf II of Norway , also known as Saint Olaf) and local Finns at Herdaler (now Ingå ), not far from Helsinga, around 1007–8. The Saga of Olaf Haraldson tells how Olav raided the coasts of Finland and was almost killed in battle. He ran away in fear and after that the Vikings did not raid the coasts of Finland. Later

3915-631: The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 livability survey, Helsinki ranked ninth out of 140 cities. In July 2021, the American magazine Time named Helsinki one of the world's greatest places, a city that "can grow into a burgeoning cultural nest in the future" and is already known as an environmental pioneer. In an international Cities of Choice survey conducted in 2021 by the Boston Consulting Group and

4050-996: The Finnish Civil War had broken out, many young men left Espoo to join the White Guards all over the countryside in Uusimaa. The most important of these was the Sigurds Guard in Kirkkonummi , of whose members 40 came from Espoo. At the start of the Civil War in January 1918, the Red Guards took control of Espoo. There were no actual battles between the Reds and the Whites during the revolution, as Espoo

4185-576: The Hervanta suburb of Tampere in 1993—while the Police Academy continued in Espoo and was renamed as the Police College of Finland in 1998. In 2008, the Police College of Finland and the National Police School were merged to become the sole police training institute in Finland and concentrated to the Hervanta campus. The institution continued under the name Police College of Finland until it

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4320-824: The House of Nobility in Kruununhaka and the Catholic St. Henry's Cathedral . In addition to other cities in Northern Europe that were not under the Soviet Union , such as Stockholm , Sweden, Helsinki's neoclassical buildings gained also popularity as a backdrop for scenes intended to depict the Soviet Union in numerous Hollywood movies during the Cold War era, when filming within the actual USSR

4455-705: The Ilmala weather station. The lowest temperature recorded in the city was −34.3 °C (−29.7 °F) on 10 January 1987, although an unofficial low of −35 °C (−31 °F) was recorded in December 1876. Helsinki Airport (in Vantaa, 17 km north of Helsinki city centre) recorded a maximum temperature of 33.7 °C (92.7 °F) on 29 July 2010 and a minimum of −35.9 °C (−33 °F) on 9 January 1987. Precipitation comes from frontal passages and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are most common in summer. Helsinki

4590-517: The Iron Age , when the area was inhabited by the Tavastians . They used the area for fishing and hunting, but due to the lack of archaeological finds it is difficult to say how extensive their settlements were. Pollen analysis has shown that there were agricultural settlements in the area in the 10th century, and surviving historical records from the 14th century describe Tavastian settlements in

4725-483: The Pre-Roman Iron Age , of which the latter is an important subject relating to research of cattle husbandry. Traces of early settlement in the area remain in the place names. For example, the original name for Soukka was Soukko . The first settlers lived in the northern parts of the current city, around the lakes Pitkäjärvi, Bodomjärvi, and Loojärvi, as the southern parts were still largely covered by

4860-505: The Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral are located. During the second half of the 17th century, Helsinki, as a wooden city, suffered from regular fires , and by the beginning of the 18th century the population had fallen below 1,700. For a long time Helsinki was mainly a small administrative town for the governors of Nyland and Tavastehus County , but its importance began to grow in the 18th century when plans were made to build

4995-535: The bourgeoisie of Porvoo , Raseborg , Rauma and Ulvila to move there. The shallowness of the bay made it impossible to build a harbour, and the king allowed the settlers to leave the unfortunate location. In 1640, Count Per Brahe the Younger , together with some descendants of the original settlers, moved the centre of the city to the Vironniemi peninsula by the sea, today's Kruununhaka district, where

5130-515: The enclave of Kauniainen . Espoo covers an area of 528 square kilometres (204 sq mi). Espoo is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 70% Finnish speakers, 6% Swedish speakers, and 24% speakers of other languages, well above the national average. Espoo was settled in the Prehistoric Era , with evidence of human settlements dating back 8,000 years. However,

5265-458: The 12th or 13th century. Swedish settlers moved to the area through the current site of Kirkkonummi , and then to the Esboby area. From there, they continued northeast to Kauklahti, Bemböle and Vanhakartano . In later stages, settlers might also have arrived in Espoo directly from Sweden, most likely from Svealand . The Swedish name for Espoo, Esbo , dates from this period. The settlers changed

5400-469: The 1300s. This theory is questionable, as dialect research suggests that the settlers came from Uppland and the surrounding areas. Others have suggested that the name derives from the Swedish word helsing , an archaic form of the word hals (' neck '), which refers to the narrowest part of a river, the rapids . Other Scandinavian towns in similar geographical locations were given similar names at

5535-645: The 1380s and the Church of St. Lawrence in 1455. In the Middle Ages, several thousand people lived in Helsinki's keep . There was a lot of trade across the Baltic Sea . The shipping route to the coast, and especially to Reval , meant that by the end of the Middle Ages the Helsinki region had become an important trading centre for wealthy peasants , priests and nobles in Finland, after Vyborg and Pohja . Furs , wood , tar , fish and animals were exported from Helsinki, and salt and grain were brought to

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5670-477: The 1810s, when it replaced Turku as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland , which later became the sovereign Republic of Finland . The city continued its growth from that time on, with an exception during the Finnish Civil War . From the end of World War II up until the 1970s there was a massive exodus of people from the countryside to the cities of Finland, in particular Helsinki. Between 1944 and 1969

5805-460: The 1930s included the 18-story "Kino" palace, a 17-story apartment building, and a 30-story Stockmann building were proposed but only the 70-meter-tall 14-story Hotel Torni was built. (Hotel Torni was the tallest high-rise in Finland until 1976, when the 83-meter-tall Neste headquarters were completed in Espoo; Helsinki had rejected the tower. ) Twin 30-story buildings were proposed in Pasila in

5940-604: The 1940 Helsinki Olympic Games; the games were initially cancelled due to the Second World War , but the venues fulfilled their purpose in the 1952 Olympic Games . Many of them are listed by DoCoMoMo as significant examples of modern architecture. The Olympic Stadium and Helsinki-Malmi Airport are also catalogued by the Finnish Heritage Agency as cultural-historical environments of national significance. When Finland became heavily urbanized in

6075-487: The 1960s and 1970s, the district of Pihlajamäki , for example, was built in Helsinki for new residents, where for the first time in Finland, precast concrete was used on a large scale. Pikku Huopalahti , built in the 1980s and 1990s, has tried to get rid of a one-size-fits-all grid pattern, which means that its look is very organic and its streets are not repeated in the same way. Itäkeskus in Eastern Helsinki

6210-446: The 1967 British-American espionage thriller Billion Dollar Brain , starring Michael Caine . The city has large amounts of underground areas such as shelters and tunnels, many used daily as swimming pool, church, water management, entertainment etc. Helsinki also features several buildings by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto , recognized as one of the pioneers of architectural functionalism . However, some of his works, such as

6345-530: The 1970s but were rejected. In 1990 a planned 104-meter-tall tower for the Kone company was also cancelled. Highrise construction only started in the beginning of the 21st century, when the city decided to allow the construction of skyscrapers. Highrises were first built in Kalasatama , a primarily-residential district built on a former container port . As of 2024, four residential towers have been completed:

6480-608: The 1970s, which occurred late compared to the rest of Europe, tripled the population of the metropolitan area, and the Helsinki Metro subway system was built. Known as the "Daughter of the Baltic" or the "Pearl of the Baltic", Helsinki is located at the tip of a peninsula and on 315 islands. The city centre is located on a southern peninsula, Helsinginniemi ("Cape of Helsinki"), which is rarely referred to by its actual name, Vironniemi ("Cape of Estonia"). Population density

6615-452: The 35-story, 282-apartment, 134-metre-tall (440 ft) Majakka in 2019 (which is the tallest building in Finland ); the 32-story, 124-meter Loisto in 2021; the 31-story, 120-meter Lumo One in 2022; and the 24-story, 98-meter Visio in 2023. The 26-story, 111-meter-tall office building Horisontti is to be completed in 2025, and three further towers are to be built in the complex. Tall residential towers have also been built in

6750-443: The BCG Henderson Institute, Helsinki was ranked the third-best city in the world to live in, with London and New York City coming in first and second. In the Condé Nast Traveler magazine's 2023 Readers' Choice Awards, Helsinki was ranked the 4th-friendliest city in Europe. Helsinki, along with Rovaniemi in Lapland , is also one of Finland's most important tourist cities. Due to the large number of sea passengers, Helsinki

6885-573: The Bergans farm in Suur-Leppävaara wrote about the expropriation in June 1916: It was really shameless. Last year [the Russians] took control of three large buildings, and they would have taken the last one too, had we not complained to the office of the governor. For all of summer, they built fortifications all over the hill. Trees were cut down and new ones planted in their place. You know that only very few of these newly planted trees will survive. – This spring, [the soldiers] have shot at our fields during practice. Two days ago we received an order that

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7020-424: The Espoo parish and the slottslän of Raseborg . After the Second Crusade to Finland , settlers from Sweden established permanent agricultural settlements in Uusimaa . Espoo was a subdivision of the Kirkkonummi congregation until 1486–1487. The oldest known document referring to Kirkkonummi is from 1330; Espoo as a subchapter has been dated to the 1380s, although the first document directly referring to Espoo

7155-423: The Espoonlahti bay between Espoo and Kirkkonummi served as the border of the Porkkala Naval Base under the control of the Soviet Union . A large part of Kirkkonummi, as well as a narrow strip of the sea and a couple of islands in Espoo were included in the area of the naval base. In Espoo, the Kauklahti railway station near the border to the naval base became a tightly controlled border station between Finland and

7290-407: The Finnish names used by the Tavastians to Swedish ones: for example Kauklahti became Köklax and Karvasmäki became Karvasbacka. The current Finnish names might also have changed from the original ones in this process. For example, the place name Välli might have been changed into Vällskog , which has since led to the current Finnish name Velskola . The Swedish settlements were so extensive that

7425-400: The Kansallisromantiikka ( romantic nationalism ) trend, designed in the early 20th century and strongly influenced by Kalevala , which was a common theme of the era. Helsinki's Art Nouveau style is also featured in central residential districts, such as Katajanokka and Ullanlinna . An important architect of the Finnish Art Nouveau style was Eliel Saarinen , whose architectural masterpiece

7560-402: The Late Iron Age and Early Medieval women in the area have had similar jewellery as in the region around present-day Mikkeli . In the Middle Ages, there were about 70 village lots in Espoo. Ancient fields and many passageways have been discovered near the remains of ancient villages. Espaby (at which site the Espoo manor was later founded) was probably the oldest Swedish-speaking village in

7695-411: The Red Guard in Espoo had been sent to prison camps. Under the 1918 peasant law, peasants were freed from the power of their private masters, which led to a widespread settlement of steadless population in Finland. From 1919 to 1925 about 150 peasants and crofters in Espoo bought land for themselves with the grant given by the Finnish state. The new farms thus acquired still remained small, which caused

7830-422: The Red power. The damages of the Civil War in Espoo were minimal, except for one primary school which had been hit by German bombing. However, many houses in Espoo suffered from famine after the Civil War. The war had cut off a large part of the foreign trade in Finland, which worsened the famine. Particularly the price of grain and other necessary foodstuffs had risen significantly, which caused price limits for

7965-490: The Russian fortification chain. Because of the lack of available workforce, the Russians turned to expropriation allowed by Russian military law. The manor houses in Espoo were ordered to send one man and one horse each to work on the construction. The total number of workforce at the fortification is not known, but the expropriation resulted in 4000 men, of which 1300 were situated in Leppävaara and 1500 in Tapiola in June 1916. 16-year-old Annukka Koskinen who lived at

8100-411: The Soviet Union. The land connection to Porkkala went via the Kivenlahti bridge. During the time of the naval base, part of the western coast had been evacuated, and the windows of the houses in the border villages on the Soviet side had to be covered during night time. The windows of the trains travelling through the area rented to the Soviet Union had to be covered with wooden hatches from the outside for

8235-407: The Sveaborg fortress during the war, and about a quarter of the city was destroyed in a fire in 1808. Emperor Alexander I of Russia moved the capital of Finland from Turku to Helsinki on 8 April 1812 to reduce Swedish influence in Finland and bring the capital closer to St Petersburg . After the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, the Royal Academy of Turku , the only university in the country at

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8370-423: The Technical Research Centre of Finland. Espoo is home to leading enterprises like Nokia , HMD Global , Tieto , KONE , Neste , Fortum , Orion Corporation , Outokumpu , and Foreca , in addition to game developers Rovio and Remedy Entertainment . In 2015, Espoo became a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. Before the time of the Swedish colonisation , Espoo was inhabited by Tavastians ,

8505-444: The academy is divided vertically into seven competency areas under the director as of 2017: The 21 hectare campus of the Police University College is located in the Hervanta suburb, eight kilometres from the centre of Tampere . Besides teaching, sports and dormitory facilities, the campus contains a simulation training city and a driver training track. Two separate installations, the police dog training centre in Hämeenlinna and

8640-400: The area was settled by Christians from Sweden. They came mainly from the Swedish coastal regions of Norrland and Hälsingland , and their migration intensified around 1100. The Swedes permanently colonised the Helsinki region's coastline in the late 13th century, after the successful 'crusade' to Finland that led to the defeat of the Tavastians. In the Middle Ages, the Helsinki area was

8775-452: The area. Christianity does not gain a significant foothold in Finland before the 11th century. After that, a number of crosses and other objects related to Christianity can be found in archaeological material. According to the traditional view, the Kingdom of Sweden made three crusades to Finland, thanks to which the region was incorporated into both Christianity and the Swedish Empire. Recent research has shown that these expeditions, to

8910-400: The area. The name Espoo likely refers to the name of the river Espoonjoki (Swedish: Esboån, originally Espå / Espåå), which in turn is thought to have come from the aspen trees on the shores of the river (the Swedish word for "aspen" is äspe ). The name was first mentioned in 1431. Originally, the current river Gumbölenjoki was renamed Espoonjoki after the village located along the river. When

9045-416: The beginning of the 19th century. The construction of the naval fortress of Sveaborg ( Viapori in Finnish, now also called Suomenlinna ) in the 18th century helped to improve Helsinki's status. However, it wasn't until Russia defeated Sweden in the Finnish War and annexed Finland as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 that the city began to develop into a substantial city. The Russians besieged

9180-440: The beginning, the settlement was located at the site of the current Olari Church on both sides of the Gräsanoja river. The absence of Finnish names in the area reveals that the population was Swedish-speaking from the beginning. In 1556, King Gustav Vasa decided to stabilize and develop the region by founding a royal mansion in Espoo. The government bought the villages of Espåby and Mankby (Finnish: Mankki ) and transferred

9315-439: The border between Espoo and Kauniainen was only defined in the late 1940s. Espoo started to grow rapidly in the 1940s and 1950s. Shortly after the end of the Continuation War , the population of Espoo grew by four thousand as frontline soldiers and evacuees from ceded territories (including the Porkkalanniemi peninsula, leased to the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1956) were settled in the city. Espoo's location right next to

9450-463: The capital city of Helsinki attracted people working in the capital city to move into the rapidly growing neighbour city, and already before World War II there were many suburbs along the Rantarata railway, such as Leppävaara , Kilo and Kauklahti which had formed into an industrial area. After the new Jorvaksentie road (predecessor to the Länsiväylä highway) was completed, new detached houses were built along it, particularly in Westend . After

9585-405: The cities of Espoo , Vantaa and Kauniainen —and surrounding commuter towns, including the neighbouring municipality of Sipoo to the east —Helsinki forms a metropolitan area . This area is often considered Finland's only metropolis and is the world's northernmost metropolitan area with over one million inhabitants. Additionally, it is the northernmost capital of an EU member state . Helsinki

9720-463: The cities of the capital region and ten surrounding municipalities: Hyvinkää , Järvenpää , Kerava , Kirkkonummi , Nurmijärvi , Sipoo , Tuusula , Pornainen , Mäntsälä and Vihti . The Metropolitan Area covers 3,697 square kilometres (1,427 sq mi) and has a population of about 1.6 million, or about a fourth of the total population of Finland. The metropolitan area has a high concentration of employment: approximately 750,000 jobs. Despite

9855-431: The city centre to Helsinki's northern border, is an important recreational area for residents. The City of Helsinki has about 11,000 boat moorings and over 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres; 54 square miles) of marine fishing waters adjacent to the capital region. About 60 species of fish are found in this area, and recreational fishing is popular. Helsinki's main islands include Seurasaari , Lauttasaari and Korkeasaari –

9990-536: The construction of the student village in Otaniemi, the technical university students took to the matter to their own hands, both by gathering money through various activities and taking part in the actual construction. About 800 thousand bricks from the Embassy of the Soviet Union in Helsinki, which had been destroyed in the bombing of Helsinki , were used to build student apartments in Otaniemi. From 1944 to 1956

10125-494: The degree programmes offered by the University College. Likewise in 2016, the college received 4,318 applications for the bachelor's degree programme's intake of 300 students—an admittance rate of 7.0%. The University College employed 209 personnel, half of whom are teaching staff and 40% police officers, at the end of 2016. Doctor of Laws Marko Viitanen has been the director since October 2016. The organization of

10260-481: The downtown area include Malmi ( Swedish : Malm ), located in the northeastern part of city, and Itäkeskus ( Swedish : Östra centrum ), in the eastern part of city. Carl Ludvig Engel , appointed to plan a new city centre on his own, designed several neoclassical buildings in Helsinki. The focal point of Engel's city plan was the Senate Square . It is surrounded by the Government Palace (to

10395-484: The driver training centre in Pieksämäki , are also a part of the academy's structure. Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and most populous city in Finland . It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About 684,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.26 million in the capital region and 1.6 million in the metropolitan area . As

10530-461: The east), the main building of Helsinki University (to the west), and (to the north) the large Helsinki Cathedral , which was finished in 1852, twelve years after Engel's death. Helsinki's epithet , "The White City of the North", derives from this construction era. Most of Helsinki's older buildings were built after the 1808 fire; before that time, the oldest surviving building in the center of Helsinki

10665-486: The eastern district of Vuosaari : the 87-meter, 26-story Cirrus was completed in 2006, the 24-story, 85-meter-tall Hyperion was completed in 2023 and the 33-story, 288-apartment, 120-meter-tall Atlas is due to be completed in late 2024. Skyscrapers have also be planned in the Pasila area, with a handful of over-100-meter-tall towers in various stages of planning or early construction as of 2024. In Jätkäsaari ,

10800-635: The entire area became Swedish-speaking, except for its northernmost part and possibly the Haapalahti-Mäkkylä area. Palynological analyses indicate that agriculture was already practised in Espoo around the 11th century, but no historical records from the era survive. Until the late 13th century, Espoo was part of a borderland region between the Southwestern Finns and Tavastian Finns. Some artefacts found in Espoo have also been traced to ancient Savo - Karelian Finnish costumes, and

10935-451: The era are few, but more than 70 cairn -like burial sites from the period have been discovered, mostly from southern Espoo, which formed an archipelago at the time. When ironwork was introduced to Finland around 500 BCE, it gave people access to materials that were far more versatile than materials used before. However, the climate grew colder at the beginning of the Iron Age , and it seems that human settlement in Espoo disappeared during

11070-475: The era. Only two discoveries from the time have been made in Espoo. Most of the original villages of present-day Espoo were founded by Tavastian Finns according to place names. By the 12th century, there were Tavastian houses on the shore of Kaukjärvi (now known as Pitkäjärvi), in Kauklahti , Karvasmäki , Bemböle, Haapalahti and Finnevik. The first Swedish settlements in Uusimaa were established during

11205-478: The evening. Meetings were held in workers' houses assembling lists to provide support for the Red Guards. Patrols consisting of young men looking for food and weapons could take justice in their own hands in the typical form of red terror. In the spring, the Reds killed nine people in Espoo, of which six were civilians. Rumours of these acts of violence spread out, spreading fear among the people. Many people saw

11340-468: The extent that there were even three of them, were not the crusades that had been imagined. Later, the conquest of Finland was justified in terms of "civilisation" and "christianisation", and the myth of the Crusades was developed. It is more likely that it was a multidimensional combination of economic, cultural and political power ambitions. The early settlements were raided by Vikings until 1008, and

11475-636: The fortification chain required a huge amount of workforce. The construction was led by the engineering administration of Saint Petersburg, but in practice, the actual work was led by the engineering military staff in Sveaborg. The local engineering office was located in Leppävaara in Espoo. Although the Russian military tried to keep the construction of the fortification chain secret from the enemy, there are German intelligence reports with descriptions of

11610-420: The fortress. Helsinki was also the most important cattle-breeding area in Uusimaa. With the help of trade, Helsinki became one of the wealthiest cities in Finland and Uusimaa. Thanks to trade and travel, e.g. to Reval, people could speak several languages, at least helpfully. Depending on the situation, Finnish, Swedish, Latin or Low German could be heard in the Helsinki area. Written chronicles from 1417 mention

11745-902: The fountain sculpture Havis Amanda (1908), the Paavo Nurmi statue (1925), the Three Smiths Statue (1932), the Aleksis Kivi Memorial (1939), the Eino Leino Statue (1953), the Equestrian statue of Marshal Mannerheim (1960) and the Sibelius Monument (1967). As is the case with all Finnish municipalities , Helsinki's city council is the main decision-making organ in local politics, dealing with issues such as urban planning , schools, health care, and public transport . The council

11880-646: The general order. During summer and early autumn in 1917 there were local conflicts between the bourgeois guards and the workers' militia. In middle November the guards in Espoo on both sides had already started arming themselves. In July 1917 the first bourgeois order guard was founded in Kauklahti , under the guise of a voluntary fire brigade. A little later a similar organisation was founded in Kilo , and these organisations joined forces in August to September. The guards had about 160 members in total at this point. After

12015-414: The glass-walled Sanomatalo (1999). There have been many plans to build highrise buildings in Helsinki since the 1920s when architect Eliel Saarinen proposed the 85-meter-tall Kalevalatalo in 1921, but few tall buildings were built until the 21st century. In 1924 Oiva Kallio won Etu-Töölö competition with his plan (several 14- to 16-story buildings). A 32-story city hall was also proposed. Other plans of

12150-874: The headquarters of the paper company Stora Enso and the concert venue Finlandia Hall , have been subject to divided opinions from the citizens. Functionalist buildings in Helsinki by other architects include the Olympic Stadium , the Tennis Palace , the Rowing Stadium , the Swimming Stadium , the Velodrome , the Glass Palace , the Töölö Sports Hall , and Helsinki-Malmi Airport . The sports venues were built to serve

12285-407: The house, the large woodshed and the sauna have to be empty by noon on the next day. The Russian Revolution in 1917 stopped work at the fortification. Finland declared its full independence in December 1917, and the fortifications were never actually needed to protect Saint Petersburg from a German attack. The fortifications only ever saw action in one battle during the Finnish Civil War , when

12420-412: The intensity of land use, the region also has large recreational areas and green spaces. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the world's northernmost urban area with a population of over one million people, and the northernmost EU capital city. The Helsinki urban area is an officially recognized urban area in Finland , defined by its population density. The area stretches throughout 11 municipalities, and

12555-542: The island of Staffan in 1886. Staffan Island became a home for a highly skilled and renowned community of joiners, colloquially known as the "University of Espoo" or the "University of Soukka". World War I had an effect on the Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Finland when the German Empire declared war on Russia on 1 August 1914. Russia immediately started preparing for war against Germany. At

12690-404: The latitude, the days around the winter solstice are 5 hours and 48 minutes long, with the sun very low (at noon the sun is just over 6 degrees in the sky), and the cloudy weather at this time of year exacerbates the darkness. Conversely, Helsinki enjoys long days in summer, with 18 hours and 57 minutes of daylight around the summer solstice . The average maximum temperature from June to August

12825-644: The latter half of the 19th century. Some brickyards had already been built in the 18th century on the grounds of Espoonkartano manor, located in the western part of the present-day city, but it was not until the economic reforms of Emperor Alexander II that the Industrial Revolution started to gain momentum in Finland. As the Russo-Finnish trade legislation liberalized, new brickyards were established in Espoonlahti and Kauklahti , as

12960-497: The latter is home to Finland's largest zoo, Korkeasaari Zoo . The former military islands of Vallisaari and Isosaari are now open to the public, but Santahamina is still in military use. The most historic and remarkable island is the fortress of Suomenlinna (Sveaborg). The island of Pihlajasaari is a popular summer resort, comparable to Fire Island in New York City . There are 60 nature reserves in Helsinki with

13095-409: The majority of workers were Finnish-speaking. The local Helsinki slang (or stadin slangi ) developed among Finnish children and young people from the 1890s as a mixed Finnish-Swedish language, with influences from German and Russian , and from the 1950s the slang began to become more Finnish. A landmark event was the 1952 Olympic Games , which were held in Helsinki. Finland's rapid urbanisation in

13230-511: The most important cities in Finland at that time, the King's Road , passes through Espoo on its way from Stockholm via Turku and Porvoo to Viipuri . The oldest frälse stead in Espoo, the Gräsa manor, apparently received frälse rights in the late 15th century. Gräsa is one of the oldest settlements in Espoo and the oldest in southern Espoo, as it was probably founded already in the early 14th century as Swedish settlement moved inland. From

13365-492: The most important products. The situation eased out in 1919, but food regulation was only finally discontinued in 1921. After the end of the war, the White Guards went out to look for Reds fled into the forests in Espoo for a long time. In June 1918 the White Guards appealed to the municipal council of Espoo to ask for funds to travel to prison camps in order to provide expert help in judging reds from Espoo. 12 members of

13500-430: The most populous urban area in Finland, it is the country's most significant centre for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki is 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia , 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden , and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia . Helsinki has significant historical connections with these three cities. Together with

13635-471: The most populous municipality in Finland and the third in the Nordics . The Helsinki region is the largest urbanised area in Finland with 1,603,170 inhabitants. The city of Helsinki is home to 12% of Finland's population. 19.9% of the population has a foreign background, which is twice above the national average. However, it is lower than in the major Finnish cities of Espoo or Vantaa . At 53 percent of

13770-508: The municipal rule of the Reds as a reign of terror. During the Civil War, many bourgeois people in Espoo, whom the Reds in power saw as a threat, fled to neighbouring municipalities, hidden cabins in the archipelago or forests in northern Espoo. For example, Hans Heimbürger, the speaker of the Espoo municipal council, fled to Degerö in Inkoo in January together with his family. Two people from Espoo are said to have fled into caves to flee from

13905-408: The need to acquire further income through forestry and handyman work. In 1920, Espoo was only a rural municipality of about 9,000 inhabitants, of whom 70% were Swedish speaking. Agriculture was the primary source of income, with 75% of the population making their living from farming. Kauniainen was separated from Espoo in 1920, and it gained city rights the same year as Espoo, in 1972. However,

14040-500: The neighbouring parish of Espoo. Many government officials as well as members of the growing merchant class bought summer houses from Espoo. There was a great sawmill in Bastvik back in 1883, where great ships from faraway seas came to lade lumber. There were many great bridges so that vessels could be laden simultaneously. After bringing colonial and other necessary goods to Helsinki, they came empty to Bastvik. [...] The superintendent

14175-549: The new capital of the Russian-controlled Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812 had a significant positive impact on the municipality's growth and development. Nevertheless, the territory continued to be mainly agrarian until the 20th century. After World War II, Espoo underwent swift urbanization and significant demographic shifts, with Finnish becoming the majority language around 1950, replacing Swedish. The municipality attained market town status in 1963 and

14310-412: The northern location would suggest, with an average of −4 °C (25 °F) in January and February. Winters in Helsinki are significantly warmer than in the north of Finland, and the snow season in the capital is much shorter due to its location in the extreme south of Finland and the urban heat island effect. Temperatures below −20 °C (−4 °F) occur only a few times a year. However, due to

14445-485: The parish required maids , farmhands and tenant farmers as their workforce to raise cattle, farm crops and raise vegetables in the kitchen gardens . Fishing was also common in the coastal areas. The Glims farmstead in Karvasmäki has been preserved as a museum to present rural life in Espoo during this period when industrial development was still minute in Finland. The rural community in Espoo began to change in

14580-617: The population disappeared during the early Iron Age . During the Early Middle Ages , the region was populated by Tavastians and Southwestern Finns . Following the Northern Crusades , Swedish settlers began to emigrate to the coastal regions of modern-day Finland. Espoo was founded as an autonomous Catholic parish in the 15th century. Following the conclusion of the Finnish War , the decision to make Helsinki

14715-455: The population elsewhere, and built the royal mansion in Espåby. (Mankby was eventually abandoned and was never repopulated.) The royal mansion housed the king's local plenipotentiary ( vogt ), and collected royal tax in kind paid by labour on the mansion's farm. The administrative centre Espoon keskus has grown around the church and the Espoo railway station , but the municipality has retained

14850-458: The population of the city nearly doubled from 275,000 to 525,600. In the 1960s, the population growth of Helsinki began to decrease, mainly due to a lack of housing. Some residents began to move to the neighbouring cities of Espoo and Vantaa, resulting in increased population growth in both municipalities. Espoo's population increased ninefold in sixty years, from 22,874 people in 1950 to 244,353 in 2009. Vantaa saw an even more dramatic change in

14985-458: The population, women form a greater proportion of Helsinki residents than the national average of 51 percent. Helsinki's population density of 3,147 people per square kilometre makes Helsinki the most densely-populated city in Finland. The life expectancy for men and women is slightly below the national averages: 75.1 years for men as compared to 75.7 years, 81.7 years for women as compared to 82.5 years. Helsinki has experienced strong growth since

15120-539: The railway and industrialisation were key factors in the city's growth. By the 1910s, Helsinki's population was already over 100,000, and despite the turbulence of Finnish history in the first half of the 20th century, Helsinki continued to grow steadily. This included the Finnish Civil War and the Winter War , both of which left their mark on the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were roughly equal numbers of Finnish and Swedish speakers in Helsinki;

15255-603: The red forces in Leppävaara fought the German forces who had come to the aid of the whites on 14 April 1918. The fortifications were later used as ammunition storage and civil protection during World War II . After the February Revolution in 1917, Finland went through a power vacuum. The imperial rule had fallen, general order had broken and the police had been dispensed. Upholding the general order moved to

15390-418: The rule of the Russian Empire , Helsinki was known as Gel'singfors ( Гельсингфорс ) in Russian, because the main and official language of Grand Duchy of Finland was Swedish. In Helsinki slang , the city is called Stadi (from the Swedish word stad , meaning 'city'). Abbreviated form Hesa is equally common, but its use is associated with people of rural origin ("junantuomat", lit. "brought by

15525-461: The same century, agricultural novelties such as the potato and various fruits spread from the manor houses to the peasants. The Swedish rule in Finland came to an end in 1809, when the Kingdom of Sweden ceded all of its remaining territory in Finland under control of the Russian Empire after the Finnish War . When the city of Helsinki became the capital of the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, it brought novel developments to

15660-648: The same time span: from 14,976 in 1950 to 197,663 in 2009, a thirteenfold increase. These population changes prompted the municipalities of metropolitan area into more intense cooperation in areas such as public transportation – resulting in the foundation of HSL – and waste management. The increasing scarcity of housing and the higher costs of living in the capital region have pushed many daily commuters to find housing in formerly rural areas, and even further, to cities such as Lohja , Hämeenlinna , Lahti , and Porvoo . Espoo Espoo ( / ˈ ɛ s p oʊ / , Finnish: [ˈespoː] ; Swedish : Esbo )

15795-533: The sea. In the Stone Age, people in Espoo lived on south-facing shores and slopes, as they provided shelter from cold continental winds. Living close to water bodies also made hunting and fishing easier. The way of life was dictated by seasonal changes, and people rarely stayed in one place throughout the year. During the Bronze Age (c. 1500–500 BCE), human settlement shifted southward. Known settlements from

15930-411: The shores of Espoo Bay provided high-quality clay for their use. The bricks were mostly carried with steamboats to the neighbouring Helsinki , the growing capital city of the grand duchy. The most prominent industrial facility in 19th century Espoo was the steam-powered Bastvik Sawmill, founded in 1876. In addition to the growing lumber and brick industries, a joiners ' workshop was established on

16065-499: The start of the war, the main forces of the Russian Baltic Fleet had been concentrated at Sveaborg in front of Helsinki. The Russian military feared that Germany would use southern Finland to attack Petrograd , so Russia started building a fortification chain of over 20 kilometres surrounding Helsinki to protect it. Construction of the fortification started in 1915 and took almost three years. Construction of

16200-584: The time, such as Helsingør in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden. When a town was founded in the village of Forsby (later Koskela ) in 1548, it was called Helsinge fors , 'Helsinge rapids'. The name refers to the Vanhankaupunginkoski  [ fi ] rapids at the mouth of the river. The town was commonly known as Helsinge or Helsing , from which the modern Finnish name

16335-492: The time, was also moved to Helsinki and eventually became the modern University of Helsinki. The move consolidated the city's new role and helped set it on a path of continuous growth. This transformation is most evident in the city centre, which was rebuilt in the neoclassical style to resemble St. Petersburg, largely according to a plan by the German-born architect C. L. Engel . As elsewhere, technological advances such as

16470-515: The village of Koskela near the rapids at the mouth of the River Vantaa , where Helsinki was to be founded. Helsinki was founded by King Gustav I of Sweden on 12 June 1550 as a trading town called Helsingfors to rival the Hanseatic city of Reval (now Tallinn ) on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland . To populate the new town at the mouth of the Vantaa River , the king ordered

16605-610: The war, many detached houses for soldiers having fought at the frontline were built in Espoo. The highest increase in population only started in the early 1950s when the Asuntosäätiö foundation started construction of the garden city of Tapiola , and construction of a new campus area of the Helsinki University of Technology started in the neighbouring district of Otaniemi . In the 1940s and 1950s Espoo grew more rapidly than it could afford. The infrastructure of Espoo

16740-568: The west to Vyborg in the east, was formed in the 1340s or 1350s and was the most important road in Finland at the time. Present-day Espoo was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 8,000 years ago, a few thousand years after the end of the Last Glacial Period . Stone Age settlements have been found from Nuuksio and Perinki. Settlements from the Early Metal Age have been found from Mikkelä and from Morby dating from

16875-453: Was a German-born Hoffeldt. Katri Bergholm, reminiscing life in Bastvik, present-day Saunalahti , at the end of the 19th century. Throughout the 19th century, most of Espoo's inhabitants worked in agriculture. The population was around 4,000, while most of the people lived in over 60 small villages. Halfway through the century, almost 90% of the population spoke Swedish as their first language. The wealthy estates and mansions of

17010-485: Was established in 1948. Helsinki's official plant is the Norway maple and its official animal is the red squirrel . The Helsinki capital region ( Finnish : Pääkaupunkiseutu , Swedish : Huvudstadsregionen ) comprises four municipalities: Helsinki, Espoo , Vantaa , and Kauniainen . The Helsinki urban area is considered to be the only metropolis in Finland . It has a population of about 1.26 million, and

17145-656: Was founded in Espoo, with the Kauklahti-based worker Aleksi Aronen serving as its judge. The court sessions were held in Villa Odenwald in Kauniainen . Most of the sentences given by the court were prison sentences or fines. In addition, the Red Guard in Leppävaara had its own comrade court. The general staff of the Red Guard in Uusimaa had installed a curfew forbidding going outside after nine o'clock in

17280-433: Was granted city status in 1972. The city is characterized by a suburban landscape dominated by detached housing. It is recognized for its expansive natural surroundings such as a 58-kilometre shoreline, an archipelago , forests, lakes, and a national park . Espoo is divided into seven major districts, with each being further divided into smaller districts and neighbourhoods. Unlike traditional cities, Espoo does not have

17415-480: Was in practice already under Red control. Municipal power was transferred from the municipal council and the municipal board to a social democratic municipal organisation. The Reds took control without bloodshed and strengthened their position by sending patrols all around Espoo to confiscate any weapons found in the houses they visited. By order from the Finnish People's Delegation , a revolutionary court

17550-503: Was influenced by an acute lack of food, disappointment with the loss of the majority position of the Social Democratic Party of Finland at the 1917 Finnish parliamentary election , the Senate's desire for renovation, the fight for municipal power and fear of an armed uprising of the bourgeoisie . In Espoo, particularly Leppävaara was a restless area. The workers' association of Alberga founded an unarmed militia of ten people to uphold

17685-600: Was not possible. Some of them, including The Kremlin Letter (1970), Reds (1981), and Gorky Park (1983). was possible due to such Russian cities as Leningrad and Moscow also having similar neoclassical architecture. At the same time due to Cold War and Finnish relations with the USSR the government secretly instructed Finnish officials not to extend assistance to such film projects. There are some films where Helsinki has been represented on its own in films, most notably

17820-477: Was not prepared to handle such rapid growth. There was no time for proper zoning , instead new houses were built as people bought lots in the city. A major change happened in the late 1940s as the Helsinki University of Technology moved from Hietalahti in Helsinki to larger premises in Otaniemi , and the planning of the Tapiola garden city district was started. As the city did not have enough money to fund

17955-575: Was reorganized as a university of applied sciences and its name amended to Police University College in 2014. The Police University College is responsible for overall police training and student selection, for organizing degree and advanced studies, and for applied research and development in the police field. The institution is under the guidance of the National Police Board and ultimately the Interior Ministry . It provides

18090-795: Was the Helsinki Central Station . Opposite the Bank of Finland building is the Renaissance Revivalish the House of the Estates (1891). The only visible public buildings of the Gothic Revival architecture in Helsinki are St. John's Church (1891) in Ullanlinna, which is the largest stone church in Finland, and its twin towers rise to 74 meters and have 2,600 seats. Other examples of neo-Gothic include

18225-454: Was the first regional center in the 1980s. Efforts have also been made to protect Helsinki in the late 20th century, and many old buildings have been renovated. Modern architecture is represented, for example, by the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma , which consists of two straight and curved-walled parts, though this style strongly divided the opinions from the citizens. Next to Kiasma is

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