Salo, Finland
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Salo () is a
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
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 ...
of
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 located in the
Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...
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 and t ...
. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
is . The municipality is unilingually
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 ...
. In Finnish ''salo'' means woodland, backwoods but also a wooded island. It is thought that Salo has meant the island that over thousand years ago existed to the south of the current town but is today (due to the
post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...
typical in the area) a hill, not even very close to the sea. Salo is located between the capital
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
(distance ) and the provincial capital
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''; ...
(distance ), making it a busy small city. The short distance from these bigger cities keeps the Salo region and its business life growing. Farming also plays a considerable part in the area. Salo's neighbouring municipalities are
Koski Tl Koski Tl (; sv, Koskis) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region and was part of the former province of Western Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The po ...
,
Lohja Lohja (; sv, Lojo) is a city and municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland. The city has a population of 47,518 (2017), and it covers an area of of which , or 8.3 percent, is water. The population density of Lohja is . The municipality is ...
,
Kimitoön Kimitoön ( fi, Kemiönsaari) is a municipality and island of Finland. It was created on 1 January 2009, when the municipalities of Dragsfjärd, Kimito and Västanfjärd were consolidated into a single municipality. The municipality is located in ...
,
Marttila Marttila (; sv, S:t Mårtens, i.e. " Saint Martin's") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of ...
,
Paimio Paimio (; sv, Pemar) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The pop ...
,
Raseborg Raseborg ( fi, Raasepori) is a town (administrative area) and municipality of Finland. It was created on January 1, 2009, when the municipalities of Ekenäs, Karis and Pohja were consolidated into a single town. Of these, Ekenäs now serves as t ...
,
Sauvo Sauvo (; sv, Sagu) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Like many waterside areas near major p ...
and
Somero Somero () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Southwest Finland region in the province of Western Finland, located northeast of Salo, east of Turku and northwest of Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and cove ...
. It also is sister cities with Saint Anthony Village of
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. Once the town's main claim to fame, Salo had a large consumer electronics and mobile phone industry, with a manufacturing plant operated by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
and briefly by
Microsoft Mobile Microsoft Mobile was a subsidiary of Microsoft involved in the development and manufacturing of mobile phones. Based in Espoo, Finland, it was established in 2014 following the acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services division by Microsoft i ...
in the 2010s until it was shut down. Nokia was once the dominant employer in the town, and the plant's closure in 2015 has led to high unemployment. Salo is the birthplace of the president of Finland
Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...
.


History

Salo has existed as a centre of rural commerce since at least the 16th century, emerging in the location where the Great Coastal Road, the important East-West road, crossed River Salo; the river provided the fairway to the sea. In 1887 Salo officially became a market town and, in the beginning of 1891, an independent municipality. The area of the municipality was initially very small, only 0.65 km². In 1932 it grew to 18 km² when areas from neighbouring Uskela and Halikko were annexed to Salo. Eventually Salo became a town in 1960. The municipality of Uskela was consolidated with Salo 1967. The municipalities of
Halikko Halikko () is a list of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland that existed until December 31, 2008. On January 1, 2009, the municipality was merged with the larger neighboring Salo, Finland, Salo. Before the merge Halikk ...
,
Kiikala Kiikala () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,872 (2004-12- ...
,
Kisko Kisko () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on 1 January 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,869 (2004-12-31 ...
,
Kuusjoki Kuusjoki () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,781 (2004-12 ...
,
Muurla Muurla () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on 1 January 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,455 (2004-12-31) ...
,
Perniö Perniö (; sv, Bjärnå) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 6 ...
,
Pertteli Pertteli (); sv, S:t Bertils) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population ...
,
Suomusjärvi Suomusjärvi () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,321 (Dece ...
and
Särkisalo Särkisalo (; sv, Finby) is a former municipality of Finland, located mostly on Särkisalo island. It was consolidated with Salo on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. T ...
were consolidated with Salo in the beginning of 2009. Salo is also a popular last name in Finland.


Industry

Salo was well known in Finland and around the world for its large
mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
factory operated by
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
. Nokia first started producing mobile phones in Salo in 1981. A new plant, 15,000 square metres, opened in June 1995. By this time 1,200 people were employed there, and it exported products to 70 countries as of 1995. As of 2008, 5,000 people were employed at the plant. In 2012 amid heavy financial losses, Nokia laid off a third of Salo's 3,500 workforce and gradually shifted manufacturing to Asia. It had a negative impact on the town with
unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
rising. In 2010 Nokia accounted for 95% of the town's
corporate tax A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...
income, amounting to €60 million, but this dropped to just €14 million by 2012. By the end of the year Salo no longer produced hardware and became a
research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
centre. After the centre was in the hands of
Microsoft Mobile Microsoft Mobile was a subsidiary of Microsoft involved in the development and manufacturing of mobile phones. Based in Espoo, Finland, it was established in 2014 following the acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services division by Microsoft i ...
, layoffs continued and eventually in June 2015 Microsoft announced the closure of the plant, putting the jobs of the 1,100 employees at risk. By this time Salo's unemployment rate was 15%, and the layoffs could push that further to 20%. Solidarity was expressed by some Finnish politicians after Salo's decline, which also came amid Finland's slow post-2008 crisis economy.


Sports

The city is home to the professional basketball team
Salon Vilpas Vikings Vilpas Vikings, also referred to as Salon Vilpas, is a professional basketball club based in Salo, Finland. The team currently plays in the top level Korisliiga. The Vikings are a part of the Salon Vilpas multi-sport club. In 2021, Vilpas won its ...
, which plays in the Finish 1st Division
Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...
. It plays its home games in the ''Salohalli''. The most important orienteering club is Angelniemen Ankkuri, which organizes the ''Halikko relay'' every autumn.


Transportation

European route E18 European route E18 runs from Craigavon in Northern Ireland to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the possibility of a through jour ...
runs through Salo, passing the city center a few kilometers North, but the national road 52 between Raseborg and Somero goes through the city center. The " Coastal Railway" from Helsinki to Turku and further to Turku Harbour crosses the town center; all InterCity trains and most of the high-speed Pendolino trains stop at Salo railway station. The closest airports are
Turku Airport Turku Airport , is located in Turku, Finland, north of the center, in ''Lentokenttä'' (Finnish for 'airfield'; sv, Flygfältet) district in the Maaria-Paattinen ward of Turku. It serves approximately 450,000 passengers per year, being the four ...
(limited number of domestic and international flights) and
Helsinki-Vantaa 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 2016, the city of Salo signed a letter of intent with Los Angeles-based company
Virgin Hyperloop One Hyperloop One (known from October 2017 to November 2022 as Virgin Hyperloop or Virgin Hyperloop One) is an American transportation technology company that works to commercialize the high-speed travel concept called the Hyperloop, a variant of t ...
in order to launch a project to build a 50 km long
Hyperloop A hyperloop is a proposed high-speed transportion system for both public and goods transport. The idea was picked up by Elon Musk to describe a modern project based on the vactrain concept (first appearance in 1799). Hyperloop systems compris ...
tube between Salo and Turku.


Events

In recent years, the town of Salo has become known for the popular ''Kurpitsaviikot'' ("Pumpkin Weeks"), which are organized in
Halikko Halikko () is a list of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland that existed until December 31, 2008. On January 1, 2009, the municipality was merged with the larger neighboring Salo, Finland, Salo. Before the merge Halikk ...
in every autumn. At the local field, thousands of different sizes
pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
s and carved
jack-o'-lantern A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phenomen ...
s are presented to tourists. The event celebrating
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
culture has gathered audiences from all over Finland, from
Hanko Hanko may refer to People *August Hanko (military personnel), August Hanko, German First World War flying ace Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland *Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid ...
to
Ivalo Ivalo ( smn, Avveel, se, Avvil, sms, Âʹvvel) is a village in the municipality of Inari, Lapland, Finland, located on the Ivalo River south of Lake Inari in the Arctic Circle. It has a population of 3,998 and a small airport. south of Ival ...
, and for example, the event organized in 2020 had as many as 100,000 visitors. The event has also been noticed abroad, all the way to
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.


International relations


Twin towns — eleven cities

Salo has eight sister cities: *
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, Estonia *
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, Hungary *
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, Hungary *
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, Denmark *
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, Germany *
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, China *
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, Vietnam


References


Photo gallery

File:Salo Church fi.jpg , Wooden Salo Church Image:Salonkirjasto.JPG , Municipal library. The new library building has been designed to fit in the environment of old wooden houses. File:Salo at night.JPG , Salo River at night File:Lake Lahnajärvi (Suomusjärvi, Salo, Finland).jpg, Lake Lahnajärvi in the former
Suomusjärvi Suomusjärvi () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,321 (Dece ...
municipality in Salo. File:Salo - kesäkuu 2015-33.jpg , Microsoft premises in Salo. File:Ilolansalo.jpg , Apartment building along Turuntie. Image:Veturitalli.jpg , Art gallery in the old locomotive shed. File:Nokia Salo.jpg, Nokia building in Salo in 2002


External links


Town of Salo
– Official website {{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Populated coastal places in Finland 1887 establishments in Finland Populated places established in 1887