Turku (; ) is a
city situated on the southwest coast of
Finland at the mouth of
Aura River.
It is located in the region of
Finland Proper in the Province of
Western Finland. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland. Turku was for a long time the most important population center in Finland: it was the first capital city of Finland from 1809 to 1812 and continued to be the largest city by population in Finland until the end of the 1840s. Nowadays its significance nationwide is not the same as it used to be, but Turku is still a regional capital and important location for business and culture.
Because of its long history it has been the site of many important historical events and has extensively influenced
Finnish history. During the year 2011 Turku has been designated to be the
European Capital of Culture together with
Tallinn, the capital city of
Estonia. In 1996 it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.
Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger
seaport city with over three million passengers travelling through
Port of Turku each year to
Stockholm and
Mariehamn.
As of Turku’s population was , which makes it the fifth largest city in Finland by population.
As of 31 August, 2008 there were 303,492 inhabitants living in the
Turku sub-region, which makes it the third largest
urban area in Finland after the
Greater Helsinki area and
Tampere sub-region. The city is officially
bilingual as percent of its population identify as speaking Swedish as a
mother-tongue.
History
Turku has a long history as Finland's largest city and occasionally as the administrative center of the country, but has, over the last two centuries, lost both titles to
Helsinki. To this day, the city's identity stems from its status as the oldest city in Finland and the country's first capital. Originally, the word "Finland" referred only to the area around Turku (hence the title, "
Finland Proper" for the region).
thumb|left|Cathedral of Turku, 1814.Although archaeological findings in the area date back to the
Stone Age, the town of Turku was founded in late 13th century. Its name originated from an
Old East Slavic word,
tǔrgǔ, meaning "market place". The
Cathedral of Turku was
consecrated in 1300, and together with
Turku Castle and the
Dominican monastery (founded in 1249), established the city as the most important location in
medieval Finland.
During the
Middle Ages, Turku was the seat of the Bishop of Turku (a title later upgraded to
Archbishop of Turku), covering the then eastern half of Kingdom of Sweden (most of the present-day Finland) until the 17th century. Even if Turku had no official capital status, both the short-lived institutions of
Dukes and
Governors-General of Finland usually had their Finnish residences there. In 1640, the first
university in Finland,
The Royal Academy of Turku, was founded in Turku. Turku was also the meeting place for the
States of Finland in 1676.
After the
Finnish War, which ended when
Sweden ceded Finland to
Imperial Russia at the
Treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809, Turku became briefly the official capital, but soon lost the status to Helsinki, as
Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku was too far from Russia and too aligned with Sweden to serve as the capital of the
Grand Duchy of Finland. The change officially took place in 1812. The government offices that remained in Turku were finally moved to the new capital after the
Great Fire of Turku, which almost completely destroyed the city in 1827. After the fire, a new and safer city plan was drawn up by
German architect Carl Ludvig Engel, who had also designed the new capital, Helsinki. Turku remained the largest city in Finland for another twenty years.
In 1918, a new university, the
Åbo Akademi – the only
Swedish language university in Finland – was founded in Turku. Two years later, the
Finnish language University of Turku was founded alongside it. These two universities are the second and third to be founded in Finland, both by private donations.
In the 20th century Turku was called "Finland's gateway to the West" by historians such as Jarmo Virmavirta. The city enjoyed good connections with other
Western European countries and cities, especially since the 1940s with
Stockholm across the
Gulf of Bothnia. In the 1960s, Turku became the first Western city to sign a
twinning agreement with
Leningrad in the
Soviet Union, leading to greater inter-cultural exchange and providing a new meaning to the city's 'gateway' function. After the fall of
Communism in
Russia, many prominent Soviets came to Turku to study Western business practices , among them
Vladimir Putin, then Leningrad's deputy
mayor.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Turku displayed unprecedented rates of growth , resulting in the construction of many new densely-inhabited
suburbs such as
Varissuo and
Runosmäki, and the annexation of many neighbouring municipalities (e.g.,
Maaria and
Paattinen). Many old quarters were completely destroyed in the process, replacing them with more efficient and faster-built concrete buildings. The city's growth has led to problems with
unemployment in the new populous suburbs on the one hand, and with the provision of public services (such as education) in more remote parts on the other.
Geography
thumb|right|Aura River seen further from central Turku.
Located at the mouth of the
Aura river in the southwestern corner of Finland, Turku covers an area of 245
km² (94 sq mi) of land, spread over both banks of the river. The eastern side, where the Cathedral of Turku is located, is popularly referred to as
täl pual jokke ("this side of the river"), while the western side is referred to as
tois pual jokke ("the other side of the river"). The city centre is located close to the river mouth, on both sides of the river, though development has recently been expanding westward.
There are nine bridges over the Aura river in Turku. The first bridge in the city area, nowadays known as
Pennisilta, was built in 1414, and has since been demolished. The oldest of the current bridges is
Auransilta, which was constructed in 1904. The newest bridge is
Teatterisilta ('theatre bridge'), a
pedestrian-only bridge built in 1997. One of the best-known landmarks of Turku is the
Föri, a small
ferry that transports pedestrians and
bicycles across the river without payment.
With a population of approximately 300,000 , the
Turku Region (
LAU 1) is the third largest urban region in Finland, after
Greater Helsinki and the area around
Tampere. The region includes, in addition to the city itself the following municipalities:
Askainen,
Kaarina,
Lemu,
Lieto,
Masku,
Merimasku,
Mynämäki,
Naantali,
Nousiainen,
Paimio,
Piikkiö,
Raisio,
Rusko,
Rymättylä,
Sauvo,
Vahto, and
Velkua.
A more exclusive definition for the urban area is the
city region of Turku with a population around 235,000 consisting of four major municipalities Kaarina, Raisio, Naantali and Turku.
Subdivisions
thumb|right|[[IV District, Turku|IV District or Martti is one of the smallest but most densily populated districts of Turku.]]
The city is divided into 78 districts and nine
wards that do not function as local government units. There are, however, some projects that are based on the district divisions, particularly in the eastern part of the city, where unemployment is rife in certain areas. The largest populated districts are Varissuo and Runosmäki. By area, however,
Kakskerta and
Paattinen, formed from former municipalities that were annexed to the city proper in the mid-20th century, constitute the largest districts.
As many of the small neighbouring
municipalities from the north and south of the city were annexed during the mid-20th century, Turku is today shaped like an elongated
pear. The city centre and most of the suburban areas lie in the middle, separated from the less densely populated northern rural areas by the Turku
bypass, that forms part of
European route E18. Islands such as
Ruissalo,
Hirvensalo and
Kakskerta, forming the southern part of the city, are also sparsely populated and mostly contain summer residences, with the exception of some districts in Hirvensalo which are currently growing into
upper-middle-class suburbs.
Climate
thumb|Area of Turku cathedral in autumn.
Situated by the
Baltic Sea and sheltered by the islands of the
Archipelago Sea, Turku has a
hemiboreal climate. Like much of southern Finland, the city experiences warm summers, with
temperatures ranging up to 30
°C (86
°F), and relatively cold winters with frequent
snowfall. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average temperature of 17 °C (62 °F), whereas the coldest month is February. The average year-round temperature is 5 °C (41 °F). Winter usually starts in early December, and spring in late March.
Precipitation in Turku averages 698
mm (27
inches) a year. The rainiest month of the year is August, when the city receives on average 79 mm (3.1 inches) of rainfall. In May, the driest month of the year, the figure is only 35 mm (1.4 inches). The average
air pressure at sea level is 1012
millibars, with little variance throughout the year.
Operational since 1955, the city's
weather station is located at an altitude of 47
metres (154
feet) at
Turku Airport.
Climate averages in Turku:
Government and politics
thumb|The Court of Appeal and Academy House of Turku.Being both a
regional and
provincial capital, Turku is an important administrative centre, hosting the seat of the
Archbishop of Finland and a
Court of Appeal. Mikko Pukkinen, the former city manager of
Seinäjoki, has been the
city manager of Turku since 2006.
The
city council and city board have long been dominated by the
Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the
National Coalition Party (
Kokoomus), with approximately equal representation. Currently, the council has 67 members, with 20 from
Kokoomus and 15 from SDP. The other major parties in the council are the
Green League (11 seats), the
Left Alliance (10 seats) and the
Swedish People's Party (4 seats). The current chair of the city board is
Aleksi Randell from
Kokoomus.
Transportation
200px|thumb|left|[[Locomotives at
Turku Central railway station.]]
thumb|200px|left|[[Viking Line's
MS Isabella on her way at Turku Archipelago.]]
For a city of its size, Turku has a moderate
public transportation network of
bus routes, which is comparable to bus network of similar-sized
Tampere. The bus network is managed and supervised by the
City of Turku Public Transport Office, and is operated mainly by private companies. Regional buses are operated by private companies, most importantly
TLO, with very frequent services especially to the neighbouring cities of Naantali, Raisio, and Kaarina.
Rail traffic to and from Turku is handled by the Finnish national carrier,
VR. As with most other Finnish cities, railways were an important method of transportation in the first half of the 20th century, but have since seen a sharp fall in popularity. As a result, the number of services has fallen and only the railways towards Tampere and Helsinki are now in use. The railway stations currently used for passenger traffic are the
Turku Central railway station in
Pohjola, and two smaller stations in
Kupittaa and the
Port of Turku.
There is no local rail traffic at the moment, as the city's popular
tram services were discontinued in 1972, and the various local railway lines to neighbouring towns and municipalities were all abolished during the late 20th century. However, there are plans for a
light rail system in the Turku region in the near future. This system would more ably serve major suburbs of the city such as Varissuo and Runosmäki, as well as the neighbouring cities.
Bus network use today has become highly uneconomical and the ticket prices have been raised repeatedly. Growing expenses and worsening traffic problems are main issues that have put trams back under consideration as well as
bus lanes. The State of Finland has announced plans to support
Espoo with 30 % of full expenses on a new metro rail, the Regional Council of Southwest Finland is going to use this as a test case for a new light rail network in Turku.:
The Turku Bus Station and the
Turku Central Railway Station are currently located in different places. The City of Turku is planning to combine these two in a new greater station complex in the near future. This new travel center will consist of a hotel and several shopping estates. This center will connect all public transportation from commuter trains to long distance buses.
Turku Airport is located eight kilometres to the north of the city centre, partly in the neighbouring municipality of
Rusko.
There are also daily ferry services from the
Port of Turku to Sweden and
Åland, operated by
Silja Line,
Viking Line and
SeaWind Line. These are something of a Finnish cultural tradition (see
ruotsinlaiva), and people often travel long distances across Finland to Turku just to take a
cruise across the Gulf of Bothnia.
The
archipelago sea boat traffic is handled by, among others,
S/S Ukkopekka. Old
steamship cruise Turku-
Naantali-Turku.
Turku is the only city in Finland to have three long-distance railway stations:
Turku Central,
Port of Turku, and
Kupittaa. Even Helsinki has only two:
Helsinki Central and
Pasila.
Demographics
thumb|People celebrating Vappu in central Turku.
At the end of 2004 the Turku region (including the
economic districts of Turku and Åboland) had a population of 319,632, out of which 174,824 people lived in the city of Turku. The city's population density is 718 inhabitants per square kilometre.
89.4 % of Turku's population speak Finnish as their
native language, while 5.2 % speak Swedish. The next most widely spoken languages are
Russian (1.3 %),
Arabic (0.6 %),
Albanian (0.5 %), and
Kurdish (0.4 %). 95.8 % of the population are
Finnish citizens, and the most sizeable minorities are from
Russia,
Estonia,
Iraq, and
Iran. Like all other Finnish cities, Turku does not collect information about the ethnic and religious makeup of its population.
Famous people from the city of Turku include
Paavo Nurmi,
Mauno Koivisto,
Herman Spöring,
Miikka Kiprusoff and brothers,
Saku and
Mikko Koivu. On October 30, 2008, the Koivu brothers became the first NHL brothers to face other as captains. The Turku region has also brought forth many prominent personalities, including the
marshal,
Carl Gustaf Mannerheim.
Economy
thumb|right|MS Oasis of the Seas, worlds largest passenger ship was build in Turku.
Business district in The city's economy is centred around the Port of Turku and other service-oriented industries. The city is also a renowned
high-tech centre – the
Turku Science Park area in Kupittaa hosts over 300 companies from the fields of
biotechnology and
information technology, as well as several institutions of higher learning that work in closely with the business sector. This cooperative element is seen as a particularly important factor with regards to the city's expected future economic development, as outlined in the
Turku Strategy that is published annually by the city council. Turku, with its good transportation network and close proximity to the
Archipelago Sea, is also an important centre for tourism, frequently hosting various conventions and exhibitions.
As of 2007, the city's
unemployment rate is 9.4 %.
[http://www.turku.fi/Public/download.aspx?ID=59428&GUID={2171A3CC-D0CC-4ACF-A894-86B962BE8B58}] The problem of unemployment is however troublesome in the districts of
Pansio,
Lauste, and Varissuo, where it hovers at around 16 %.
The city collects an 18 per cent
income tax (
council tax) from its inhabitants, in addition to the progressively graduated taxation practised by the Finnish state. The total amount received through council tax in 2004 was projected at €400 million, a reduction of 1.0 per cent from the previous year. Taxes collected from
corporations amounted to €39 million in 2004.
Education
thumb|right|The main building of the University of Turku.
Turku has a longer educational history than any other Finnish city – the first school in the city, the
Cathedral School, was founded along with the Cathedral of Turku in the late 13th century. The first
university in Finland, the "
The Royal Academy of Turku" (now
University of Helsinki), was established in the city in 1640. In 1820, the first school in Finland conforming to the
Bell-Lancaster method was founded in Turku with the aim of making primary education more inclusive to the lower classes.
Turku is home to about 35,000 higher education students. The
University of Turku is the second largest university in Finland (18,000 students), as measured by student enrollment, and one of the oldest as well, having been founded in 1920. Turku is also home to several other establishments of higher education, namely
Åbo Akademi founded 1918, Finland's only Swedish-language university,
Turun kauppakorkeakoulu (
Turku School of Economics), and
Turun ammattikorkeakoulu (
Turku University of Applied Sciences) which is second largest
polytechnic in Finland after Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
The central hospital of Turku,
Turku University Hospital, is affiliated with the University and it is used as a teaching hospital.
Turku is one of only two cities in Finland to have an established
international school (the other city being Helsinki).
Turku International School, located in the eastern district of
Varissuo, has been operating since 2003. By an agreement signed between the city of Turku and the
University of Turku,
Turun normaalikoulu takes care of the teaching in the international school.
Media
thumb|Main library of TurkuThe most widely read
newspaper of Turku, and the area around it, is the daily regional morning newspaper
Turun Sanomat, with a readership of over 70 % of the population every day.
Åbo Underrättelser, a Swedish language newspaper published in Turku, is the oldest newspaper in Finland, having been published since 1824. The free-of-charge
Turkulainen newspaper is also among the most popular newspapers, together with the local edition of
Metro International and the national evening
tabloid Ilta-Sanomat. There are also a number of local newspapers such as
Kulmakunta (for the eastern suburbs of Turku, including Varissuo and Lauste), and
Rannikkoseutu (for the area around the neighbouring cities of Raisio and Naantali).
The newspaper,
Turun Sanomat, also operates a regional
television station, called
Turku TV. The Finnish national broadcaster,
Yleisradio, screens local news, daily from Monday to Friday, for the Southwest Finland (including the regions of
Finland Proper and
Satakunta) residents. All
Finnish national TV channels are viewable and national radio channels audible in the Turku area. In addition, a number of local
radio stations, eg
Auran Aallot and
Radio Sata are operational.
Culture
thumb|right|The Cathedral of Turku, one of the most notable historical buildings in Finland.
Cultural venues in Turku include several
theatres,
cinemas, and
art galleries, and a city philharmonic
orchestra. The city's cultural centre organises a number of regular events, most notably the
Medieval Market in July each year. Turku is also the official
Christmas city of Finland, and 'Christmas Peace' in Finland is declared on every
24 December from the Brinkkala Hall balcony. The
Turku Music Festival and the
rock festival Ruisrock (held on the island of
Ruissalo) are among the oldest of its kind in
Scandinavia. The city also hosts another rock festival,
Down by the Laituri, and one of the largest electronic music festivals in Northern Europe, UMF (Uuden Musiikin Festivaali, "New Music Festival"), in addition to a vibrant nightlife, centred around the Market Square.
There are also numerous
museums, such as the Turku Art Museum and the
Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art. The Åbo Akademi University maintains the
Sibelius museum, which is the only museum in Finland specialising in the field of music. Apart from these, there are also several historical museums that display the city's medieval period, such as the
Turku Castle, which has been a functional historical museum since 1881, and the
Aboa Vetus museum, built in the late 1990s over the 14th century
archaeological site. The
Luostarinmäki handicrafts museum, converted from residential buildings that survived the
Great Fire of Turku in 1827, was the first
Scandinavian venue to receive the "Golden Apple" tourism award.
Turku is going to be
European Capital of Culture in 2011, and the city council has approved numerous projects to boost the city's image in preparation for that status.
The Declaration of Christmas Peace has been a tradition in Finland from the Middle Ages every year, except in 1939 due to the
Winter War. The declaration takes place on the Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official 'Christmas City', at noon on Christmas Eve. The declaration ceremony begins with the hymn
Jumala ompi linnamme (
Martin Luther's
Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott) and continues with the Declaration of Christmas Peace read from a
parchment roll in Finnish and Swedish.
Sports
thumb|Paavo Nurmi Marathon is run every summer.
Football is the most popular sport in Turku. The city has two teams in the
Veikkausliiga:
FC Inter and
TPS. Both teams play their home matches at the modern
Veritas Stadion in the district of
Kupittaa.
Ice hockey is very popular sport in Turku. The local club
TPS (which is part of the same organisation as the football team) plays in the sport's top level in Finland, the
SM-liiga. It is based at
Turkuhalli to the southwest of the city centre. TPS has won the Finnish ice hockey championship ten times. The city's other major ice hockey team is
TuTo, which play at the country's second level. A new ice hockey arena was constructed for Tuto in the Kupittaa park in 2006.
The
Paavo Nurmi Marathon is an annual sporting event in Turku, named after the world-famous runner
Paavo Nurmi who was born and raised in the city.
Turku has also been the site of sporting history, as on June 21, 1954 it was in Turku where the Australian
John Landy became the second person to run the mile under four minutes.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Turku is
twinned with:
Turku has co-operation agreements with the following cities:
Gallery
See also
