Espoo

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Espoo Esbo
City
Espoon kaupunki Esbo stad
Clockwise from top: skyline of offices in Keilaniemi, Panorama Tower in Leppävaara, the Espoo Cultural Centre, Haukilahti docks, the Gallen-Kallela Museum, Aalto University Otaniemi campus auditorium, and the Fortum head office.
Coat of arms
Location in the Uusimaa region and the Helsinki sub-region
Espoo Location of Espoo in Finland
Coordinates: 60°12′20″N 024°39′20″E / 60.20556°N 24.65556°E / 60.20556; 24.65556Coordinates: 60°12′20″N 024°39′20″E / 60.20556°N 24.65556°E / 60.20556; 24.65556
Country	Finland
Region	Uusimaa
Sub-region	Greater Helsinki
Charter	1458
City	1972
Government
• City manager	Jukka Mäkelä
Area (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	528.03 km2 (203.87 sq mi)
• Land	312.26 km2 (120.56 sq mi)
• Water	215.88 km2 (83.35 sq mi)
Area rank	230th largest in Finland
Population (2018-08-31)[2]
• Total	281,886
• Rank	2nd largest in Finland
• Density	902.73/km2 (2,338.1/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
• Finnish	7,001,836,009,999,900,000♠83.6% (official)
• Swedish	7,000,830,000,000,000,000♠8.3% (official)
• Others	7,000,800,000,000,000,000♠8%
Population by age[4]
• 0 to 14	7,001,197,000,000,000,000♠19.7%
• 15 to 64	7,001,698,000,000,000,000♠69.8%
• 65 or older	7,001,105,000,000,000,000♠10.5%
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Municipal tax rate[5]	17.75%
Climate	Dfb
Website	www.espoo.fi

Espoo (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈespoː]; Swedish: Esbo [ˈɛsːbɔ]) is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the Finnish Capital Region, and most of its population lives in the inner urban core of the Helsinki metropolitan area, along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen. The city is located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, in the region of Uusimaa and has a population of 281,886.^[2]

Other bordering municipalities of Espoo are Nurmijärvi and Vihti in the north, and Kirkkonummi in the west. The national park of Nuuksio is situated in northwestern Espoo.

Espoo encompasses 528 square kilometres (204 sq mi), of which 312 km² (120 sq mi) is land.^[1]

Espoo does not have a traditional city center, having instead several local regional centers. Espoo is thus divided into seven major areas (Finnish: suuralueet, Swedish: storområden): Vanha-Espoo (with administrative center), Suur-Espoonlahti, Pohjois-Espoo, Suur-Kauklahti, Suur-Leppävaara, Suur-Matinkylä, and Suur-Tapiola.

Aalto University is based in Otaniemi, Espoo, along with a thriving science community that includes numerous startups and organizations such as VTT – the Technical Research Center of Finland. Several major companies are based in Espoo, including Nokia, HMD Global, Tieto, KONE, Neste, Fortum, Orion Corporation, and Outokumpu, as well as video game developers Rovio and Remedy Entertainment.

The city of Espoo is officially bilingual. The majority of the population, 83.6%, speaks Finnish as their mother tongue, while a minority of 8.3% speaks Swedish. 8% of Espoo's population has a first language other than Finnish or Swedish.

Etymology[edit]

The name Espoo probably comes from the Swedish name for the River Espoo, Espå (or Espåå), which in turn comes from the old Swedish word äspe, meaning a border of aspen, and the Swedish word for "river", å, thus "a river bordered by aspen". The name was first mentioned in 1431. The banks of the River Espoo are even today heavily populated with aspen.

History[edit]

VR Class Vk3 steam locomotive at Kauklahti railway station in the 1920s

Anti-aircraft searchlight in Haukilahti in 1940

The first inhabitants in the area arrived about 9,000 years ago. Physical evidence (pollen grains) indicates agriculture from ca. 1000 AD, but there are no historical records. Up to the 13th century, the area was a borderland between the hunting grounds of Finnish Proper and Tavastian Finns, with a sparse population. Immigrants from Sweden established permanent agricultural settlements to the area from late 13th century onwards after the so-called Second Crusade to Finland. Espoo was a subdivision of the Kirkkonummi congregation until 1486-7. 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 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 Raasepori castles, respectively, the eastern border of the Raasepori province was in Espoo. The 13th century road connecting 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.

In 1557, King Gustaf Wasa 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 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 labor on the mansion's farm. The administrative center Espoon keskus has grown around the church and the Espoo railway station, but the municipality has retained a network-like structure to the modern day.

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.

Espoo started to grow rapidly in the 1940s and '50s. It quickly developed from a rural municipality into a fully-fledged industrial city, gaining city rights in 1972. Due to its proximity to Helsinki, Espoo soon became popular amongst people working in the capital. In the fifty years from 1950 to 2000, the population of Espoo grew from 22,000 to 210,000. Since 1945, the majority of people in Espoo have been Finnish speaking. In 2006, the Swedish speaking inhabitants represented barely 9% of the total population. The population growth is still continuing, but at a slower rate.

Geography[edit]

The districts and major areas of Espoo

Location[edit]

Espoo is located in southern Finland, along the shore of the Gulf of Finland, and in the region of Uusimaa and the Helsinki sub-region. Prior to the abolition of Finnish provinces in 2009, Espoo was a part of the Southern Finland Province.

The city borders Helsinki, the Finnish capital, which is to the east. Other neighbouring municipalities are Vantaa to the east and northeast, Nurmijärvi to the north, Vihti to the northwest, and Kirkkonummi to the west and southwest. Espoo is a part of the Finnish Capital Region, which is the inner core of the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area.

Subdivision[edit]

Espoo is divided into seven major areas (Finnish: suuralueet, Swedish: storområden): Vanha-Espoo (with administrative center), Suur-Espoonlahti, Pohjois-Espoo, Suur-Kauklahti, Suur-Leppävaara, Suur-Matinkylä, and Suur-Tapiola. These major areas are then divided into a total of 56 districts.

Features[edit]

Although Espoo is relatively highly populated, it has large amounts of natural wilderness, particularly in the city's western and northern portions. The city has a total of 71 lakes, the largest of which are Lake Bodom, Nuuksion Pitkäjärvi, Vanhankylän Pitkäjärvi, Loojärvi, Velskolan Pitkäjärvi, Saarijärvi, Matalajärvi, Siikajärvi, and Lippajärvi. The city has a large coastline on the Gulf of Finland.

Espoo has six Natura 2000 protected areas: Bånberget forests, Espoonlahti–Saunalahti bay area (partially in Kirkkonummi), Laajalahti bay, Matalajärvi lake, Nuuksio National Park (partially in Kirkkonummi and Vihti), as well as forests in Vestra (partially in Vantaa).

The official animal of Espoo is the Siberian flying squirrel, the official bird is the common blackbird, and the official plant is Anemone nemorosa.

Demographics[edit]

The population by nationality 1 January 2007 was 95.1% Finnish and 4.9% other nationalities. Religious affiliation was 77.4% Lutheran, 1.3% Orthodox, 1.3% other, and 19.9% no religious affiliation.

Espoo contains many high income suburbs, and six out of the ten highest average income postal code areas in Finland are in Espoo.^{[citation needed]}

In 2017, there were 44,935 residents with a foreign background. The largest groups are from Estonia, Russia and Iraq.^[7]

People with a foreign background[7]
County of origin	Population (2017)
Russia	6,660 (2.40%)
Estonia	6,566 (2.36%)
Iraq	2,792 (1.00%)
Somalia	2,536 (0.91%)
China	2,392 (0.86%)
India	2,118 (0.76%)
Yugoslavia	1,813 (0.65%)
Sweden	1,455 (0.52%)
Iran	1,191 (0.43%)
Vietnam	1,128 (0.41%)
Pakistan	899 (0.32%)
Philippines	892 (0.32%)
Afghanistan	865 (0.31%)
United Kingdom	718 (0.26%)
Germany	702 (0.25%)
United States	658 (0.24%)
Serbia and Montenegro	645 (0.23%)
Turkey	627 (0.23%)
Nigeria	578 (0.21%)
Bangladesh	532 (0.19%)
Thailand	528 (0.19%)
Syria	517 (0.19%)

Culture[edit]

The Espoo Cultural Centre

Espoo hosts a Museum of Modern Art called EMMA (Espoo Museum of Modern Art), built in a renovated old print house, the WeeGee house, named after an old book print company Weilin & Göös. The same building hosts also Finland's only Museum of Horology (Finnish: Kellomuseo, Swedish: Urmuseum) and a Toy Museum. Glims Farmstead Museum is also located in the city. The Espoo cultural centre, home of the world-renowned Tapiola Sinfonietta, where numerous concerts and theater performances are held, is located in Tapiola (Swedish: Hagalund).

Espoo has several old manors of which two are open to the general public. The most important is Espoon kartano (Swedish: Esbo gård, Espoo Manor), first mentioned in maps in 1495, and belonging to the noble Ramsay family since 1756. The current main building dates back to 1914, but a mill dates from the 1750s and Finland oldest walved stone bridge from 1777 is on the King's Road (Finnish: Kuninkaantie, Swedish: Kungsvägen) which passes by the manor. The main building can be rented for weddings and similar occasions. Guided tours are available on request for groups. The other manor open to public is Pakankylän kartano, located on the northern shore of Lake Bodom. The manor hosts a restaurant and club rooms, partly with original furniture open to the public, but meant originally to Kaisankoti sanatory and old people's home located on ground of the manor.

The Metal band Children of Bodom comes from Espoo, Finland. They are named after the unsolved murder known as the Lake Bodom murders which took place at the shore of Lake Bodom, a lake in northern Espoo, in 1960. The bands Norther and Kiuas also come from Espoo.

The educational department took part in Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 in Finland.

Sports[edit]

Espoo Metro Areena in Tapiola

Tapiolan Urheilupuisto stadium in Tapiola

At the 1952 Summer Olympics, the city's Westend Tennis Hall hosted the fencing events.

Espoo is home to several sports teams. Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team which played at highest level SM-liiga between 1998 and 2016 before the team went bankrupt. Between 1984 and 1998 the team was known as Kiekko-Espoo. A new team called Espoo United was established to replace Espoo Blues and United now play ice hockey at the second highest level Mestis. The Espoo United women's hockey team play at the highest level, women's SM-liiga. Espoo United are also active in basketball and the male basketball team play at the second highest level and the women's basketball team play at the highest level, Naisten korisliiga.

FC Honka (also known as Esport Honka) is a football club that was promoted into the Finnish premier division (Veikkausliiga) for the first time in its history at the end of the 2005 season. Honka currently plays at the second highest level Ykkönen. They play their home matches at Tapiolan urheilupuisto. Espoo also has two floorball teams playing at highest level Salibandyliiga. The two teams are Esport Oilers and Westend Indians.

Espoo is the birthplace of 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, former Dallas Stars forward Jere Lehtinen (three time NHL Selke Trophy winner), former Formula One driver JJ Lehto, professional downhill mountain biker Matti Lehikoinen, professional ten-pin bowling star Osku Palermaa and 2009 European Figure Skating Champion Laura Lepistö.

Politics[edit]

The city hall of Espoo, located in Espoon keskus

Espoo's city council has 75 members. Following the municipal election of 2017 the council seats are allocated in the following way: National Coalition Party 26 seats, Greens 17, Social Democrats 10, True Finns 7, Swedish People's Party 6, Centre Party 3, Left Alliance 3, Christian Democrats 2 and Liberal Party 1.^[8]

Support for the center-right National Coalition Party is high in Espoo. Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in Espoo:

• National Coalition Party 40.4%
• True Finns 14.6%
• Social Democratic Party 14.4%
• Green League 11.6%
• Swedish People's Party 6.7%
• Centre Party 4.3%
• Left Alliance 3.6%
• Christian Democrats 2.7%

Espoo is the home for True Finns chairman Timo Soini.

International relations[edit]

Nuuksio National Park in autumn

View from Kasavuori in Soukka

Twin towns – Sister cities[edit]

Espoo is twinned with:^[9]

Notable people[edit]

• Gösta Sundqvist (1957-2003), bandleader of Leevi and the Leavings
• Marten Mickos (born 1962), entrepreneur
• JJ Lehto (born 1966), racing driver
• Jere Lehtinen (born 1973), ice hockey player
• Susan Aho (born 1974), singer and member of the band Värttinä
• Kirsi Heikkinen (born 1978), football referee
• Charly Wegelius (born 1978), British cyclist
• Heidi Parviainen (born 1979), lyric soprano, metal - singer
• Alexi Laiho (born 1979), guitarist and vocalist, co-founder of the metal band Children of Bodom
• Janne Wirman (born 1979), keyboardist of metal bands Children of Bodom and Warm
• Kimi Räikkönen (born 1979), racing driver and Formula 1 - World Champion
• Aki Hakala (born 1979), drummer of the band The Rasmus
• Petri Lindroos (born 1980), member of the metal bands Norther and Ensiferum
• Eero Ettala (born 1984), snowboarder
• Joonas Suotamo (born 1986), actor and a former professional basketball player
• Marcus Sandell (born 1987), alpine skier
• Laura Lepistö (born 1988), figure skater

See also[edit]

• The UN's Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, signed in Espoo 1991 (text of Convention)
• Districts of Espoo
• Pakankylä
• Postipuu School
• Sello mall shooting
• List of European regions by GDP

References[edit]

Notes

Sources

• Espoon kaupungin taskutilasto 2007, issued by the City of Espoo, 2007

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Espoo.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Espoo.

• 1952 Summer Olympics official report. p. 50.
• City of Espoo – Official website (in Finnish)
• City of Espoo (Esbo) – Official website (in Swedish)
• City of Espoo – Official website (in English)
• Visit Espoo Espoo for travellers (in Finnish) (in Swedish) (in English)
• Helsinki University of Technology – located in Espoo (in Finnish) (in Swedish) (in English)
• Helsinki.fi – Helsinki region in a nutshell (in Finnish) (in Swedish) (in English)