Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. It is part of the inner core of the
Finnish Capital Region along with
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
,
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
, and
Kauniainen
Kauniainen (; sv, Grankulla) is a small town and a municipality of inhabitants () in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. It is surrounded and enclaved by the City of Espoo, in the Capital Region of Greater Helsinki. Kauniainen was founde ...
. With a population of (
), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo and
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
. Its administrative center is the
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
. Vantaa is bordered by Helsinki, the Finnish capital, to the south; Espoo to the southwest;
Nurmijärvi
Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...
to the northwest;
Kerava and
Tuusula
Tuusula (; sv, Tusby ) is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of
() and is by far the third largest municipality in Finland after Nurmijärvi and Kirkkonummi ...
to the north; and
Sipoo
Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
. The administrative center of the munic ...
to the east. The city encompasses , of which is water.
Vantaa's significant attractions include the
Vantaa River (''Vantaanjoki''), which flows through the city and flows into the
Gulf of Finland. The largest
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
in Finland, and the main airport and
airline hub
An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the ...
of
Greater Helsinki, the
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
, is located in Vantaa. Companies with headquarters in Vantaa include
Finnair
Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
,
Finavia,
R-kioski,
Tikkurila Oyj
Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. The main office and most of the production is located in Kuninkaala (neighboring district to Tikkurila), Vantaa near Helsinki.
The company was founded in 1862 as ''Dickursby Olje ...
,
Veikkaus Oy, and
Metsähallitus
Metsähallitus (Finnish) (Forststyrelsen in Swedish, Meahciráđđehus in Sami, ''"the (Finnish) Forest Administration"'') is a state-owned enterprise in Finland.
Its two main tasks are Parks & Wildlife Finland to manage most of the protected are ...
. The city also hosts a
science center,
Heureka.
The city of Vantaa is bilingual, both
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
and
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
being official languages. 78.7% of the population are Finnish speakers, while 2.4% speak Swedish as their
first language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
. 18.9% of the population speak a native language other than Finnish or Swedish.
History
Vantaa has a rich history that dates back to the
Stone Age.
The area was inhabited by
Tavastians
Tavastians ( fi, Hämäläiset, sv, Tavaster, russian: Емь, Yem, Yam) are a historic people and a modern subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people. They live in areas of the historical province of Tavastia (Häme) and speak Tavastian dialects ...
and
Finns proper
Finns proper ( fi, Varsinaissuomalaiset, sv, Egentliga Finnar) are a historic people and a modern subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people. They live in the areas of the historical province of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and Satakunta, and ...
until the so-called
second crusade to Finland and
Swedish colonisation of the area.
Ancient history
Remains of an ancient rectangular dwelling dating to 6700 to 6500 BCE have been discovered in Brunaberg in Vantaa. At the time, the dwelling was located at the seashore near the mouth of the
Keravanjoki
The ' ( sv, Kervo å; the Kerava River) is a river in Finland. The 65-kilometer-long river starts from Lake Ridasjärvi in Hyvinkää, river. The dwelling had been used for decades, apparently mostly in wintertime.
[.] A graveyard-like dwelling dating to the
Mesolithic has been discovered in Jönsas, which was located at the mouth of a seaside bay at the time.
In the Stone Age, people in Vantaa sought their food mostly from the sea. Seals were an important quarry, but remains of
harbour porpoise
The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar ...
s have also been found at the numerous
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
dwelling sites at
Jokiniemi.
Remains of permanent dwellings found from Stenkulla in
Hakkila date from the same period.
There are considerably many findings from the
Comb Ceramic culture
The Comb Ceramic culture or Pit-Comb Ware culture, often abbreviated as CCC or PCW, was a northeast European culture characterised by its Pit–Comb Ware. It existed from around 4200 BCE to around 2000 BCE. The bearers of the Comb Ceramic cultu ...
in Vantaa. Many ancient clay figures representing humans have been found in Jokiniemi in Vantaa. They have been estimated to be of various ages from 5300 to 5500 years old. During the typical Comb Ceramic time, large amounts of
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...
were brought to Finland from the south and southeast, which was made into blades and points, as well as amber. The Comb Ceramic era humans also knew how to use bows and arrows as weapons.
Iron Age history in Vantaa is not very well known, but the entire
Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...
area was still a sparsely-populated backland of Tavastia at the end of the Iron Age. The most researched Iron Age dwelling in Vantaa is located at the same site as the earlier Stone Age dwellings of Jönsas and Palmu. Remains of Morby ceramics have been discovered at these sites, and iron slag has also been discovered in Jönsas. Remains of fireplaces dating to the Iron Age have also been researched in Jönsas.
[Leskinen, Sirpa; Pesonen, Petro: ''Vantaan esihistoria'', city of Vantaa 2008. .] Remains of dwellings dating to the 10th century have been discovered in Gubbacka in
Länsisalmi as well as remains of smithies from the 12th and 13th centuries.
Information about ancient villages located in the Vantaa area can be found from concentration of soil visible in
palynological analysis as well as retroactive reasoning based on nomenclature and historical documents. According to historian
Saulo Kepsu, Finnish population has spread from Tavastia to the Helsinki and Vantaa area in the 11th to 14th centuries, possibly even earlier. The Tavastians had fishing places and other pleasure grounds in the area.
Swedish rule
![Pyhän Laurin kirkko](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Pyh%C3%A4n_Laurin_kirkko.jpg)
Prior to the name ''Vantaa'' being taken into use in 1974, the area was known as ''Helsingin pitäjä'' ( sv, Helsinge; "
Socken
Socken is the name used for a part of a county in Sweden. In Denmark similar areas are known as ''sogn'', in Norway ''sokn'' or ''sogn'' and in Finland ''pitäjä'' ''(socken)''. A socken is a country-side area that was formed around a church, ...
of Helsinki"). The rapids of river Vantaa were known as ''Helsingfors'', from which the current Swedish name of Helsinki derives. Early settlement in Vantaa was centered around the river, in
Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä
Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä ( sv, Helsinge kyrkoby; lit. Helsinki Parish Village) is a city district in Vantaa, Finland. It is located in central Vantaa, in the Tikkurila major region. It is bordered to the north by the Ring III beltway, the ...
("Helsinki Parish Village"), and from it the city's current
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
derived its imagery.
The
Swedish colonisation in Vantaa started in connection with the colonisation in the rest of
Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...
in the late 13th century after the
Second Swedish Crusade
The Second Swedish Crusade was a possible 13th-century Swedish military expedition against the Tavastians, in present-day Finland, led by Birger Jarl. Many details of the Crusade are debated. After the crusade, Tavastia gradually started to fal ...
. The Swedes called the area ''
Ny land'' ("new land"). There was permanent settlement in the area of the branching point of the rivers in the 14th century.
The history of ''Helsingin pitäjä'' stretches at least to the 14th century. For a long time it was thought that the earliest record of the area was as ''Helsinge'' in 1351 when king
Magnus IV of Sweden
Magnus IV (April or May 1316 – 1 December 1374; Swedish ''Magnus Eriksson'') was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII (including Iceland and Greenland) from 1319 to 1355, and ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By ...
granted
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
fishing rights on the river ''Helsingaa'' (now known as the
river Vantaa) to the
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
n
Padise Abbey. However, according to current knowledge, the first mention of Vantaa was in a document given by king Magnus IV in
Västerås
Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049.
Västerås is the se ...
on 14 September 1331, describing episcopal tithes, requiring a pound of butter for the bishop from every citizen of age 7 years or older.
Since the 14th century, the road between
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
and
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
,
King's Road
King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...
, has run through Vantaa. The road brought significant attention to the city, and its location on the salmon rich river led to a permanent population.
The river ''Helsingaa'' soon gave its name to the entire area, and also inspired the coat of arms of Vantaa. The Helsinki
socken
Socken is the name used for a part of a county in Sweden. In Denmark similar areas are known as ''sogn'', in Norway ''sokn'' or ''sogn'' and in Finland ''pitäjä'' ''(socken)''. A socken is a country-side area that was formed around a church, ...
was born from the 1370s to the 1390s, and the
Church of St. Lawrence was built there in 1460. The church was located in a transport hub near the rivers of Vantaa and Kerava. Many roads also ran through the clerical centre: the King's Road from Turku to Vyborg and the Häme road to the
Häme Castle
Tavastia Castle or Häme Castle ( fi, Hämeen linna, sv, Tavastehus slott) is a medieval castle in Tavastia Proper, Finland. It is located in Hämeenlinna, the city between Helsinki and Tampere. Originally located on an island, the castle now sit ...
and to the coast in the south. The first vicar in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was mentioned in 1395. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' is seen as have established itself as a clerical and administrative parish in the 15th century, and the first mention of a church dedicated to
Saint Lawrence in the area is from 1401. A local ''frälse'' family donated a land worth one ''skattmark'' from
Rekola to the church of St. Lawrence. The name ''Helsinge'' was first mentioned in 1428. In the same year, fishing rights in the area were moved over to the
Archdiocese of Turku
The Archdiocese of Turku ( fi, Turun arkkihiippakunta, sv, Åbo ärkestift), historically known as '' Archdiocese of Åbo'', is the seat of the Archbishop of Turku. It is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and its see city is ...
, which helped the construction of a stone church to replace the old wooden one.
Justice in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was the responsibility of its own district court. It is known that the parish had its own district court in the 16th century. The court could be held by deputies hired by high-ranking judges, so-called lawreaders. The use of lawreaders was common from the late 16th century to the 1680s.
[Kuisma, Markku: ''Kuisma, Markku: Helsingin pitäjän historia II. Vanhan Helsingin synnystä isoonvihaan 1150-1713'', city of Vantaa 1990. .]
Because of its poor location,
Porvoo
Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...
could not compete with the
Hanseatic
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...
merchants in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
, so in 1550 king
Gustav Vasa
Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...
decided to found the city of
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
at the site of ''Helsingin pitäjä'' at the mouth of the Helsingaa river. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had already developed into a significant centre of marine trade in Uusimaa in the 1530s. However, the
Vanhakaupunki
Vanhakaupunki ( sv, Gammelstaden) is a neighbourhood of the city of Helsinki, Finland, to the north of Toukola. It is also the name of a district of the city, which contains the neighbourhood and its surroundings. The name (meaning "old town") co ...
area in Helsinki never became the city centre Gustav Vasa wanted during his lifetime.
In 1570, the 25-year Russian war also affected life in ''Helsingin pitäjä''. Increased stress, additional military tax and enemy attacks had their toll on the population and often led to farmsteads being deserted. In 1577 there were 51 farmsteads burned and raided by the enemy.
Serving food to and accommodating the military departments was the responsibility of police chief Olof Mårtensson, who lived at the Malmi horsestead. The largest department served by the police chief consisted of 40 horsemen from the Uppland unit in January 1576. As well as the Malmi horsestead, ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was also home to the horsesteads of Pukinmäki, Herttoniemi, Haltiala, Kirkonkylä, Meilby, Kulosaari and Heickby.
After the
Treaty of Stolbovo
The Treaty of Stolbovo () was a peace treaty that ended the Ingrian War (), which had been fought between the Swedish Empire and the Russian Tsardom between 1610 and 1617.
History
After nearly two months of negotiations, representatives from Sw ...
, the Diet of Helsinki granted the rights of a staple town to Helsinki for foreign trade in 1617. The wars against
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in the 1620s led to many large manors for the nobility being built in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' to support the
cavalry, including
Westerkulla and
Hakunila
Hakunila (; sv, Håkansböle, ), is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the eastern part of the city. The district has a population of 11,238 and a population density of .
The district is bordered ...
. In autumn 1640, it was decided to move Helsinki from the Vanhakaupunki area to its current location at
Vironniemi
Vironniemi ( sv, Estnäs; literally the "Cape of Estonia" or the "Estonian Peninsula"[Töölö
Töölö (; sv, Tölö, formerly spelled ''Thölö'') is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö ( sv, Främre Tölö, lit=Front Töölö, links=no) and Taka-Töölö ( sv, Bortre Tölö, lit=Rear Töölö, links=no) in Helsink ...](_blank)
was annexed from ''Helsingin pitäjä'' to Helsinki proper in 1644, and in 1652 the parish congregation lost its independent status, and in order to support the economy of the Helsinki congregation, the entire church parish of Helsinki was annexed to the city congregation of Helsinki.
[Vantaan historiaa](_blank)
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 9 September 2020.
The
Great Famine of 1695–1697
The Great Famine of 1695–1697, or simply the Great Famine, was a catastrophic famine that affected the present Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden, all of which belonged to the Swedish Empire with the exception of Norway. The areas worst ...
also had its toll on ''Helsingin pitäjä''. Successive years of crop loss caused famine and mortality was high. As well as the peasants, the famine also affected servants of the crown, both the noble and the common estates, and the bourgeoisie.
During the
Great Wrath Russian troops invaded ''Helsingin pitäjä'' in 1713. Some of the inhabitants fled to the mother country of Sweden or into nearby forests, some fought back against the invaders. As the invasion grew long, circumstances slowly settled and the
Treaty of Nystad
The Treaty of Nystad (russian: Ништадтский мир; fi, Uudenkaupungin rauha; sv, Freden i Nystad; et, Uusikaupunki rahu) was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of ...
was made in autumn 1721. A second, shorter invasion, known as the
Lesser Wrath, happened from 1742 to 1743.
Circumstances in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' started improving in the 1720s, as it became one of the most important centres of early industry in Finland. Water-powered sawmills were built in the area, forming a significant concentration of export industry at the time. This export was directed both to central Europe and also far way to the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
in the late 18th century. A significant export target for ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was located just near its coast: the construction of the
Sveaborg fortress, started in 1748, required large amounts of workforce and agricultural and industrial products such as foodstuffs, wood,
brick and
lime
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a color between yellow and green
Lime may also refer to:
Botany ...
.
''Helsingin pitäjä'' was a Swedish-speaking area. From the middle 18th century to the early 19th century, only about a tenth of the population of the parish spoke Finnish.
Russian rule
Ore
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
deposits in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had been discovered in the 1700s, but weren't utilized until Finland transferred to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n control in the early 1800s. Ore extraction and processing lead to rapid industrialization in the area, with communities forming around locations like
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
and
Kerava. The industrial community in Tikkurila included an
expeller pressing plant, which currently operates in the area as the paint manufacturer
Tikkurila Oyj
Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. The main office and most of the production is located in Kuninkaala (neighboring district to Tikkurila), Vantaa near Helsinki.
The company was founded in 1862 as ''Dickursby Olje ...
.
The capital of autonomous Finland was moved from Turku to Helsinki in the early 1800s and ''Helsingin pitäjä'' fell behind the growing population development of Helsinki proper. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' gained municipality rights in 1865 because of the first municipal law enacted in Finland, after which it was named ''Helsingin maalaiskunta/Helsinge kommun'' ("Rural Municipality of Helsinki"). In 1805 ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had 4840 inhabitants, Sveaborg had 4606 and Helsinki had 4337. After six decades ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had about 7000 inhabitants while Helsinki already had 23,000.
The parish assembly meeting in 1823 established the general order, which specified crimes and punishments they resulted in. One of the reasons the general order was made was the increase of rootless vagabonds in the society. The parish assembly meeting and participation of citizens in keeping up the order was needed, because the state officials failed to keep the poor-mannered part of the people under control. Crimes not resulting in a court session were handled in the parish assembly meeting by announcement from the
fief holder.
Interest towards a people's education increased in the early 19th century, when basic education still mostly depended on home tuition. By a suggestion from vicar Erik Crohns, a school was founded in Kirkonkylä in 1825 and a school master was hired.
[Litzén, Aulikki; Vuori, Jukka: ''Helsingin maalaiskunnan historia 1865-1945''. City of Vantaa 1997. .]
The year 1865 is considered a significant year in the history of Vantaa, as municipal rule in Finland was established in that year and ''Helsingin pitäjä'' became ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'', the rural municipality of Helsinki. This also led to the congregation regaining its position as an independent vicar area. The railway centre of
Malmi became the administrative centre of the rural municipality.
In 1862, the railway between Helsinki and
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...
was constructed, and one of its seven stations was built in Tikkurila, on its intersection with King's Road. The Swedish architect Carl Albert Edelfelt designed a
Renaissance Revival
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
styled station building, which is the oldest extant station building in Finland and (as of 1978) has been adapted into the Vantaa City Museum. The old station building in Tikkurila is the only
brick station building in Finland preserved in its original state. The building was designed by the provincial architect of the
Häme Province
The Province of Häme ( fi, Hämeen lääni, sv, Tavastehus län) was a province of Finland from 1831 to 1997.
In 1997 the southern parts with Kanta-Häme, Päijät-Häme was merged with the province of Uusimaa and Kymi into the new Provin ...
,
Carl Albert Edelfelt Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
(1818-1869).
The railway brought industry and induced population growth.
The
Finnish famine of 1866–1868
The Famine of 1866–1868 was the last famine in Finland, and (along with the subsequent Swedish famine of 1867-1869) the last major naturally caused famine in Europe.
In Finland, the famine is known as "the great hunger years", or . About 8.5% ...
decreased the population of Vantaa by 1300 people, and population growth was very slow for a whole decade. Only in the late 1870s Vantaa regained its population from 1865.
The elementary school in Kirkonkylä was founded on 15 September 1869, four years later than originally planned. There were two teachers, one for boys and one for girls.
Four important roads passed through ''Helsingin pitäjä'' in the late 19th century: Hämeentie, the
King's Road
King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...
, Nurmijärventie and Porvoontie. To the north of Kirkonkylä, Hämeentie leading north crossed the King's Road. The King's Road connected
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
with
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
and
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. The King's Road, leading northwest, started from Helsinki as an extension of Läntinen Viertotie (now known as
Mannerheimintie
Mannerheimintie ( sv, Mannerheimvägen), named after the Finnish military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, is the main street and boulevard of Helsinki, Finland. It was originally named Heikinkatu ( sv, Henriksgatan), after Rob ...
). Porvoontie conneted Hämeentie and the King's Road separating from Hämeentie between Viikki and Malminkylä and connecting to the King's Road in eastern
Hakkila.
The largest industrial facility in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' in the late 19th century was the Arabia porcelain factory. Its production value was greater than that of all the other factories in the municipality put together. The factory was active in the village of Koskela, to the north of Helsinki, and was named after the villa Arabia previously located at the site of the factory.
The growing city of Helsinki needed large amounts of building materials, brought from Uusimaa and Tavastia. Brick factories in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' were located in
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
,
Lauttasaari
Lauttasaari (; sv, Drumsö) is an island in Helsinki, Finland, about west of the city centre. Together with some surrounding unpopulated small islands, Lauttasaari is also a district of Helsinki. With 23,226 residents as of 2017, the island is F ...
and
Kulosaari
Kulosaari () is an island and an
East Helsinki suburb in Helsinki, Finland. It is also the 42nd neighbourhood of the city. Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, and a bridge from Sörnäinen was opened ...
.
A brewery founded by J. K. Kröckell was active in
Pitäjänmäki
Pitäjänmäki () is a district located on the westernmost district of Helsinki, Finland, near the border with Espoo. There are many IT and machine manufacturing companies in the area, especially around the Valimo railway station. Such compani ...
, producing several styles of beer, sparkling wine, lemon-flavoured mead and a type of alcohol-free juice called Sorbus. The brewery horses carried malt products both to Helsinki and to the nearby railway station, continuing all the way to
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
. The Pitäjänmäki brewery remained in action until 1914.
In 1899, an edict about tightly populated communities came into force in Finland. During the next couple of decades, almost twenty tightly populated communities were founded in the area of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta''. Of these,
Huopalahti separated into its own municipality in 1920,
Oulunkylä
Oulunkylä ( sv, Åggelby, also known as ''Ogeli'') is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city.
It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent munic ...
in 1921 and
Kulosaari
Kulosaari () is an island and an
East Helsinki suburb in Helsinki, Finland. It is also the 42nd neighbourhood of the city. Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, and a bridge from Sörnäinen was opened ...
in 1922. With the exception of Tikkurila, all these communities were discontinued in early 1946 as they were annexed to the city of Helsinki. The tightly populated community of Tikkurila was discontinued together with the rest of the tightly populated communities in Finland in early 1956.
20th century to today
![KehaIII vantaa2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/KehaIII_vantaa2.jpg)
Electricity started replacing steam as an industrial power source in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The power station ''Oy Malmin Sähkölaitos Ab'' was founded in 1910, and another power station was founded in Oulunkylä in the following year. Malmin sähkölaitos, which had reached a central position, bought a lot from
Tapanila
Tapanila ( sv, Mosabacka) is a neighbourhood in Malmi district, Helsinki. Tapanila has approximately 5474 inhabitants (2005).http://www.hel2.fi/tietokeskus/helsinki_alueittain_2005/503Malmi.pdf Information about Malmi and its subareas Tapanila has ...
for its new power plant. Construction of the power plant and distribution grid, led by
Gottfried Strömberg
Gottfried is a masculine German given name.
It is derived from the Old High German name , recorded since the 7th century.
The name is composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for 'God' and 'good', and possibly further conflated with ) a ...
, was finished by the end of the year 1910.
The
Helsinki-Malmi Airport
Helsinki-Malmi Airport ( fi, Helsinki-Malmin lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Malm flygplats) is an airfield in Helsinki, Finland, located in the district of Malmi, north-north-east of the city centre. It was opened in 1936. Until the opening of Hel ...
was built at
Tattarinsuo in the Malmi area of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' in 1936. The soil in the area was very watery and converting it to an airfield was difficult. The airport was taken into use in December 1936. Before this, air traffic in Helsinki had been served by the
Santahamina Airport in
Santahamina, which was also part of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' at the time.
During the great annexation of 1946 the municipalities of
Huopalahti,
Oulunkylä
Oulunkylä ( sv, Åggelby, also known as ''Ogeli'') is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city.
It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent munic ...
and
Kulosaari
Kulosaari () is an island and an
East Helsinki suburb in Helsinki, Finland. It is also the 42nd neighbourhood of the city. Construction of villas on the island started in the beginning of the 20th century, and a bridge from Sörnäinen was opened ...
as well as about a third of the area of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' were annexed to the city of Hesinki. The rural municipality losft two thirds of its population, including
Malmi and
Pitäjänmäki
Pitäjänmäki () is a district located on the westernmost district of Helsinki, Finland, near the border with Espoo. There are many IT and machine manufacturing companies in the area, especially around the Valimo railway station. Such compani ...
. In 1954 some of the areas of
Korso
Korso is a district and major region in northeastern Vantaa, Finland. The district has 7,402 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2014).
Since 2007, the Korso major region has included the following nine districts: Matari, Korso, Mikkola, Metsola, Lep ...
in
Tuusula
Tuusula (; sv, Tusby ) is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of
() and is by far the third largest municipality in Finland after Nurmijärvi and Kirkkonummi ...
and
Kerava were annexed to the rural municipality of Helsinki, as well as a small part of Tuusula in 1959.
Vuosaari
Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila ...
was annexed to Helsinki in 1966.
The population development of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' grew rapidly after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
became the new municipal centre in the 1950s. New residential areas consisting mainly of detached houses developed among the main roads and new suburban centres developed along the railways running through the area, such as
Rekola,
Korso
Korso is a district and major region in northeastern Vantaa, Finland. The district has 7,402 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2014).
Since 2007, the Korso major region has included the following nine districts: Matari, Korso, Mikkola, Metsola, Lep ...
and
Koivukylä
Koivukylä ( sv, Björkby; English meaning: birch village) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district hosts a multitude of services, such as several stores and a library. It has its own railway station, t ...
.
In 1952, the new
international airport of Helsinki opened in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' for the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
, leading to the rural municipality becoming an important transport hub. The new airport split the municipality in half and brought large amounts of traffic and industry to its surroundings. The airport has become a significant part of the cityscape of Vantaa, and even today Vantaa is known abroad as an aviation city.
Because of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, many new urban areas had been born in Vantaa already in the 1940s, populated mainly by
evacuees from Finnish Karelia and
frontline soldiers, as well as Helsinkians seeking a less densely populated area to live in. The first apartment building groups were built in Tikkurila,
Satomäki and
Vaarala in the 1950s, after which
rural flight sped up construction of apartment buildings. In the record year 1970, the population of Vantaa grew by ten thousand people.
The
Keimola Motor Stadium was built in 1966 along Finnish National Road 3, opposite the residential area of
Kivistö
Kivistö is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the northwestern part of the city. The district has a population of 3,452 and a population density of .
The district is bordered to the west by Hämee ...
, and remained in operation until 1978. Construction of the new
Keimolanmäki residential area in place of the former race track started in the 2010s.
In the early 20th century, the majority of the population of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' was Swedish-speaking. Afterwards, the rapid increase in the population has brought much more primarily Finnish-speaking population to the city, and today only 3.1 percent of the population in Vantaa are Swedish-speaking.
The roads in Finland were widened in the 1960s and 1970s, and the
Ring III
Kehä III (''"ring three"'', ''National road 50''; or fi, Kehä III or ; or ) is an important highway in Southern Finland. It is the outermost of the three beltways in the Helsinki region, and the first one to be built. It lies across the fou ...
beltway was built to connect five national roads with each other.
Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...
became a second centre in the area after the construction of the Martinlaakso railway, which also sped up development in southwestern Vantaa. New residential suburbs were born along the main railway in the 1960s to 1980s, sped up by rural flight. Areas left outside the main traffic connections, such as
Seutula
Seutula ( sv, Sjöskog) is a district in Vantaa, Finland, located inside the curve of the River Vantaa.
Seutula is also a village in the medieval town of Helsinki, stretching to Rajakoski in the north, Lavanko in the east covering the whole dis ...
in the west and
Sotunki
Sotunki ( sv, Sottungsby) is a district of the city of Vantaa, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the no ...
in the east, were left mainly unbuilt and rural-oriented.
In 1972, the municipality was renamed ''Vantaa'' ( sv, Vanda) and promoted to a
köping
''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word ''kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Municip ...
(
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
) (i.e. ''Vantaan kauppala/Vanda köping''). In 1974, the town got full city rights as ''Vantaan kaupunki/Vanda stad'' or "City of Vantaa". The name "Vantaa" comes from the river Vantaa running through the city, along which settlement in the Vantaa area was originally centred. The 650th anniversary of Vantaa was celebrated in 2001.
The city grew rapidly starting from 1960s and a railway line was built to the western side of the city in 1970s.
Since the days of the rural municipality, Vantaa has rapidly developed to its current form because of
rural flight and good traffic connections. Like the neighbouring city of
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
, Vantaa has many suburban
commuter town
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many ...
s and lacks a specific city centre. The
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
, the busiest airport in Finland by far, is located in central Vantaa.
In 2015, an extension to the existing railway line, the
Ring Rail Line
The Ring Rail Line ( fi, Kehärata, sv, Ringbanan; formerly ''Marjarata'') is a railway route in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It connects Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis ...
opened, providing service to the airport and new residential and working districts. Along the ring road, new residential were constructed. The largest of these developments is the Kivistö suburb followed by the residential districts of Leinelä and Aviapolis. The Ring Rail Line connects the Vantaankoski railway to the
Finnish Main Line ; sv, Stambanan
, native_name_lang =
, color =
, logo =
, logo_width =
, logo_alt =
, image = Päärata, Oulunkylä.JPG
, image_width = 200px
, image_alt =
, caption ...
via the
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
at
Hiekkaharju.
The annual
Beer floating
Beer floating (''Kaljakellunta'' in Finnish) is an open and unofficial Finnish summer event. In the event, the participants float on the Kerava River or on the Vantaa River from Vantaa to a downstream riverside beach in Helsinki. The participants ...
summer event started in Vantaa in 1997. On 11 October 2002, an
explosion took place in the
Myyrmanni
Myyrmanni is a shopping center located at the Myyrmäki suburb of Vantaa, Finland. The center was built in the early 1990s and it has over 90 stores and 1,100 parking spaces. The main tenants of the shopping center include S-market, Alko, H&M, ...
shopping centre in Myyrmäki. Negotiations to resolve the
Aceh conflict, led by former
President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work.
Ahtisa ...
, were held in the
Köningstedt Manor in Vantaa in early 2005.
To connect the municipality on the west–east, a new tramway is planned to open in 2030. This tramway will run from the Helsinki-Vantaa airport through districts of Pakkala, Aviapolis and Koivuhaka to the administrative centre of Tikkurila and further onward to Hakkila and Länsimäki in the east. The tram will also provide a link to the Helsinki metro at Mellunmäki station. This tramline will be the first tram in Vantaa.
History and etymology of nomenclature
Colonists arriving from
Sweden in the 14th century settled in the area what is now Vantaa and named the river in the area as ''Helsingå'' or ''Helsingaa''. The etymology of this name is not known for sure, but according to an old tradition it probably comes from colonists who originally arrived at the
Hälsingland
Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to as Helsingia in English, is a historical province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of the land of Norrland.
...
area in Sweden.
[Granlund, Åke]
Keskiaikaisia nimiä Helsingissä
nomenclature bureau of the city of Helsinki, 1970, pp. 13-15, 28-29. .
The same river has also been known as the river Vantaa (''Vanda å'' in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
). Unlike the name ''Helsingaa'', the name Vantaa comes from the Finnish-speaking Tavastian inhabitants upstream of the river. There is a village named Vantaa near the source of the river, at the area which now belongs to the city of
Riihimäki
Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...
. According to a theory, the name comes from the
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
words ''vanan taka'', where ''vana'' means a riverbed and so Vantaa (possibly originally spelled "Vanantaa") means a place behind a riverbed.
Only later did the name also came to use also downstream and replace the old name ''Helsingaa''.
The
Vanhankaupunginkoski rapids at the mouth of the river Vantaa were originally known as ''Helsinge fors'' ("Helsinki rapids"), which also gave the name ''
Helsingfors
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The cit ...
'' to the city founded along the rapids.
The Vantaa blast furnace founded at the shore of the
Vantaankoski rapids in 1837 gave the name "Vantaa" to its entire environment.
By the new municipal law in 1865 the Finnish name of the municipality became ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' ("the rural municipality of Helsinki"), when the concept of
socken
Socken is the name used for a part of a county in Sweden. In Denmark similar areas are known as ''sogn'', in Norway ''sokn'' or ''sogn'' and in Finland ''pitäjä'' ''(socken)''. A socken is a country-side area that was formed around a church, ...
s in Finland was discontinued. The Swedish name remained as ''Helsinge'', in contrast to ''Helsingfors'', the Swedish name for Helsinki proper. When ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' became a market town in 1972, proposed new names included ''Helsingin kauppala'', ''Helsinginjoen kauppala'' and ''Vantaanjoen kauppala''. The accepted name was ''Vantaan kauppala'' after the river Vantaa. Two years later Vantaa received city rights.
Geography
Location
Vantaa is located in southern Finland, in the
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
of
Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...
and the
Helsinki sub-region
Greater Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: ''Helsingforsregionen'', ''Storhelsingfors'') is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (''Pääkaupunkiseutu' ...
. It is separated from the
Gulf of Finland by Helsinki. Prior to the abolition of
Finnish provinces in 2009, Vantaa was a part of the
Southern Finland Province
Southern Finland ( fi, Etelä-Suomen lääni, sv, Södra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia.
History
...
.
The city borders
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
, the Finnish capital, which is to the south and southwest. Other neighbouring municipalities are
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
to the west;
Nurmijärvi
Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...
,
Kerava, and
Tuusula
Tuusula (; sv, Tusby ) is a municipality of Finland. It belongs to the Helsinki sub-region of the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of
() and is by far the third largest municipality in Finland after Nurmijärvi and Kirkkonummi ...
to the north; and
Sipoo
Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
. The administrative center of the munic ...
to the east. Vantaa is a part of the Finnish Capital Region, which is the inner core of the
Greater Helsinki metropolitan area.
Subdivision
Vantaa is divided into seven major regions ( fi, suuralueet, sv, storområden):
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
''(Dickursby)'',
Hakunila
Hakunila (; sv, Håkansböle, ), is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the eastern part of the city. The district has a population of 11,238 and a population density of .
The district is bordered ...
''(Håkansböle)'',
Koivukylä
Koivukylä ( sv, Björkby; English meaning: birch village) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district hosts a multitude of services, such as several stores and a library. It has its own railway station, t ...
''(Björkby)'',
Korso
Korso is a district and major region in northeastern Vantaa, Finland. The district has 7,402 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2014).
Since 2007, the Korso major region has included the following nine districts: Matari, Korso, Mikkola, Metsola, Lep ...
,
Aviapolis,
Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...
''(Myrbacka)'', and
Kivistö
Kivistö is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the northwestern part of the city. The district has a population of 3,452 and a population density of .
The district is bordered to the west by Hämee ...
. These major regions are then divided into a total of 60 city
districts, the most populated of which are
Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...
,
Martinlaakso
Martinlaakso ( sv, Mårtensdal) is a district in Vantaa, Finland. Located in the Myyrmäki major region, it is the second most populous district in all of Vantaa, after Myyrmäki itself. In 2014, Martinlaakso had a population of 11,811, narrowly be ...
,
Hakunila
Hakunila (; sv, Håkansböle, ), is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the eastern part of the city. The district has a population of 11,238 and a population density of .
The district is bordered ...
, and
Pakkala
Pakkala ( sv, Backas) is a city district in Vantaa, Finland. It is the most populated district in the Aviapolis major region, and is named after the Backas estate situated there. Pakkala is notable for the suburb of Kartanonkoski and the busines ...
.
Features
![Kuusijärvi lake in Vantaa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Kuusij%C3%A4rvi_lake_in_Vantaa.jpg)
Vantaa consists mostly of lowlands cut up by
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
s. According to a survey done by the
National Land Survey of Finland
The National Land Survey of Finland ( fi, Maanmittauslaitos, sv, Lantmäteriverket) is an official body, dealing with cartography and cadastre issues in Finland. It is subordinated the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
On May 1, 201 ...
on 1 January 2022, Vantaa encompasses , of which is water.
The city is mostly
suburban and
urban area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...
with some rural landscape, notably in the districts of
Sotunki
Sotunki ( sv, Sottungsby) is a district of the city of Vantaa, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the no ...
and
Seutula
Seutula ( sv, Sjöskog) is a district in Vantaa, Finland, located inside the curve of the River Vantaa.
Seutula is also a village in the medieval town of Helsinki, stretching to Rajakoski in the north, Lavanko in the east covering the whole dis ...
. Average population density is , which rises above in concentrated urban districts like Myyrmäki and Tikkurila.
The
river Vantaa runs through western Vantaa, and its
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
Keravanjoki
The ' ( sv, Kervo å; the Kerava River) is a river in Finland. The 65-kilometer-long river starts from Lake Ridasjärvi in Hyvinkää, runs through eastern Vantaa. In 1966, the rural municipality of Helsinki (now known as Vantaa) lost the district of
Vuosaari
Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila ...
to Helsinki proper, cutting it almost completely off from the sea. Up to 2008, Vantaa still reached the seashore at its southeastern corner at the
Porvarinlahti bay, until the "
Västerkulla wedge" with its seashore was annexed into Helsinki together with part of
Sipoo
Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
. The administrative center of the munic ...
in 2009. Thus Vantaa formally became the second largest inland city in the
Nordic countries after
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
.
For its area, Vantaa has relatively few lakes. The city encompasses two natural lakes: ''Kuusijärvi'' in
Kuninkaanmäki and ''Lammaslampi''
Pähkinärinne,
Hämeenkylä. In addition to these, there is an
artificial lake
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
, ''Silvolan tekojärvi''. Vantaa shares two lakes with
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
: ''Odilampi'' and ''Pitkäjärvi''. Of the lakes in the
Sipoonkorpi National Park
Sipoonkorpi National Park ( fi, Sipoonkorven kansallispuisto, sv, Sibbo storskogs nationalpark) is a national park in Finland. It was established on March 2, 2011. It is located in the municipalities of Helsinki, Vantaa and Sipoo
Sipoo (; sv, ...
,
Bisajärvi and most of
Gumböle träsk are located in Vantaa. Ponds formed in sand pits include
Vetokannas, renovated into a swimming beach and the Vaaralanlammet ponds in
Vaarala.
[kartta.vantaa.fi](_blank)
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 28 May 2016.
The easternmost districts of Vantaa,
Rajakylä and
Länsimäki
Länsimäki ( sv, Västerkulla) is a city district in Vantaa, Finland. It is located in southeastern Vantaa, in the Hakunila major region. It is bordered to the north by national road 7, the west by the district of Rajakylä, the east by the dis ...
, are located right next to the border to Helsinki and are connected to the Helsinki districts of
Vesala
Vesala ( sv, Ärvings) is a neighborhood in eastern Helsinki, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the nort ...
and
Mellunmäki
Mellunmäki ( sv, Mellungsbacka) (Slang: ''Meltsi'') has been a quarter of eastern Helsinki, Finland since 1946. Serious construction of the area began in 1950 and it was originally designed for 7000 inhabitants. There are over 8500 inhabitants in ...
. Part of the turnstile of the
Mellunmäki metro station
Mellunmäki metro station (, ) is the ground-level terminus station on the M2 line of the Helsinki Metro. It serves the district of Mellunmäki in East Helsinki.
The station was opened on 1 September 1989 and was designed by architect
An arc ...
is located in Vantaa.
Vantaa exhibits frequent exposed
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
bedrock ground, which is common in Finland. Resulting from erosion in the
last glacial period (about 10,000 years ago), elevated surfaces often lack soil (
superficial deposits
Superficial deposits (or surficial deposits) refer to geological deposits typically of Quaternary age (less than 2.6 million years old). These geologically recent unconsolidated sediments may include stream channel and floodplain deposits, beach ...
), revealing bare stone unsuitable for most plant life. Other geological impacts of the last Ice Age include a series of
esker
An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Ame ...
s running through central Vantaa, which is one of the best sources of
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated ...
in the city. After the glacial period, most of the area of the current city of Vantaa was underwater except for the highest hills. As the land rose, bays stretching far inland were left behind, along with the river Vantaa, which changed its discharge from
Mätäoja to Keravanjoki about two millennia ago. The bays flushed against the hills leaving shore formations still visibile today. They also formed flat deposits of clay at the bottom, which now form valleys especially along the rivers.
Flora
![Tammisto la3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Tammisto_la3.jpg)
Vantaa belongs to the
taiga
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...
zone and its flora represents the southern parts of the zone. Vantaa is located at the border between the southern boreal zone characteristic of inland southern Finland and the hemiboreal subzone characteristic of southwestern Finland.
The hemiboreal subzone is a transition subzone between coniferous and deciduous forests, and deciduous trees growing naturally in the subzone include
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
s and
elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...
s. The river valleys running through Vantaa have previously been full of lush groves, but today most of them are farmed land. However, at some places they are connected to lush
mixed forests
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions.
These fo ...
, transitioning into shadowy spruce forests at some places.
There are prominent
alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
meadows along the river Mätäoja, which are home to various rare insect and plant species. The most common type of forest in Vantaa is a blueberry conifer forest with spruce and birch trees, whereas dry forests are only located at bare cliff areas.
The second most common forest type in Vantaa is the more lush grove-like forest. Its undergrowth includes blueberry,
wood sorrel
''Oxalis'' ( (American English) or (British English)) is a large genus of flowering plants in the wood-sorrel family Oxalidaceae, comprising over 550 species. The genus occurs throughout most of the world, except for the polar areas; species d ...
,
herb Paris and
lady fern, as well as
wood anemone at some places.
There are lush groves growing mosaically among the forests, containing common southern grove plants such as the
liverwort
The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of ...
. The groves in Vantaa vary greatly, ranging from moist and shady spruce groves growing
ostrich fern
''Matteuccia'' is a genus of ferns with one species: ''Matteuccia struthiopteris'' (common names ostrich fern, fiddlehead fern, or shuttlecock fern). The species epithet ''struthiopteris'' comes from Ancient Greek words () "ostrich" and () "fer ...
to dry groves growing liverwort and
common hazel
''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland En ...
and hardwood groves. In springtime during the first weeks of May the wood anemone flowers very noticeably in almost all groves and grove-like forests, which is characteristic to the forest growth in southwestern and southern Finland.
There is a centuries-old oak forest in the district of
Tammisto, which is considered to be the only natural oak forest in the Finnish capital area. The forest has been protected under the nature preservation law in 1946.
Although Vantaa is a very urbanised area, a great deal of its surface area still remains as rural fields or forest. The city of Vantaa contains 12.41 square kilometres of nature preserved area (about 5% of the surface area of the city).
The first nature preserve area in Vantaa was founded in 1946 in
Tammisto. There are two especially protected species in the nature preserve areas in Vantaa, the beetle species ''
Hylochares cruentatus'' and the orchid species ''
Malaxis monophyllos
''Malaxis monophyllos'', the white adder's mouth, is a terrestrial species of orchid. It is widespread across much of Europe (Germany, Italy, Poland, Scandinavia, Ukraine, etc.), Asia ( China, Japan, Russia, Nepal, Philippines, etc.), and much ...
''.
Climate
Vantaa has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: Dfb), slightly above the threshold for
subarctic classification. Although the city no longer (since 2009) has a coastline along the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
, it is close enough to experience the mitigating influence of the sea and the
Gulf Stream. The record low temperature in Vantaa is and the record high is .
The coldest month of the year is in February, when the average temperature based on measurements from 1981 to 2010 was -5.8 degrees Celsius.
[Lämpötila- ja sadetilastoja vuodesta 1961: Vantaa, Helmikuu](_blank)
Finnish Meteorological Institute
The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; fi, Ilmatieteen laitos; sv, Meteorologiska institutet) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport ...
. Accessed on 22 May 2019. After this, the temperatures rise rapidly. The average temperature in April for the same period is +4.0 degrees and the one in May is +10.5 degrees. The warmest month of the year is in July, when the average temperature is +17.7 degrees. The second warmest month is in August with an average temperature of +15.7 degrees and the third warmest is June with an average temperature of +14.7 degrees.
The average number of hot weather days in Vantaa is 17, of which over half occur in July on average. In sporadic years hot weather can extend to September. The summer thunderstorm period in Vantaa is very short and varying: it typically starts around
Midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe.
The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr ...
and ends in middle August, peaking at the end of July.
The temperatures lower in autumn slower than they rise in spring. The average day temperature in November is +0.3 degrees and the one in December is -3.3 degrees.
In autumn and early winter low pressure storm fronts move eastwards from the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
passing over Vantaa. Vantaa's location in
Fennoscandia warmed by the
Gulf Stream near the coast of the Gulf of Finland makes Vantaa a clearly more temperate area than the average based on its latitude. For example the southern tip of
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
is located south of Vantaa, as are the tundra areas of the
Labrador Peninsula
The Labrador Peninsula, or Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, is a large peninsula in eastern Canada. It is bounded by the Hudson Bay to the west, the Hudson Strait to the north, the Labrador Sea to the east, and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the sout ...
. The period when Vantaa is normally covered in snow is typically from late December to early April, after which the snow rapidly melts away.
Spring in Vantaa experiences significantly less rain than autumn. The average monthly rainfall in February through May is only about 30 to 40 millimetres. In summer the weather becomes rainier, and the average monthly rainfall in July through November is 60 to 80 millimetres. The rainfall varies greatly throughout the year: in the late months of the year there are monthly rainfalls of less than 20 millimetres, as well as over 200 millimetres. Respectively, the weather becomes drier in the early months of the year. The total average rainfall in Vantaa in a year is 682.9 millimetres.
Demographics
![Vantaanjoki, 2010 July](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Vantaanjoki%2C_2010_July.JPG)
The city is bilingual, both
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
and
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
being official languages.
[Government Decree on the Official Languages in Administrative Districts for 2003–2012 (in Finnish)](_blank)
(the same in Swedish). Retrieved on 7 July 2012 A majority (78.7%) of the population are Finnish speakers while 2.4% speak Swedish as their first language. Vantaa's residents that speak a native language other than Finnish or Swedish stand at 18.9% of the population. Vantaa is home to a significant Estonian population.
In 2011, 199,236 of the municipality's 203,001 residents lived in officially recognized
Urban areas in Finland, urban areas ( fi, taajama; sv, tätort). The remaining population lives in the few rural sections of Vantaa, such as those in
Sotunki
Sotunki ( sv, Sottungsby) is a district of the city of Vantaa, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the no ...
and
Seutula
Seutula ( sv, Sjöskog) is a district in Vantaa, Finland, located inside the curve of the River Vantaa.
Seutula is also a village in the medieval town of Helsinki, stretching to Rajakoski in the north, Lavanko in the east covering the whole dis ...
.
In 2018, 56.1% of the population were members of the
Lutheran Church of Finland.
Population
Of the population in Vantaa, about half were born in the Helsinki capital region. In 2000, 26.4% of the population in Vantaa were born in Vantaa, whereas the proportion in 2015 was 27.5%. The proportion of people born in Helsinki had fallen to 19.6% and the proportion of people born in
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
was only a few percent. The proportion of people born outside Finland has tripled in the 21st century from 4.2% (in 2000) to 12.8% (in 2015).
[Vantaan väestö 2014/2015](_blank)
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 28 May 2016. The proportion of foreign language speakers in Vantaa is higher than in any other municipality in Finland. In late 2021, 23% of the people in Vantaa spoke a different language than Finnish, Swedish or
Sámi
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...
.
In 2021, there were 56,027 people with a foreign background residing in Vantaa. Most immigrants come from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
The number of foreign speakers is projected to grow to 95,556 by 2035, which would be 34.3% of Vantaa's population in 2035.
In 2017, 69% of the people aged 15 or older in Vantaa had completed further education. Thus 31% of the population had completed primary education at the most. 38% had completed secondary education. Of the population who had completed tertiary education (31%), 9% had the lowest degree, 12% had a lower degree and 9% had a higher degree.
The average income in Vantaa is lower than elsewhere in the Helsinki capital region, but still higher than in the rest of Finland. On the other hand, apartments in Vantaa are cheaper in average than in Helsinki and Espoo.
Income levels in Vantaa vary greatly because of the differences between suburbs and detached house areas. Women in Vantaa earn about 71% in average of the income of men, which is slightly higher than the average in Finland (69%).
Many families with children live in Vantaa, amounting to about 55% of all households. 50.2% of the population in Vantaa are women.
Languages
![Skiing on Sudentassu bridge in Vantaa, Finland in 2021 February](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Skiing_on_Sudentassu_bridge_in_Vantaa%2C_Finland_in_2021_February.jpg)
Vantaa has been a primarily Finnish-speaking municipality since the early 20th century. The number of Swedish speakers has mostly remained the same throughout the decades, but because of the immigration to the municipality, the proportion of Swedish speakers has constantly decreased. In 1960 about ten percent of the population in Vantaa spoke Swedish, while the proportion in 1980 was about five percent. In 2018 the proportion of Swedish speakers in Vantaa was 2.4%. In comparison, the proportion of Swedish speakers in Helsinki was 5.6% and the one in Espoo was 7.1%. Vantaa still remains officially bilingual, as the Finnish language law states that a municipality must be declared as bilingual if the amount of minority language speakers (Finnish or Swedish) is at least 8% of the population or 3000 people. In regard to the total population, the proportion of Swedish speakers in Vantaa is the lowest in all
bilingual municipalities in Finland. In 2019, of the districts in Vantaa, the proportion of Swedish speakers was the highest in
Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä
Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä ( sv, Helsinge kyrkoby; lit. Helsinki Parish Village) is a city district in Vantaa, Finland. It is located in central Vantaa, in the Tikkurila major region. It is bordered to the north by the Ring III beltway, the ...
(19.0%),
Sotunki
Sotunki ( sv, Sottungsby) is a district of the city of Vantaa, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the no ...
(16.6%) and
Luhtaanmäki (11.5%).
In early 2015 there were 112 languages spoken in Vantaa in addition to
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
,
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and
Sámi
The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...
.
In the 2000s, the most common languages spoken in Vantaa after Finnish and Swedish were
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
Estonian and
Somali. According to the language statistics from 2014 to 2015, the proportions of Russian and Estonian speakers have surpassed that of Swedish speakers, making Swedish the fourth most spoken language in Vantaa. In 2020 there were 51,160 people living in Vantaa not speaking any of the three official languages in Finland. The total proportion of foreign language speakers in Vantaa (21.6%) was the highest in Finland, even though the proportion of foreign language speakers was also high in Helsinki (16.6%) and Espoo (19.0%).
Religion
![Vantaa - Metsola - Korson helluntaiseurakunta - m](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Vantaa_-_Metsola_-_Korson_helluntaiseurakunta_-_m.jpg)
In late 2019 54.5% of the people in Vantaa belonged to the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
church, 1.2% to the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
of Finland and 2.9% to other religious communities. 41.4% of the people did not belong to any religious community. The proportion of members of the Lutheran church has steadily decreased in the 21st century while the proportion of people not belonging to religious communities has steadily increased.
[Vantaan väestö 2019/2029](_blank)
, city of Vantaa. Accessed on 24 September 2020. In late 2015, 70.5% of the Finnish-speaking people in Vantaa belonged to the Lutheran church.
Lutheran congregations
According to the 2018 division of Vantaa, the following congregations of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...
are located in Vantaa:
* Congregation of Hakunila
* Congregation of Hämeenkylä
* Congregation of Korso
* Congregation of Rekola
* Congregation of Tikkurila (formerly known as the Finnish-speaking congregation of Helsingin pitäjä)
* Congregation of Vantaankoski (formerly known as the congregation of Vantaa)
* Vanda svenska församling (formerly known as Helsinge svenska församling)
Together these congregations form the Union of congregations in Vantaa (Finnish: ''Vantaan seurakuntayhtymä'', Swedish: ''Vanda kyrkliga samfällighet'').
Since 2016 Vantaa has been home to the Lutheran congregation of the Holy Trinity belonging to the
Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland
The Mission Diocese, officially the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, ( fi, Suomen evankelisluterilainen lähetyshiippakunta, sv, Evangelisk-lutherska missionsstiftet i Finland) is an independent confessional Lutheran "ecclesial s ...
.
Other congregations
Of the congregations of the
Orthodox Church of Finland, the Orthodox congregation of Helsinki is active in Vantaa. The Tikkurila Orthodox Church is located near the Tikkurila sports park in
Viertola
Of the member congregations of the Pentecostal Church of Finland, the Myyrmäki Pentecostal congregation, Vantaan Kotikirkko and Vantaan Minttukirkko are active in Vantaa. Independent
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement congregations in Vantaa include the Credo church, the Korso Pentecostal congregation and Seutulan Betania.
The Vantaa free congregation, belonging to the Free Church of Finland, is located in Hiekkaharju, and the congregation has also founded the Free congregation of western Vantaa in
Askisto in western Vantaa.
The Finnish branch office of the
Jehovah's Witnesses, which is the highest level of the organisation in Finland, is located in
Koivuhaka. There are two
Kingdom Hall
A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii. Rutherford's reasoning was that these bui ...
s in Vantaa, in Koivuhaka and in
Martinlaakso
Martinlaakso ( sv, Mårtensdal) is a district in Vantaa, Finland. Located in the Myyrmäki major region, it is the second most populous district in all of Vantaa, after Myyrmäki itself. In 2014, Martinlaakso had a population of 11,811, narrowly be ...
.
Urban areas
In late 2020 the population of Vantaa was 237,231, of which 232,481 lived in
urban areas
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...
, 551 in areas of dispersed settlements and 4,199 in unknown locations. The proportion of urban areas in Vantaa is 99.8%. The population of Vantaa living in urban areas is divided into three areas:
The
administrative centre of the city is in bold. Urban areas marked with an asterisk (*) are only partly located in the city. The central area of Tikkurila and other municipal centres do not constitute urban areas of their own but instead belong to the Helsinki urban area, which spreads over to Vantaa as well as other local municipalities. The total population of the Helsinki urban area is 1,249,820 and its surface area is 676.46 square kilometres. The Klaukkala urban area spreads mostly to the municipality of
Nurmijärvi
Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...
. The Söderkulla urban area spreads mostly to the municipality of
Sipoo
Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
. The administrative center of the munic ...
, partly also spreading to the city of Helsinki.
Economy
Economy of the city of Vantaa
![Jumbo Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Jumbo_Park.JPG)
In the latest years, Vantaa has stabilised its economy via an economy and debt program accepted in 2012. The growth of the loan stock was stopped by the end of the council term from 2013 to 2017. In 2016 the city managed to decrease its loan stock a little, which had grown to over one billion euro.
Vantaa has been in increasing debt since the early 2000s, due to a decrease in state funding and an increase in investments. A contributing factor to its situation is the high concentration of families with children, leading to comparatively larger social expenditure. According to the former mayor Juhani Paajanen, the worst expenditures have ended, and the city's gains are increasing.
On a nation-wide perspective, Vantaa has a high level of tax income, but in perspective of the capital region, the tax income of Vantaa is lower than those of Espoo and Helsinki. The state subsidy system and its stabilisation of tax income based on a nation-wide comparison have been seen as problematic because of special challenges of the cities in the capital region and because of constant rapid growth.
The municipal tax in Vantaa is 19.00%, which is clearly below the average in Finland and one of the lowest in the large cities.
[Valkama, Pekka]
Suurten kaupunkien vuoden 2016 tilinpäätöskooste
information centre of the city of Helsinki. Accessed on 27 September 2017. The last time Vantaa raised its municipal tax was in 2010. The state of Finland has raised the lower limit of the property tax because of new legislation.
In a comparison of characteristic figures of large cities Vantaa has developed positively in the latest years. In regard to municipal concerns and financing various investments, the differences in loan amounts in the cities have balanced out.
In the early 2000s over half of the city's debt consisted of rental apartments owned by the city (managed by the company VAV Asunnot Oy). On the other hand, the city ended up in a crisis mainly because it had made large investments in its own balance with borrowed money. The city has hardly sold any of its property in the early 2000s.
Jobs and industry
![Pöyry hdqtrs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/P%C3%B6yry_hdqtrs.jpg)
Because of good traffic connections, Vantaa has a large amount of food, HVAC and machinery industry as well as businesses. There are industrial areas along the Ring III beltway, particularly near the airport and in the neighbouring districts of
Viinikkala,
Veromies,
Pakkala
Pakkala ( sv, Backas) is a city district in Vantaa, Finland. It is the most populated district in the Aviapolis major region, and is named after the Backas estate situated there. Pakkala is notable for the suburb of Kartanonkoski and the busines ...
and
Koivuhaka as well as in
Hakkila, connected to the main railway line by a branch terminal line. The
Aviapolis area has developed around the airport, containing many businesses in logistics and high technology. In 2000 74.6% of the jobs in the city were in services, 23.8% in refinery and only 0.5% in agriculture. In 2001 the rate of self-sufficiency in jobs in Vantaa had risen to 97.1%. In the 2000s the number of jobs in Vantaa had grown by about 15%.
Of those employed, two thirds are in the
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The ...
. The most common industries in Vantaa include the
food,
architectural engineering
Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health.
Archi ...
, and
machine industries. In 2007, the unemployment rate was 6.3%.
Companies that have their headquarters in Vantaa (at the
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
, in
Aviapolis) include
Finnair
Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
,
Finavia and
Nordic Regional Airlines
Nordic Regional Airlines Oy (abbreviated as Norra and often stylised as N°RRA, previously ''Flybe Nordic'') is a Finnish regional airline based on the grounds of Helsinki Airport. Norra is owned as a joint venture by Finnair, Finland's flag carr ...
.
[Oy Air Finland Ltd in English]
." Air Finland. Retrieved on 25 February 2010. Companies with headquarters in Vantaa outside of Aviapolis include
R-kioski,
Tikkurila Oyj
Tikkurila Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of paints and lacquers. The main office and most of the production is located in Kuninkaala (neighboring district to Tikkurila), Vantaa near Helsinki.
The company was founded in 1862 as ''Dickursby Olje ...
,
Veikkaus Oy, and
Metsähallitus
Metsähallitus (Finnish) (Forststyrelsen in Swedish, Meahciráđđehus in Sami, ''"the (Finnish) Forest Administration"'') is a state-owned enterprise in Finland.
Its two main tasks are Parks & Wildlife Finland to manage most of the protected are ...
.
Fujifilm
, trading as Fujifilm, or simply Fuji, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating in the realms of photography, optics, office and medical electronics, biotechnology, and chemicals.
The offerings from the ...
Finland has its headquarters in Vantaa.
An interesting future possibility for Vantaa and for the entire capital region comes from the
Ring Rail Line
The Ring Rail Line ( fi, Kehärata, sv, Ringbanan; formerly ''Marjarata'') is a railway route in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It connects Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis ...
, which allows for significant increase in the number of apartments and jobs and provides a direct rail connection from the main railway line to the
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
. The Ring Rail Line required an investment of over one hundred million euro from Vantaa. The city of Helsinki had been proposing the idea of joining the municipalities in the capital region, in order to better develop the area, for decades. The cities of Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen have rejected this idea each time, although Vantaa has done so a bit more slowly than the others. The municipal and city managers of Vantaa have repeatedly rejected Helsinki's proposal fearing Vantaa would become a "backyard" of Helsinki. Helsinki has been expanding towards Vantaa throughout the 20th century, including the great annexation in 1946 and the annexation of
Vuosaari
Vuosaari ( sv, Nordsjö) is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila ...
in 1966. Through the annexation of
Östersundom in
Sipoo
Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
. The administrative center of the munic ...
and the
Västerkulla wedge to Helsinki in 2009, Vantaa lost its only connection to the sea, becoming the second-largest inland city in the Nordic countries, after
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
.
Arts and culture
Vantaa culture award
The Vantaa culture award is awarded each year as a recognition of significant contributions to the arts and the artistic life in the city, to a person living in Vantaa or to a community active in the city. The award was first awarded in 1976.
[Vantaan kulttuuripalkinto](_blank)
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 2 July 2016.
The decision to award the Vantaa culture award is made by the city council. In 2015, the award was worth 10 thousand euro. Award winners include jazz musician
Juhani Aaltonen
Juhani Aaltonen (born December 12, 1935) is a Finnish jazz saxophonist and flautist.
Born in Kouvola, Finland, he studied at Sibelius Academy and Berklee College of Music. He began playing professionally at the end of the 1950s. He played in a ...
, musicians
Maarit and
Sami Hurmerinta, sculptor
Heikki Häiväoja, director
Matti Kassila
Matti Kassila (12 January 1924 – 13 December 2018) was a Finnish film director who achieved fame as one of the most prominent Finnish filmmakers in the 1950s and 1960s. He is most famous for the series of four Inspector Palmu movies, based on ...
, architect
Alpo Halme, writer
Virpi Hämeen-Anttila
Virpi Hämeen-Anttila (born 15 October 1958 in Espoo) is a Finnish writer, translator, and researcher. She was the recipient of the Eino Leino Prize in 2002 along with her husband Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, for their work in translating and promoti ...
together with here husband professor
Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila
Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (born 26 February 1963) is a Finnish academic researcher, serving as a professor of the Arabic language and Islamic studies at the University of Edinburgh. Before that he was a professor at the University of Helsinki.
H ...
, actor
Lasse Pöysti
Lasse Erik Pöysti (24 January 1927 – 5 April 2019) was a Finnish actor, director, theatre manager and writer. He was born in Sortavala.
Biography
Pöysti began his career as a child actor, becoming known to the Finnish public as Olli Suomin ...
, the Raatikko dance theatre, entertainer
Virve Rosti, writer
Alpo Ruuth, opera signer
Esa Runttunen and the Vantaa children's ballet.
Symbols
The signature animal of Vantaa is the
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
, also featured in the coat of arms of the city, the traditional dish is
salmon soup and the signature plant is the
common dog-violet.
[Lyhyesti tietoa Vantaasta](_blank)
city of Vantaa.
Music
There are about 20 choirs in Vantaa, like
Vantaan Laulu and
Vantaa Chamber Choir. Three actively performing
concert bands
Tikkurilan Soittokunta Tikkurilan Soittokunta is a concert band in Vantaa, Finland. It was founded in 1945 and registered as an independent non-profit society 'Tikkurilan musiikkiyhdistys' (Tikkurila Music Society) in 1947. Current name has been used since 1972. The wind ...
,
Lumon Puhaltajat and
Puhallinorkesteri Louhi exist at the east, north and west corners of the city respectively.
Vantaa Pops (Vantaan Viihdeorkesteri in Finnish), conducted by a Welshman Nick Davies, is the only professional full symphonic
pops orchestra
A pops orchestra is an orchestra that plays popular music (generally traditional pop) and show tunes as well as well-known classical works. Pops orchestras are generally organised in large cities and are distinct from the more "highbrow" symphon ...
in Finland.
Ankkarock
Ankkarock was a Finnish rock and metal festival held annually in Korso, Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki area. It literally translates into Duckrock. The first Ankkarock was held in 1987. The festival was free of charge until 1998.
In 2006 the ...
was a rock music festival held every summer in
Korso
Korso is a district and major region in northeastern Vantaa, Finland. The district has 7,402 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2014).
Since 2007, the Korso major region has included the following nine districts: Matari, Korso, Mikkola, Metsola, Lep ...
between 1989 and 2010.
Louhela Jam is the oldest continuously organised rock music festival in Vantaa. The festival lasts one day and is free of charge. It is held in the Jokiuomanpuisto park between
Louhela and
Martinlaakso
Martinlaakso ( sv, Mårtensdal) is a district in Vantaa, Finland. Located in the Myyrmäki major region, it is the second most populous district in all of Vantaa, after Myyrmäki itself. In 2014, Martinlaakso had a population of 11,811, narrowly be ...
on the first Sunday in June after the end of the spring semester in school.
The Tikkurila Festival, held on a weekend in late July at the Hiekkaharju sports field represents newer summer festival tradition in Vantaa.
The ''Vantaan barokki'' festival was held in summertime for sixteen years until its discontinuation in 2008. The ''Vantaan musiikkijuhlat'' festival was founded in 2010, continuing the previous festival's tradition in concentrating on older music. The newer festival covers a longer time period, and according to the artistic director
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola is a Finnish baroque cellist and viol player. Born in Helsinki, he studied cello with Arto Noras at the Sibelius Academy, where he received his diploma in 1983. Later, an interest in baroque music led him to summer courses w ...
the festival concentrates more on periodical instruments than any specific time period.
The ''Herättäjäjuhlat'' festival of the
Awakening movement was held in Vantaa in 2016.
Museums
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
is home of the major
science centre
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in m ...
in Finland,
Heureka, opened in April 1989. The purpose of the science centre is to develop the understanding of scientific information and to develop methods of scientific education. The name Heureka refers to the famous statement "I have found it!" by
Archimedes.
![Vataa Tikkurila Old Railway Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Vataa_Tikkurila_Old_Railway_Station.JPG)
The city museum of Vantaa is located in the old station building of the
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
in Tikkurila which has exhibitions with various themes on local history. The museum is housed in the oldest station building in Finland, designed by
Carl Albert Edelfelt Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
and completed in 1861. The museum moved to the building after it was renovated in autumn 1990. The first two floors of the red brick museum building host exhibits and the third floor hosts the offices of the museum staff.
The
Finnish Aviation Museum
The Finnish Aviation Museum ( fi, Suomen ilmailumuseo, sv, Finlands flygmuseum) is a museum specialising in aircraft, located near Helsinki Airport in Veromies, Vantaa, Finland.
History
The Aviation Museum Society ( fi, Ilmailumuseoyhdistys ry) ...
is located in Vantaa, near
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
.
Concert house Martinus
The concert house Martinus in
Martinlaakso
Martinlaakso ( sv, Mårtensdal) is a district in Vantaa, Finland. Located in the Myyrmäki major region, it is the second most populous district in all of Vantaa, after Myyrmäki itself. In 2014, Martinlaakso had a population of 11,811, narrowly be ...
, built in 1987, offers premises for various events ranging from meetings and seminars to cultural events.
Because of its good
acoustics, the concert hall has been used for many musical recordings. The hall has also been used for many television recordings. There are 444 guest seats in the hall, of which six are seats for disabled people. The foyer of the concert hall can host small-scale concerts and other events. Martinus is the home hall of the Vantaa entertainment orchestra run by Nick Davies.
Myyrmäkitalo
The Myyrmäkitalo all-activity house in western Vantaa hosts the
Myyrmäki library offering services at a main library scale (another such library in Vantaa is the
Tikkurila library), the Vantaa art museum Artsi and a rising auditorium with 188 seats. The auditorium hosts the film theatre
Kino Myyri. Main users of the educational facilities of the house include the Vantaa school of arts, the Vantaa adult education institute and many hobby clubs. The house, built in autumn 1993, is located near the
Myyrmäki railway station and the
Myyrmanni
Myyrmanni is a shopping center located at the Myyrmäki suburb of Vantaa, Finland. The center was built in the early 1990s and it has over 90 stores and 1,100 parking spaces. The main tenants of the shopping center include S-market, Alko, H&M, ...
shopping centre.
Food culture
In the 1980s,
salmon casserole,
salmon soup and ''
vol-au-vent
A ''vol-au-vent'' (pronounced , French for "windblown", to describe its lightness) is a small hollow case of puff pastry. It was formerly also called a patty case. .
A ''vol-au-vent'' is typically made by cutting two circles in rolled out ...
'' filled with salmon were chosen as the traditional dishes in Vantaa.
Politics
![Vantaa city hall 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Vantaa_city_hall_1.jpg)
Vantaa's city council has 67 seats. Following the
2017 municipal election the council seats are allocated in the following way:
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
18 seats,
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
17,
Greens 12,
True Finns
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
The ...
8,
Left Alliance 5,
Centre Party 3,
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
2,
Swedish People's Party
The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...
2.
Mayors
Infrastructure
Services
![Tikkurilan kirjasto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Tikkurilan_kirjasto.jpg)
There are seven healthcare stations in Vantaa. Most of the major districts have their own healthcare stations, although the Aviapolis and Kivistö major districts are served by healthcare stations from neighbouring major districts. Vantaa has two
hospitals,
Peijas Hospital
The Peijas Hospital is a hospital belonging to the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district (HUS), located in Asola, Vantaa. Since 2001 the hospital has been part of the functionality division of the Helsinki region university central hospital.
The ...
in
Asola Asola may refer to the following :
Places and jurisdictions
* Asola, Lombardy, in the province of Mantua, northwestern Italy
** its collegiate cathedral Sant'Andrea was the 'see' of a single-parish Abbey nullius of Asola (1509-1818)
* Asola (D ...
and Katriina Hospital in
Seutula
Seutula ( sv, Sjöskog) is a district in Vantaa, Finland, located inside the curve of the River Vantaa.
Seutula is also a village in the medieval town of Helsinki, stretching to Rajakoski in the north, Lavanko in the east covering the whole dis ...
. Peijas is responsible for
emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
and short-term health services, while Katriina specializes in
long-term care
Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long-term care is focused on individualized and ...
and
elderly care
Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs and requirements of senior citizens. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often call ...
.
The Vantaa branch of the
HelMet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
network has 12 libraries in Vantaa, with a total of 441,736 books in 2011.
The main library is in
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
.
Sports
![Hakunilan uimahalli](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Hakunilan_uimahalli.jpg)
For sports, Vantaa has five
swimming halls, four sports halls, several
gym
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...
s, 25
tennis court
A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...
s, indoor ice rinks in Tikkurila and Myyrmäki, 69
hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
and
skating rinks, 16 lit-up
running track
An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...
s, and 14
skatepark
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairse ...
s.
Additionally, Vantaa has three
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...
s. There are two 18-hole golf courses in
Keimola
The Keimola Motor Stadium ( fi, Keimolan moottorirata, sv, Käinby Motorstadion) was a dedicated race track located in Vantaa, Finland. It was founded by Finnish racing driver Curt Lincoln after the closure of the Eläintarha track in 1963. Cons ...
, a 9-hole golf course in the Hiekkaharju sports park (in the districts of
Jokiniemi and
Havukoski), and a golf course in
Petikko which was expanded from 9 to 18 holes in 2018.
Transportation
![Kehä III Kalkkikallio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Keh%C3%A4_III_Kalkkikallio.jpg)
Vantaa infrastructurally serves as the transportational hub of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Several key
freeways
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
and
highways
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
, such as
Ring III
Kehä III (''"ring three"'', ''National road 50''; or fi, Kehä III or ; or ) is an important highway in Southern Finland. It is the outermost of the three beltways in the Helsinki region, and the first one to be built. It lies across the fou ...
,
Tuusulanväylä
The Finnish national road 45 ( fi, Kantatie 45; sv, Stamväg 45) is the 2nd class main route between the major cities of Helsinki and Hyvinkää in southern Finland. It runs from Käpylä in Helsinki to the Hyrylä in Tuusula as a motorway calle ...
and
Porvoonväylä, originate in or pass through the municipality. Other widely used connections in the direction of Helsinki include
Hämeenlinnanväylä,
Lahdenväylä and
Vihdintie
Finnish regional road 120 ( fi, Seututie 120, sv, Regionalväg 120), or Vihti Road ( fi, Vihdintie, sv, Vichtisvägen), is a regional road from Haaga in Helsinki to Maikkala in Vihti. The road is part of the former Pori Highway. Regional road 1 ...
.
Public transport
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...
in Vantaa consists of a
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
network and
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
, provided by
HSL/HRT and
VR. Since the introduction of the
Ring Rail Line
The Ring Rail Line ( fi, Kehärata, sv, Ringbanan; formerly ''Marjarata'') is a railway route in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It connects Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis ...
in 2015, Vantaa has had a total of 14 stations. Key railway stations also act as central
bus station
A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...
s.
Bus transport in Vantaa is extensive: there are over one hundred bus lines in Vantaa, of which the majority are internal lines in Vantaa and the rest are regional lines travelling to Helsinki, Espoo and Kerava.
Of the express bus stops in Vantaa, the stops at
Kaivoksela,
Martinlaakso
Martinlaakso ( sv, Mårtensdal) is a district in Vantaa, Finland. Located in the Myyrmäki major region, it is the second most populous district in all of Vantaa, after Myyrmäki itself. In 2014, Martinlaakso had a population of 11,811, narrowly be ...
and
Keimolanportti are located along Hämeenlinnanväylä, while the stop at
Tammisto is located along Tuusulanväylä and the stops at
Vantaanportti and Ilmakehä are located between Tuusulanväylä and the Helsinki Airport. The stop at
Tuupakka serves the express buses between the Helsinki Airport and
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
. There are no express bus stops along Lahdenväylä in Vantaa. However, the express buses between
Lahti
Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...
and the Helsinki Airport stop at Korso. The express buses from the Helsinki Airport to
Porvoo
Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...
and
Kotka
Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish ...
stop at the Tikkurila intersection on the Ring III beltway.
![Tikkurila railway station in Vantaa, Finland in March 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Tikkurila_railway_station_in_Vantaa%2C_Finland_in_March_2017.jpg)
Two of the three railway lines exiting Helsinki pass through Vantaa, connecting the city's 14 stations. The
Helsinki–Riihimäki railway
Helsinki–Riihimäki railway is a railway running between the Helsinki Central railway station and the Riihimäki railway station in Finland, and it is part of the Finnish Main Line. It was opened in 1862 as a part of the Finland's first railway b ...
passes through eastern Vantaa while the
Ring Rail Line
The Ring Rail Line ( fi, Kehärata, sv, Ringbanan; formerly ''Marjarata'') is a railway route in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It connects Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis ...
forms a loop throughout Vantaa, going from Helsinki via
Myyrmäki railway station in western Vantaa to the
Helsinki Airport station
Helsinki Airport station ( fi, Lentoaseman rautatieasema, sv, Flygplatsens järnvägsstation) is a Helsinki commuter rail station located at Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland.
Helsinki Airport station is on the Ring Rail Line, located between t ...
and then continuing via
Tikkurila railway station
Tikkurila station ( fi, Tikkurilan rautatieasema, sv, Dickursby station) is located in Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa in the Helsinki metropolitan area. It is located approximately from Helsinki Central railway station and fro ...
in eastern Vantaa back to Helsinki. All long-distance trains exiting Helsinki via the Helsinki–Riihimäki railway stop at
Tikkurila railway station
Tikkurila station ( fi, Tikkurilan rautatieasema, sv, Dickursby station) is located in Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa in the Helsinki metropolitan area. It is located approximately from Helsinki Central railway station and fro ...
in Vantaa, including trains going to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.
The stations on the Vantaankoski railway are
Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...
,
Louhela,
Martinlaakso
Martinlaakso ( sv, Mårtensdal) is a district in Vantaa, Finland. Located in the Myyrmäki major region, it is the second most populous district in all of Vantaa, after Myyrmäki itself. In 2014, Martinlaakso had a population of 11,811, narrowly be ...
and
Vantaankoski. The stations on the Ring Rail Line are
Vehkala,
Kivistö
Kivistö is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the northwestern part of the city. The district has a population of 3,452 and a population density of .
The district is bordered to the west by Hämee ...
,
Aviapolis,
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
and
Leinelä. The stations on the main railway are
Tikkurila railway station
Tikkurila station ( fi, Tikkurilan rautatieasema, sv, Dickursby station) is located in Tikkurila, the administrative centre of Vantaa in the Helsinki metropolitan area. It is located approximately from Helsinki Central railway station and fro ...
,
Hiekkaharju,
Koivukylä
Koivukylä ( sv, Björkby; English meaning: birch village) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district hosts a multitude of services, such as several stores and a library. It has its own railway station, t ...
,
Rekola and
Korso
Korso is a district and major region in northeastern Vantaa, Finland. The district has 7,402 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2014).
Since 2007, the Korso major region has included the following nine districts: Matari, Korso, Mikkola, Metsola, Lep ...
. There are also direct local bus connections to the Helsinki Airport from the Martinlaakso and Vantaankoski stations as well as the Korso and Koivukylä stops. There are preliminary plans for a new station at
Vallinoja between Korso and
Savio with the working name ''Urpia''. In 2004 a fourth track to Kerava was added to the main railway, so local trains and long-distance trains now run on separate tracks. The Ring Rail Line was completed in 2015, connecting the main railway with the Vantaankoski railway, also travelling via the Helsinki Airport. The completion of the Ring Rail Line has sped up development of new residential and office areas. For example the number of jobs in the Vantaankoski area has doubled. An idea contest was held for new design ideas in the area.
![Morning at EFHK](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Morning_at_EFHK.jpg)
The largest
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
in Finland, and the primary airport of Greater Helsinki,
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
, is located in Vantaa. It attracted a total of 17.1 million passengers in 2016 and a total of 18.9 million passengers in 2017. The airport has done well in international comparisons. The airport splits Vantaa roughly into an eastern and a western part: the administrative centre and the main concentration of population are mostly located in eastern Vantaa.
![Vantaan ratikka -hanke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Vantaan_ratikka_-hanke.jpg)
On 16 December 2019 the city council of Vantaa approved the investment of 400 million euro to the planning of the
Vantaa light rail
Vantaa light rail is a planned light rail system in Vantaa, Finland. Its proposed route connects Mellunkylä, Hakunila, Tikkurila, Aviapolis and Helsinki Airport. The construction may start at the earliest in 2023, with a projected finishing da ...
with votes 45 to 22. The planned route leads from
Mellunmäki
Mellunmäki ( sv, Mellungsbacka) (Slang: ''Meltsi'') has been a quarter of eastern Helsinki, Finland since 1946. Serious construction of the area began in 1950 and it was originally designed for 7000 inhabitants. There are over 8500 inhabitants in ...
via
Hakunila
Hakunila (; sv, Håkansböle, ), is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland, located within the eastern part of the city. The district has a population of 11,238 and a population density of .
The district is bordered ...
,
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
and
Aviapolis to the
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
.
As a major transport hub, Vantaa suffers from extensive noise and pollution caused by airplanes, railways and motorways. According to noise research, over 77,000 citizens of Vantaa live in an area experiencing over 55 dB of noise. Road noise in Vantaa is caused by the
Ring III
Kehä III (''"ring three"'', ''National road 50''; or fi, Kehä III or ; or ) is an important highway in Southern Finland. It is the outermost of the three beltways in the Helsinki region, and the first one to be built. It lies across the fou ...
beltway, Hämeenlinnanväylä, Tuusulanväylä, Lahdenväylä and Porvoonväylä. About 7000 citizens of Vantaa live in an area experiencing noise from airplane traffic and about 9000 live in an area experiencing noise from railway traffic.
Education
Primary education
Vantaa offers diverse opportunities in primary education. The city has a total of 50 Finnish-speaking, five Swedish-speaking, and one English-speaking
primary and
junior high
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...
schools. The schools come in varous sizes, of which the smallest is the Swedish-speaking
Kyrkoby skola, which has been located in the same school building since 1837. In contrast, the largest primary schools in Vantaa are Finnish-speaking schools of over 800 students such as the Mikkola and Lehtikuusi schools.
Secondary and vocational education
Vantaa has five Finnish-speaking
upper secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
s, including
Tikkurila Upper Secondary, the largest upper secondary school in the Nordic Countries, as well as one Swedish-speaking upper secondary school. In addition, Vantaa has a
Steiner school including primary and secondary education, online education at the Sotunki Upper Secondary and adult education at the Tikkurila Upper Secondary.
[Lukiokoulutus Vantaalla](_blank)
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 28 May 2016.
For
vocational education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
, Vantaa has several
vocational school
A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the task ...
s, such as the Varia vocational school, the Mercuria school of business economics, the Vocational school for probation, Työtehoseura and Edupoli, of which the latter two offer vocational training for youths and adults and hold vocational screening. Vocational education for special groups is offered by the Vantaa offices of the Vocational school Live and the Kiipula vocational school. It is also possible to take the Finnish matriculation examination in connection with vocational education (a double examination for example in the Varia vocational school).
[Lukiokoulutus ja ammatillinen koulutus Vantaalla](_blank)
city of Vantaa 2016. Accessed on 9 June 2016.
Tertiary education
![Vantaan musiikkiopisto - Tikkurilan kirjastotalo - 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Vantaan_musiikkiopisto_-_Tikkurilan_kirjastotalo_-_2._krs_-_Tikkurila_-_Vantaa_-_m.jpg)
Vantaa has two
universities of applied sciences
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
:
Metropolia and
Laurea
In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremony ...
. Metropolia has offices in
Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...
(technical education and Metropolia Business School) and
Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
(institution for design). Laurea offers education in communications and social and healthcare in Tikkurila.
Educational institutions
The Vantaa institution for adult education is one of the largest educational institutions in Finland. Education is also provided by the Vantaa institution for arts, the Vantaa institution for music, the Vantaa institution for creative writing and a couple of private educational institutions.
Education for immigrants
It is possible to study the
Finnish language
Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedis ...
at various places all over Vantaa. Some courses can be taken for free and some require payment.
Koulutusta maahanmuuttajille
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 9 June 2016.
International relations
Twin towns and sister cities
Vantaa is twinned with:
Gallery
File:Silkkitehtaantie 2, Kielotorni and Valon kortteli by Kielotie in Tikkurila, Vantaa, Finland, 2021 May.jpg, The part of the city centre in Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
with Vantaan Sarastus and Kielotorni apartment buildings
File:Vantaa church.jpg, The Church of St. Lawrence ( fi, Pyhän Laurin kirkko), the oldest church of Vantaa (ca. 1460) in the Helsinki Parish Village
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
File:Helsinki-Vantaa airport.jpg, Aerial view of Helsinki Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. ...
, located in Lentokenttä, Vantaa
File:Tikkurila Old Railway Station.jpg, The old railway station building of Tikkurila, now a museum
See also
* People from Vantaa
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...
* Districts of Vantaa
The city of Vantaa, Finland, is divided into 60 districts. These districts are grouped among seven major regions.
List of Districts
This is a list of the 60 districts of Vantaa, grouped among their respective major regions and ordered alphabetical ...
** Aviapolis
** Korso
Korso is a district and major region in northeastern Vantaa, Finland. The district has 7,402 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2014).
Since 2007, the Korso major region has included the following nine districts: Matari, Korso, Mikkola, Metsola, Lep ...
** Myyrmäki
Myyrmäki ( sv, Myrbacka), literally meaning " Bog Hill", is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. The district has an area of and a population of about 17,000, making it the most populous district in Vantaa. It is ...
** Tikkurila
Tikkurila (; sv, Dickursby) is a district and major region of the municipality of Vantaa, Finland. Located in the eastern half of the Helsinki conurbation, some north of the capital's downtown district, it is the administrative and commercial h ...
* Pro Vantaa
Features and services in Vantaa
* Ankkarock
Ankkarock was a Finnish rock and metal festival held annually in Korso, Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki area. It literally translates into Duckrock. The first Ankkarock was held in 1987. The festival was free of charge until 1998.
In 2006 the ...
* Flamingo Entertainment Centre
* Heureka
* Jumbo Shopping Centre
* Myyrmanni
Myyrmanni is a shopping center located at the Myyrmäki suburb of Vantaa, Finland. The center was built in the early 1990s and it has over 90 stores and 1,100 parking spaces. The main tenants of the shopping center include S-market, Alko, H&M, ...
Neighboring urban areas
* Hyrylä
Hyrylä ( sv, Skavaböle, also ) is one of the three villages and the administrative centre of Tuusula, with a population of about 19,500 residents.http://www.tuusula.fi/teksti.tmpl?id=751;numero=101253120 Tuusula.fi information
It is located ...
* Kerava
* Klaukkala
Transport in Vantaa
* Ring III
Kehä III (''"ring three"'', ''National road 50''; or fi, Kehä III or ; or ) is an important highway in Southern Finland. It is the outermost of the three beltways in the Helsinki region, and the first one to be built. It lies across the fou ...
* Ring Rail Line
The Ring Rail Line ( fi, Kehärata, sv, Ringbanan; formerly ''Marjarata'') is a railway route in the area of the city of Vantaa, in the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area of Finland. It connects Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and the adjacent Aviapolis ...
* Tuusula Highway
References
External links
City of Vantaa
– Official website
The Finnish Science Center
Helsinki Airport
Vantaa City Museum
{{authority control
Greater Helsinki
Cities and towns in Finland