Vantaa (; ) is a
city and
municipality in
Finland.
Helsinki, Vantaa,
Espoo, and
Kauniainen make up the
Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
Vantaa, with its population of (),
is the fourth most populated city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is located there. It also hosts a science centre,
Heureka.
Vantaa is notable as the birthplace of
racing driver Mika Häkkinen.
In addition there is the city museum next to the
railway station in Tikkurila. The museum is housed in the oldest station building in Finland, designed by
Carl Albert Edelfelt and completed in 1861. There are exhibitions with various themes on local history.
The city is
bilingual, with majority being
Finnish and minority
Swedish speakers.
Geography
Location
Vantaa encompasses , of which is water.
Population density is . It borders
Helsinki, the Finnish capital, which is to the south and southwest. Other neighbouring municipalities are
Espoo to the west,
Nurmijärvi,
Kerava and
Tuusula to the north and
Sipoo to the east.
Subdivision
Vantaa is divided into 7 districts (, ):
Myyrmäki (Myrbacka),
Tikkurila (Dickursby),
Hakunila (Håkansböle),
Korso,
Koivukylä (Björkby) and
Aviapolis.
History
The name
Vantaa was taken into use in 1972 when the municipality gained
market town rights. The first record of the area is as
Helsinge in 1351 when king
Magnus II of Sweden granted
salmon fishing rights on the river Vantaa to the
Estonian Padise
monastery. The municipality was formerly known as
Helsingin maalaiskunta "Rural municipality of Helsinki". The rapids of river Vantaa were known as
Helsingfors, from which the current Swedish name of Helsinki derives. In 1972, the municipality was renamed
Vantaa/Vanda and promoted to a market town (i.e.
Vantaan kauppala/Vanda köping), and in 1974, finally renamed
Vantaan kaupunki/Vanda stad "City of Vantaa".
On October 11, 2002, the city was shocked by the explosion of a
bomb in the local Myyrmanni
shopping centre, killing 7, including the bomber, a 19-year-old chemistry student from the
Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology (see
Myyrmanni bombing).
Climate
left|240px|Climate diagramDemographics
thumb|right|250px|The Tikkurila railway station is the busiest station in Vantaa.
thumb|right|250px|The Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (HEL), although associated with Helsinki, is located in Vantaa.
Politics
thumb|290px|Districts of VantaaMunicipal council
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Vantaa is
twinned with:
Mayors
See also
