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104-417: Kuusankoski (as a municipality , not the settlement), was founded in 1921 from the parts of neighbouring Iitti and Valkeala . It gained the status of kauppala (literally "a place of commerce" ) in 1957 and became a town in 1973. The history of Kuusankoski during the last one and a half centuries has been closely linked to the establishment of the paper factories and their development. The establishment of

208-641: 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),

312-531: A change in law, Tampere was first city to elect a mayor ( pormestari / borgmästare ) in 2007. The mayor is not, however, currently elected directly, but by the municipal council. The mayor acts as municipal manager and as a speaker of municipal council. Although municipalities do not have police or legislative powers, local ordinances concerning traffic can be set, and municipal parking inspectors can give parking tickets. Municipalities are legal persons and can appear in an administrative court . Likewise,

416-497: 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

520-581: 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

624-633: A municipality. This was finished by the Marin cabinet . 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 the most populous urban area in Finland, it

728-489: A new (and Finnish-speaking) suburb with multiple times the inhabitants than there are in Sipoo. There is currently a heated political debate in Finland about reforming the municipality system. Essentially, a multitude of small municipalities is seen as detrimental to the provision of public services, having originated during Finland's agrarian years. As a result, there have been suggestions of state-imposed mergers. A committee led by

832-415: A place of business in the municipality (3.8% of income). Some municipal functions receive direct funding both from the municipality and the state, e.g. AMK vocational colleges. Finland has an extensive welfare state , and municipalities are responsible for much of the services to that end. Tasks of the municipalities are as follows: Although municipalities are responsible for their own finances, there

936-418: A property tax, amounting to 3.6% of income, which is comparatively low: the annual fee is 0.32-0.75% of net present value for permanent residences and 0.50-1.00% for leisure properties like summer cottages as well as undeveloped plots. This is always paid by the owner, never a tenant directly, unlike the council tax . Municipalities receive a share of corporate tax revenue ( yhteisövero ) from companies having

1040-462: A state agency, and used primarily for traffic-related purposes (signage, speed limits, and highway planning). There are 745 officially recognized urban areas in Finland, 49 of which have more than 10,000 inhabitants and six more than 100,000. Each municipality has a distinct coat of arms . They are posted on the municipal borders and shown in official documents representing the municipality. The coats of arms for many municipalities have been designed in

1144-488: A target of population 20,000 per municipality. Commuter belts have also been proposed as a target by a government committee, such that municipalities where more than 35% of workforce commutes would be subject to a merger. The Sipilä cabinet , from 2015, had been preparing a significant reform of health and social services ( sote-uudistus ), aimed at increasing choice between municipal and private healthcare, and assigning some healthcare responsibilities into larger units than

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1248-515: 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,

1352-564: 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

1456-625: Is a motorcycle speedway on the southern outskits of the neighbourhood, off the Kuusaantie road. The speedway track held the final of the Finnish Individual Speedway Championship in 2007. [REDACTED] Media related to Kuusankoski at Wikimedia Commons 60°54′30″N 26°37′25″E  /  60.90833°N 26.62361°E  / 60.90833; 26.62361 Municipalities of Finland The municipalities ( Finnish : kunta ; Swedish : kommun ) represent

1560-506: 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

1664-460: Is between 16 and 22 percent, and they provide two thirds of public services . Municipalities control many community services, such as schools, health care and the water supply, and local streets. They do not maintain highways, set laws or keep police forces, which are responsibilities of the central government. Municipalities have council-manager government : they are governed by an elected council ( kunnanvaltuusto , kommunfullmäktige ), which

1768-626: 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

1872-521: 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

1976-429: Is collected only from medium to high income earners. However, in practice even the municipal tax is progressive due to generous deductions granted to the lowest income levels. The pre-deduction base tax varies from 16% in affluent Kauniainen to 20% or more in a number of small rural municipalities. Next to the municipal tax, municipalities receive funding from the state budget ( valtionapu , 19% of income). This funding

2080-420: 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

2184-423: Is derived from the composition of the council, not along government-opposition lines. Furthermore, individual decisions are prepared in specialized municipal boards ( lautakunta ) for a council meeting, which include, for example, zoning, social assistance, and education boards. Council, executive board, and municipal board memberships are elected positions of responsibility, not full-time jobs. Remuneration depends on

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2288-484: 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

2392-541: 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

2496-429: Is expected as the name of the municipality refers to the entire parish, not just a single center like a church village. Villages have no administrative role, although some have voluntary village associations ( kyläyhdistys ) and other non-governmental public life. Although related, urban areas in Finland ( taajama ) are not local administrative units. A catalog is independently compiled each year by Statistics Finland ,

2600-477: Is from Kuusankoski. Ex-Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen also lives in the town. As of 2009, the six municipalities – Kouvola , Kuusankoski, Elimäki , Anjalankoski , Valkeala and Jaala – were consolidated, accounting for the new municipality of Kouvola with a population of over 80,000, being the 10th largest city in Finland. Kuusankoski Speedway track ( 60°53′28″N 26°38′10″E  /  60.89111°N 26.63611°E  / 60.89111; 26.63611 )

2704-532: Is legally autonomous and answers only to the voters. The size of the council is proportional to the population, the extremes being 9 in Sottunga and 85 in Helsinki . A subsection of the council, the municipal executive board ( kunnanhallitus ), controls the municipal government and monitors the implementation of decisions of the council. Its decisions must be approved by the council. Unlike national cabinets, its composition

2808-522: Is means-tested to municipality wealth and serves to balance the differences in municipal tax revenue. Besides taxes, sales revenue, fees and profit of operations also form a substantial share of municipal income (21%). In 2023, taxation will be significantly changed, when new wellbeing services counties are founded. Since these are funded by the state, municipal taxes will be reduced by 12.64 percentage points from ~20 to ~7%, and state taxes will be increased correspondingly. Additionally, municipalities levy

2912-503: Is much highly specific legislation and regulation that requires the services to be provided up to a standard. Thus, although municipalities have the power to voluntarily spend tax-generated income, they are required to first allocate funds to legally prescribed services. Municipalities may provide some of these services through corporations that they own or from private companies that they regulate. For example, Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) provides public transport services in

3016-744: 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

3120-545: 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

3224-476: 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 the cities of Espoo , Vantaa and Kauniainen —and surrounding commuter towns, including

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3328-532: 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

3432-465: 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

3536-512: 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

3640-577: 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

3744-605: 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

3848-590: The Finnish Environment Institute classifies urban settlements with over 15,000 inhabitants as kaupunki , municipalities can name themselves kaupunki with fewer inhabitants. There are 44,991 inhabitants in Nurmijärvi , the largest kunta in Finland, and 1,246 inhabitants in Kaskinen , the smallest kaupunki , so the kunta–kaupunki categorisation mainly concerns the name of the municipality. The areas of

3952-784: 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

4056-692: 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

4160-506: 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

4264-498: 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

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4368-524: 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

4472-464: 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

4576-635: 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

4680-530: 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

4784-636: The 18th century, King Gustaf III implemented the Great Partition, where common lands were redistributed into larger properties, and claimed all unclaimed land to the crown. Thus, there is no "leftover" land outside the jurisdiction of municipalities, as all land belongs to either to a private property or to the government. The secular government divided the properties to taxable units (villages and secular municipalities) according to its own convenience, which were not necessarily convergent with parishes. Furthermore, cities were chartered separately. Up to 1734,

4888-504: 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

4992-586: 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

5096-479: 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

5200-427: The 1960s. However, there are some exceptions, such as a school and a church built at the beginning of the last century. Another kind of architecture is represented by the culture building Kuusankoskitalo , a typical creation of modern Finnish architecture , and a library built in a functionalistic style. The cityscape is also characterised by the river Kymijoki which curves through the town. Footballer Sami Hyypiä

5304-446: 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

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5408-520: 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:

5512-597: 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

5616-452: 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

5720-618: 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

5824-525: 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

5928-565: 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

6032-453: 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

6136-558: 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

6240-469: 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

6344-460: The capital area. From 2023, new wellbeing services counties will take the responsibility for healthcare and social services from the municipalities. As of 2021 , there are 309 municipalities in Finland, and from 1 January 2025 308, of which (the following numbers not updated) 107 are cities or towns ( kaupunki ). Sixteen municipalities are unilingually Swedish (all in the autonomous Åland region), while 33 are bilingual: 15 with Swedish as

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6448-527: The church village ( kirkonkylä , abbreviated kk ) is the historical center, the largest or administrative center may be in another village. For example, Askola has a church village (Askolan kirkonkylä), but its administrative center is in Monninkylä . Often, the church village has the same name as the municipality, as with Askola. However, this is not necessarily so, e.g. Enontekiö is governed from Hetta ; these villages are often erroneously labeled in maps. This

6552-463: 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

6656-431: 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 –

6760-473: 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

6864-457: 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

6968-482: 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 ,

7072-474: The economy, transport and environment, while law and environmental enforcement is handled by the local aluehallintovirasto , governing multi-region jurisdictions termed alue .-G.H- Residents pay a municipal tax that is a form of income tax , which is the mainstay of the income of a municipality (42% of income). Municipal tax is nominally a flat tax that is levied from a broader population (including lower income levels) than progressive state income tax, which

7176-463: 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

7280-569: The factories dates back to the 1870s and 1890s, when the rapids of the river Kymijoki were made to deliver electricity to a waking industry. Since then, and until the modern age of automation , the factories have offered jobs to many generations of Kuusankoski citizens, making the area somewhat more prosperous than the neighbouring regions. Today, the influence of the factories on everyday life has somewhat lessened, but their historical importance remains well known. The cityscape of Kuusankoski consists mostly of element-based blocks of flats built during

7384-1172: The former Minister for Regional and Municipal Affairs, Hannes Manninen , suggested creating a two-tier system of municipalities with different powers, while the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities ( Kuntaliitto ) favoured a system where municipalities would be units of at least 20,000–30,000 inhabitants, cf. the current median at 4,700. The motion was inspired by a similar reform in Denmark (see Municipalities of Denmark ). The former government ( Vanhanen II ), however, planned to not impose mergers. Recently, many voluntary mergers have been agreed on. Ten mergers were completed in 2005, one in 2006, 14 in 2007 and one in 2008. In 2009, there were even more, many of which consolidated more than two municipalities. Several cities merged with surrounding rural municipalities in Hämeenlinna , Salo , Kouvola , Seinäjoki , Naantali , Kauhava , Lohja , Raseborg , Jyväskylä and Oulu in 2009. In total, there were 32 mergers, involving 99 municipalities, that reduced

7488-470: 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

7592-856: 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

7696-414: 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

7800-826: 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

7904-412: 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

8008-404: 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

8112-490: 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

8216-572: The law was different in cities than in rural municipalities. On 6 February 1865, the modern municipalities were established as secular entities separate from the parishes. The reform was inspired by the Swedish municipal reforms of 1862 . Up to 1964, cities financed their own police and registry services. Until 1977 municipalities were divided into cities ( kaupunki , stad ), market towns ( kauppala , köping ) and rural municipalities ( maalaiskunta , landskommun ). The market town category

8320-407: The local level of administration in Finland and act as the fundamental, self-governing administrative units of the country. The entire country is incorporated into municipalities and legally, all municipalities are equal, although certain municipalities are called cities or towns ( Finnish : kaupunki ; Swedish : stad ). Municipalities have the right to levy a flat percentual income tax , which

8424-563: The majority language (all but four in Ostrobothnia ) and 18 with Finnish as the majority language (all but five in Uusimaa region). Four municipalities in northern Lapland ( Utsjoki , Inari , Sodankylä and Enontekiö ) have one or all of the three Sami languages spoken in Finland as an official language. Finnish municipalities can choose to be called either kaupunki ( city or town ) or kunta (small town or rural municipality). Although

8528-409: 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

8632-432: The modern era, many of them by Gustaf von Numers . In addition, municipalities like Vantaa since 2015 and Helsinki since 2017 have a logo distinct from their coat of arms. Distinctively, the Helsinki capital region , has no special arrangements. The area consists of four entirely independent cities that form a continuous conurbation . The Helsinki metropolitan area has grown in population and area relatively quickly:

8736-466: 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

8840-473: The municipalities vary, as the population is the primary criterion for forming a municipality. The largest municipalities in size are found in Lapland, of which the largest is Inari at 17,333.65 km (6,692.56 sq mi) (130 km square). The smallest municipalities are very small towns. Kaskinen is an independent town with a land area of only 10.49 km (4.05 sq mi). Kauniainen , which

8944-508: The municipality and position, but is generally nominal or modest: a regular council member is paid 70 euro on average on a per-meeting basis (2017). Municipal managers ( kaupunginjohtaja , stadsdirektör for cities, kunnanjohtaja , kommunsdirektör for other municipalities) are civil servants named by the council. The city manager of Helsinki is called ylipormestari / överborgmästare "Lord Mayor" for historical reasons. There were previously no mayors in Finland, but after

9048-400: The nearby municipalities, considered rural only 50 years ago, have become suburbs , and the growth is projected to continue. A state-imposed merger of Helsinki and a part of Sipoo , a rural, 40% Swedish-speaking municipality adjacent to the Helsinki metropolitan area, was approved by the government in 2006, counter to the opinion of the Sipoo municipal council. This area will effectively become

9152-417: 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 is the third-largest municipality in the Nordic countries, after Stockholm and Oslo . Its urban area

9256-462: 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

9360-551: The number of municipalities by 67. The year 2009 also marked the end of the last maalaiskunta , a municipality surrounding a city but sharing the name, in Jyväskylä . There were four mergers in 2010, six in 2011, ten in 2013, three in 2015, four in 2016, two in 2017, one in 2020 and one in 2021. In the period 2005–2021, the number of municipalities was voluntarily reduced from 444 to 309. In 2012, Katainen's government published an extensive plan aiming at merging municipalities to reach

9464-458: 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

9568-458: 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

9672-533: 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;

9776-524: 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

9880-420: The state of Finland is a separate legal person. Excluding judicial review of formal compliance to administrative law, municipalities are independent and not a part of a local state hierarchy. Municipalities cooperate in regions of Finland . State agencies have jurisdictions spanning one or more regions: each region is served by an ely-keskus ( elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus ) on matters of employment,

9984-566: 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

10088-486: 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

10192-504: 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

10296-496: Was abolished and these were renamed as cities. The rest of the municipalities were classified as 'other municipalities'. All municipalities called maalaiskunta were eventually either merged to their parent cities or changed their names. From 1995 onwards only 'municipality' is recognized by law and any municipality is allowed to call itself a city. Not all municipalities have an obvious urban center; indeed, rural municipalities are often composed of distributed rural villages. Although

10400-481: 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

10504-592: 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

10608-630: Was originally a corporation in Espoo , is only 6.00 km (2.32 sq mi). Municipalities were originally parishes . The old word for a municipality is pitäjä , 'keeper', because when the system was instituted, one municipality kept one minister. Municipalities were divided into villages, which consisted of individual properties. Borders between properties and thus municipalities were defined by oral agreements passed down from generation to generation; usually along straight lines between defined markers such as boulders. Medieval documentation survives only from legal disputes concerning borders. In

10712-753: 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

10816-450: 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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