Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and former
capital on the southwest coast 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 ...
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''; 1634–1997). The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 31 March 2021, the population of Turku was 194,244 making it the
sixth largest city in Finland after
Helsinki,
Espoo,
Tampere,
Vantaa and
Oulu.
There were 281,108 inhabitants living in the
Turku Central Locality, ranking it as the
third largest urban area in Finland after the
Capital Region
A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
area and
Tampere Central Locality. The city is officially
bilingual as percent of its population identify Swedish as a
mother-tongue
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 ...
.
It is unknown when Turku gained
city rights. The
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
first mentioned the town ''Aboa'' in his ''Bulla'' in 1229 and the year is now used as the foundation year of Turku.
Turku is the oldest city in Finland, and served as the most important city of the eastern part of the
Kingdom of Sweden (modern-day Finland). After the
Finnish war
The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re ...
, Finland became an
autonomous grand duchy of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in 1809, and Turku was made the capital of the grand duchy. However, Turku lost its status as capital only after three years in 1812, when
Tsar Alexander I of Russia decided to move the capital to
Helsinki. It was only after the last
great fire in 1827 that most governmental institutions were moved to Helsinki along with the
Royal Academy of Turku
The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo ( sv, Kungliga Akademin i Åbo or ; la, Regia Academia Aboensis; fi, Turun akatemia) was the first university in Finland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country ...
(''Turun Akatemia'') founded in 1640, which then became the
University of Helsinki, thus consolidating Helsinki's position as the new capital. Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland until the end of the 1840s, and it remains the regional capital and an important business and cultural center and port.
Because of its long history, it has been the site of many important events, and has extensively influenced
Finnish history
The history of Finland begins around 9,000 BC during the end of the last glacial period. Stone Age cultures were Kunda, Comb Ceramic, Corded Ware, Kiukainen, and . The Finnish Bronze Age started in approximately 1,500 BC and the Iron Age st ...
as the former capital city. Along with
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 '' ...
, the capital city of
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 ...
, Turku was designated the
European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, it was declared the "Christmas City" of Finland. Also, Turku has been officially declared the Food Capital of Finland, because it holds a number of Finland's oldest, highest quality restaurants alongside a historically famous
fish market
A fish market is a marketplace for selling fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet ma ...
, held twice a year. Turku's
canteen and
café culture has often been compared to
French food culture, which is why Turku has also been perceived as "
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
of Finland";
[Turun Vierasvenesatama – Kiss My Turku](_blank)
(in Finnish) this is also the reason for the Swedish saying: ''"Varför Paris, vi har ju Åbo!"'' ("Why Paris, we have Turku!")
[Varför Paris, vi har ju Åbo! – Paulig](_blank)
(in Finnish)
Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger
seaport
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
with over three million passengers traveling through the
Port of Turku
The Port of Turku ( fi, Turun satama, sv, Åbo hamn) is a port located in the south-west of Finland, where the mainland meets the beginning of the Turku archipelago. Sited within Finland's sixth largest city, the port principally handles traffi ...
each year to
Stockholm and
Mariehamn.
Names and etymology
The Finnish name ''Turku'' originates from an
Old East Slavic word, ''
tǔrgǔ'', meaning "
market place
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...
". The word ''
turku'' still means "market place" in some Finnish dialects.
The Swedish name ''Åbo'' may be a simple combination of ''å'' ("river; creek; large stream") and ''bo'' ("dwelling"). There is however an old legal term called "" (meaning roughly "right to live at"), which gave citizens (called "åbo") the inheritable right to live at land owned by the crown (''å'' meant ''at'' or ''on'' in old Swedish, now ''på'').
In
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 ...
, the
genitive of ''Turku'' is ''Turun'', meaning "of Turku". The Finnish names of organizations and institutes of Turku often begin with this word, as in ''Turun yliopisto'' for the
University of Turku.
History
Turku has a long history as
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 ...
's largest city and occasionally as the administrative center of the country, but for the last two hundred years has been surpassed by
Helsinki. The city's identity stems from its status as the oldest city in Finland and the country's first capital. Originally, the word "Finland" referred only to the area around Turku (hence the title, "
Finland Proper" for the region).
![Cathedral of Turku 1814](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Cathedral_of_Turku_1814.jpg)
Archaeological findings in the area date back to the
Stone Age and the area was densely populated in the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
. The oldest known road,
Hämeen härkätie
Hämeen Härkätie (Oxen Road of Tavastia) is an ancient road in Finland, connecting Turku in Finland Proper to Hämeenlinna in Tavastia Proper. The 162 kilometers long road has been in use at the latest in the 9th century and in many parts it ha ...
, connected to region and the
Old Castle of Lieto to
Tavastia in the 9th Century at the latest. Early literary sources such as
Al-Idrisi's world map from 1154 mentions Turku.
[Suomen historian merkkipaaluja: Ensimmäisenä Turussa](_blank)
(in Finnish) Turku Cathedral
Turku Cathedral ( fi, Turun tuomiokirkko, sv, Åbo domkyrka) is the only medieval basilica in Finland and the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. It is the central church of the Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku and the seat ...
was
consecrated in 1300.
During the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, Turku was the seat of the
Bishop of Turku (a title later upgraded to
Archbishop of Turku), covering then the eastern half of the Kingdom of Sweden (most of the present-day Finland) until the 17th century. Even if Turku had no official capital status, both the short-lived institutions of
Dukes and
Governors-General of Finland usually had their Finnish residences there. In the aftermath of the
War against Sigismund
The war against Sigismund ( sv, Kriget mot Sigismund) was a war between Duke Charles, later known as King Charles IX of Sweden, and Sigismund, who was at the time the King of both Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (that is, the ...
, the town was the site of the
Åbo Bloodbath. In 1640, the first
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
in Finland, the
Royal Academy of Turku
The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo ( sv, Kungliga Akademin i Åbo or ; la, Regia Academia Aboensis; fi, Turun akatemia) was the first university in Finland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country ...
, was founded in Turku. Turku was also the meeting place for the
States of Finland
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
in 1676.
![Turku 1842 - Henrik Cajander](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Turku_1842_-_Henrik_Cajander.jpg)
After the
Finnish War
The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re ...
, which ended when Sweden ceded Finland to
Imperial Russia at the
Treaty of Fredrikshamn
The Treaty of Fredrikshamn ( sv, Freden i Fredrikshamn; russian: Фридрихсгамский мирный договор), or the Treaty of Hamina ( fi, Haminan rauha), was a peace treaty concluded between Sweden and Imperial Russia on 17 ...
in 1809, Turku became briefly the official capital, but soon lost the status to Helsinki, as
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Alexander I felt that Turku was too far from Russia and too aligned with Sweden to serve as the capital of the
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
. The change officially took place in 1812. The government offices that remained in Turku were finally moved to the new capital after the
Great Fire of Turku
The Great Fire of Turku ( fi, Turun palo, sv, Åbo brand and russian: Пожар Або) was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had burned ...
, which destroyed a large portion of the city in 1827. After the fire, a new and safer city plan was drawn up by
German architect Carl Ludvig Engel
Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...
, who had also designed the new capital, Helsinki. Turku remained the largest city in Finland for another twenty years.
![Aurakatu 1910's](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Aurakatu_1910%27s.jpg)
In 1918, a new university, the
Åbo Akademi – the only
Swedish-language university in Finland – was founded in Turku. Two years later, the
Finnish-language
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 ...
University of Turku was founded alongside it. These two universities are the second and third to be founded in Finland, both by private donations.
In the 20th century, Turku was called "Finland's gateway to the West" by historians such as . The city enjoyed good connections with other
Western European countries and cities, especially since the 1940s with
Stockholm across the
Gulf of Bothnia. In the 1960s, Turku became the first Western city to sign a
twinning agreement with
Leningrad in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, leading to greater inter-cultural exchange and providing a new meaning to the city's 'gateway' function. After the
fall of communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
in
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 ...
, many prominent Soviets came to Turku to study Western business practices, among them
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, then Leningrad's deputy
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
.
As for architecture in the city, both the body of architectural styles as well as the prevalent way of living have experienced significant changes in the 20th century. While having survived relatively intact throughout the years of war 1939–1945, the city faced increasing changes in the 1950s and 1960s due to rising demands for apartments, the eagerness to rebuild, and most of all the new development of infrastructure (especially increased automobile traffic). The wooden one- to two-story houses that were the dominant mode of building in the city were mostly demolished in the 1950s and 1960s to both enable more efficient building and to ease vehicle traffic. This resulted in the destruction of buildings that were, in later decades, seen as beautiful and worth saving. Some individual buildings remain controversial to this day when it comes to their demolition in the decades after the war. For example, the building of that stood on corner of the
Market Square was torn down to make way for a large, multistory apartment building in 1959. The building was significant both for its location and history: having stood on one of the most valuable lots in the city center since 1878, the building had, for example, served as the first main building of the University of Turku. Other buildings whose demolition was seen as scandalous, either already at the time of action or proved to be so in later years, include (subject of the very first photograph ever taken in Finland) and the building of
Old Hotel Börs which was built in jugendstil in 1909 by .
Geography
![Aura River Turku](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Aura_River_Turku.jpg)
Located at the mouth of the
Aura river in the southwestern corner of Finland, Turku covers an area of of land, spread over both banks of the river. The eastern side, where the Turku Cathedral is located, is popularly referred to as ''täl pual jokke'' ("this side of the river"), while the western side is referred to as ''tois pual jokke'' ("the other side of the river"). The city center is located close to the river mouth, on both sides of the river, though development has recently been expanding westward.
There are ten bridges over the Aura river in Turku. The oldest of the current bridges is , which was constructed in 1904. The newest bridge is ('library bridge'), a pedestrian-only bridge built in 2013. The ''
Föri'', a small
ferry that transports pedestrians and
bicycles across the river without payment, is a well known feature of the city.
With a population of approximately 200,000, the
Turku Region (
LAU 1) is the third largest urban region in Finland, after
Greater Helsinki and the area around
Tampere. The region includes, in addition to the city itself the following municipalities:
Askainen
Askainen (; sv, Villnäs) is a former municipality of Finland. Together with Lemu, it was consolidated with Masku on January 1, 2009.
It is located in southwestern part of the country in the Varsinais-Suomi region. The municipality had a po ...
,
Kaarina
Kaarina (; sv, S:t Karins, i.e. " Saint Catherine's") is a small town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the Southwest Finland region and is a neighbouring town of Turku, which is the capital of Southwest Finland, therefore Kaarina ...
,
Lemu,
Lieto
Lieto (; sv, Lundo) is a a city 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 p ...
,
Masku,
Merimasku
Merimasku () is a former municipality of Finland. It was, together with Rymättylä and Velkua, consolidated with the town of Naantali on January 1, 2009.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland r ...
,
Mynämäki,
Naantali
Naantali (; sv, Nådendal) is a town in southwestern Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important tourist centre of the country. The municipality has a population of
(), and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, west ...
,
Nousiainen
Nousiainen (; sv, Nousis) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, from Turku along Highway 8 ( E8). The Finnish-speaking municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The p ...
,
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 ...
,
Piikkiö,
Raisio
Raisio (; sv, Reso) is a town and municipality in south-western Finland and an important junction of major roads. The town has a population of () and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, neighbouring the region's capital, Turku. The t ...
,
Rusko
Rusko () is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in 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 population density is
.
The municipali ...
,
Rymättylä
Rymättylä (; sv, Rimito) is a former municipality of Finland. It was, together with Merimasku and Velkua, consolidated with the town of Naantali on January 1, 2009.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest ...
,
Sauvo,
Vahto, and
Velkua
Velkua () is a former municipality of Finland. It was, together with Merimasku and Rymättylä, consolidated with the town of Naantali on January 1, 2009.
It is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 245 (200 ...
.
A more exclusive definition for the urban area is the
city region of Turku with a population around 235,000 consisting of four major municipalities Kaarina, Raisio, Naantali, and Turku.
Administrative subdivisions
![Stålarminkatu-Mestarinkatu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/St%C3%A5larminkatu-Mestarinkatu.jpg)
The city is divided into 78 districts and nine
wards that do not function as local government units. There are, however, some projects that are based on the district divisions, particularly in the eastern part of the city, where unemployment is high in certain areas. The largest populated districts are
Varissuo and
Runosmäki. By area, however,
Kakskerta and
Paattinen, formed from former municipalities that were annexed to the city proper in the mid-20th century, constitute the largest districts.
As many of the small neighbouring
municipalities from the north and south of the city were annexed during the mid-20th century, Turku is today shaped like an elongated
pear. The city centre and most of the suburban areas lie in the middle, separated from the less densely populated northern rural areas by the Turku
bypass, that forms part of
European route E18. Islands such as
Ruissalo,
Hirvensalo and
Kakskerta, forming the southern part of the city, are also sparsely populated and mostly contain summer residences, with the exception of some districts in Hirvensalo which are currently growing into
upper-middle-class
In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...
suburbs.
Climate
![Autumn in Turku](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Autumn_in_Turku.jpg)
Situated by 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 ...
and sheltered by the islands of the
Archipelago Sea, Turku 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''). Like much of southern Finland, the city experiences warm summers, with
temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various Conversion of units of temperature, temp ...
s ranging up to 30 °C (86 °F), and relatively cold winters with frequent
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
fall. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average temperature of , whereas the coldest month is February. The average year-round temperature is . Winter usually starts in early December, and spring in late March.
Precipitation in Turku averages a year. The rainiest month of the year is August, when the city receives on average of rainfall. In April, the driest month of the year, the figure is only . The average
air pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars ...
at sea level is , with little variance throughout the year.
Operational since 1955, the city's
weather station is located at an altitude of at
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 fou ...
. The weather in the city itself is affected by the proximity of the sea, so the wintertime temperatures are often milder than those measured at the airport. The moderating impact of the sea helps oak maple and ash trees, which are quite rare elsewhere in Finland, to thrive by the areas along the shoreline and in the archipelago.
Demographics
![Turku Vappu 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Turku_Vappu_2008.jpg)
At the end of 2021, the Turku region (including the
economic districts of Turku and Åboland) had a population of 337,588, out of which 195,137 people lived in the city of Turku. This makes the Turku region Finland's third largest, after Helsinki and Tampere, being home to 6% of Finland's population. The city's population density is 794.4 inhabitants per square kilometre. The median age in the city is 42.1, lower than the national average of 43.6.
13.2% of Turku's population has a foreign-background. The largest groups are from Russia, Iraq and former Yugoslavia.
Economy
![Oasis of the Seas 2009-10-18](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Oasis_of_the_Seas_2009-10-18.jpg)
The business district in the city's economy is centred on the
Port of Turku
The Port of Turku ( fi, Turun satama, sv, Åbo hamn) is a port located in the south-west of Finland, where the mainland meets the beginning of the Turku archipelago. Sited within Finland's sixth largest city, the port principally handles traffi ...
and other service-oriented industries. The city is also a renowned
high tech
High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...
centre – the
Turku Science Park
Turku Science Park is a community of businesses and educational establishments in the city of Turku, Finland. It focuses on development of the biotechnology and IT industries in southwestern Finland through cooperation of the different factors i ...
area in Kupittaa hosts over 300 companies from the fields of
biotechnology and
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...
, as well as several institutions of higher learning that work closely with the business sector. This cooperative element is seen as a particularly important factor with regards to the city's expected future economic development, as outlined in the ''Turku Strategy'' that is published annually by the city council.
At least the following major Finnish companies have their corporate headquarters in Turku:
HKScan
HKScan Oyj () is a Finnish manufacturer of meat foods and products, but nowadays its product range also includes ready meals and pet foods. It is based in Turku. In the 1990s and 2000s the company – by then known as HK Ruokatalo Oy – targete ...
and
Hesburger. Other major companies which have operations in Turku include
Bayer,
Fläkt Woods,
Meyer Werft
Meyer Werft is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types have be ...
,
Orion Corporation
Orion Corporation ( fi, Orion Oyj), founded in 1917 and headquartered at Espoo, Finland, is a globally operating Finnish company which develops, manufactures and markets human and veterinary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients ...
and
Wärtsilä.
, over 280,000 people were registered as being without employment in Finland. This put June's numbers at 10.0 percent of the population, 0.8 percentage points higher than June 2014. Men's unemployment rate was 10.5 percent and women's 9.4 percent.
Culture
Cultural venues in Turku include several
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
s,
cinemas, and
art galleries
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
, and a
city philharmonic orchestra. The city's cultural centre organises a number of regular events, most notably the
Medieval Market in July each year. Turku is also the official
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
city of Finland, and 'Christmas Peace' in Finland is declared on every 24 December from the Brinkkala Hall balcony. The
Turku music festival
Turku Music Festival ( fi, Turun musiikkijuhlat, sv, Åbo musikfestspel) is the oldest continuously operating music festival in Finland. The festival was founded in 1960 by the Musical Society in Turku. The city festival offers audiences' big orch ...
and the
rock festival
A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular even ...
Ruisrock (held on the island of
Ruissalo) are among the oldest of its kind in the
Nordic countries. The city also hosts another rock festival,
Down by the Laituri, and one of the largest electronic music festivals in Northern Europe, UMF (Uuden Musiikin Festivaali, "New Music Festival"), in addition to a vibrant nightlife, centred on the Market Square.
There are also numerous
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
s, such as the and the
Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art. The Åbo Akademi University maintains the
Sibelius Museum, which is the only museum in Finland specialising in the field of music. Apart from these, there are also several historical museums that display the city's medieval period, such as the
Turku Castle
Turku Castle ( fi, Turun linna, sv, Åbo slott) is a medieval building in the city of Turku in Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use and the largest surviving medieval building in Finland. ...
, which has been a functional historical museum since 1881, and the ''
Aboa Vetus
Aboa Vetus and Ars Nova is a museum in central Turku, Finland. The museum is housed in a building known as the Rettig palace, originally built in 1928. Aboa Vetus displays portions of the city dating back to medieval times, while Ars Nova is a mu ...
'' museum, built in the late 1990s over the 14th century
archaeological site; countless
excavations
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
have been carried out in the city each year in order to gain more clarity on the city's birth history. The ''
Luostarinmäki''
handicraft
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
s museum, converted from residential buildings that survived the
Great Fire of Turku
The Great Fire of Turku ( fi, Turun palo, sv, Åbo brand and russian: Пожар Або) was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had burned ...
in 1827, was the first
Scandinavian venue to receive the "Golden Apple" tourism award.
Considered to be the most important religious building in Finland, the
Turku Cathedral
Turku Cathedral ( fi, Turun tuomiokirkko, sv, Åbo domkyrka) is the only medieval basilica in Finland and the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. It is the central church of the Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku and the seat ...
has borne witness to many important events in the nation's history and has become one of the city's most recognizable symbols with the Turku Castle. The cathedral is situated in the heart of Turku next to the Old Great Square, by the
Aura River. Its presence extends beyond the local precinct by having the sound of its bells chiming at noon broadcast on national radio. It is also central to Finland's annual Christmas celebrations. It is also known as resting place for many remarkable
bishops and captains of war as well as one
Queen of Sweden,
Catherine Månsdotter.
Turku was the
European Capital of Culture in 2011, and the city council has approved numerous projects to boost the city's image in preparation for that status.
The
Declaration of Christmas Peace has been a tradition in Finland from the Middle Ages every year, except in 1939 due to the
Winter War. The declaration takes place on the
Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official 'Christmas City', at noon on Christmas Eve. The declaration ceremony begins with the hymn ''Jumala ompi linnamme'' (
Martin Luther's ''
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (originally written in the German language with the title ) is one of the best known hymns by the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymnwriter. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune between ...
'') and continues with the Declaration of Christmas Peace read from a
parchment roll in Finnish and Swedish.
City rivalry with Tampere
Turku ostensibly has a long-standing mutual feud with the city of
Tampere,
[Two Cities and the One](_blank)
– Observing Finland the capital of
Pirkanmaa
Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme an ...
and the third largest city of Finland, and they tend to compete for the title of being the "second grand city of Finland" after
Helsinki. This hostility is largely expressed in jokes in one city about the other; prominent targets are the traditional Tampere food, ''
mustamakkara'', the state of the Aura River in Turku, and the regional accents. Like Turku, Tampere is well known as a food destination because of its food culture. Since 1997, students at Tampere have made annual excursions to Turku to jump on the market square, doing their part to undo 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 ...
and push the city back into 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 ...
.
[Finnish Town Rivalries](_blank)
/ref>
Sports
The city has two football teams playing at the top national level, the ''Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...
'': FC Inter and TPS. TPS is one of the oldest football clubs in Finland. Both teams play their home matches at Veritas Stadion
Veritas Stadion is an association football stadium in Turku, Finland. It is situated in the district of Kupittaa, in an area dedicated to sporting venues. The stadium serves as the home venue for FC Inter Turku and Turun Palloseura playing i ...
in the district of Kupittaa.
HC TPS
TPS or Turun Palloseura is an ice hockey team and 10-time champion of SM-liiga and 1-time champion of SM-sarja. They play in Turku, Finland, at Gatorade Center. In terms of championships, TPS is the second all-time most successful team in SM-L ...
of Turku is one of the most successful teams in Finnish ice hockey history. It plays in the Finnish top league, SM-liiga. HC TPS has won the national championship 11 times, the latest being from season 2009–2010. Gatorade Center, formerly named ''HK Arena'', located in the Artukainen district, is used as the venue for HC TPS games.
The '' Paavo Nurmi Marathon'' is an annual sporting event in Turku, named after the world-famous runner Paavo Nurmi, who was born and raised in the city.
Finland's most successful tennis player, Jarkko Nieminen, was born and lives in the neighbouring county of Masku
Turku is also home to the Eagles Rugby Football Club (turkurugby.fi) who are part of the championship division of Suomen Rugbyliitto (SRL). They play games and train at Impivaara Jalkapallonhalli and Kuppitaanpuisto.
Turku Titans is a lacrosse club based in Turku with a relevantly successful history with three silver medals and one gold medal in the national lacrosse league in Finland. The Titans women's team has also had a successful history. The FIL U19 2012 World Lacrosse Championships were also held in the city.
Government and politics
Being both a regional
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 ...
and provincial capital, Turku is an important administrative centre, hosting the seat of the Archbishop of Finland and a Court of Appeal. Minna Arve
Minna Arve (born 1974) is a Finnish politician who serves as the mayor of Turku. Since August 2021 the post of the mayor became an elected office instead of a hired position. She represents the National Coalition Party.
Education
Arve first st ...
has been the mayor of Turku since 2017. Since August 2021 her role as the mayor has been an elected office instead of a hired position.
The city council of Turku has 67 seats. Following the 2021 municipal election, the council seats are allocated in the following way: National Coalition Party 16 seats, Social Democrats 13, Left Alliance 11, Green League 10, True Finns 9, Centre Party 3, Swedish People's Party 3, Movement Now 1, and Christian Democrats 1. The current chair of the city board is Sini Ruohonen from National Coalition Party.
Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 14 April 2019. For the first time, no party received more than 20% of the vote. The Centre Party, which had been the largest party following the 2015 elections, dropped to fourth place, losing 18 sea ...
in Turku:
*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 ...
20.5%
* Social Democratic Party 17.1%
* Left Alliance 16.8%
*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 ...
15.7%
* Green League 13.8%
*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 ...
5.5%
* Centre Party 4.7%
*Movement Now
Movement Now ( fi, Liike Nyt , sv, Rörelse nu) is an economically liberal political party in Finland.
It was founded by then- National Coalition Party (NCP) member of parliament (MP) Harry "Hjallis" Harkimo and seven other people as a polit ...
1.9%
* Christian Democrats 1.6%
Transport
For a city of its size, Turku has a moderate 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 ...
network of 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 ...
routes, which is comparable to the bus network of similar-sized Tampere. The bus network is managed and supervised by the ''Turku City Region's Public Transport Committee'' (FÖLI) ( fi, Turun kaupunkiseudun joukkoliikennelautakunta, sv, kollektivtrafiknämnden för Åbo stadsregion), and is operated mainly by private companies. Bus traffic to and in the neighbouring municipalities of Kaarina, Lieto, Naantali, Raisio and Rusko are also handled by FÖLI. The bus rates are the same when traveling within these municipalities.
Rail traffic to and from Turku is handled by the Finnish national carrier, VR. The number of services has fallen and only the railways towards Tampere and Helsinki are now in use. The railway stations currently used for passenger traffic are the Turku Central railway station
Turku Central Station (, ) is a railway station in the VII District of Turku, Finland. It has VR services to Helsinki and towards Joensuu (most terminate in Tampere or Pieksämäki). The station serves approximately a million passengers annually ...
in Pohjola, and two smaller stations in Kupittaa and the Port of Turku
The Port of Turku ( fi, Turun satama, sv, Åbo hamn) is a port located in the south-west of Finland, where the mainland meets the beginning of the Turku archipelago. Sited within Finland's sixth largest city, the port principally handles traffi ...
.
There is no local rail traffic at the moment, as the city's popular tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
services were discontinued in 1972, and the various local railway lines to neighbouring towns and municipalities were all abolished during the late 20th century. However, there are plans for a light rail system in the Turku region in the near future. This system would more ably serve major suburbs of the city such as Varissuo and Runosmäki, as well as the neighbouring cities.
The State of Finland has announced plans to support Espoo with 30% of full expenses on a new metro rail, the Regional Council of Southwest Finland is going to use this as a test case for a new light rail network in Turku.
The Turku Bus Station and the Turku Central railway station are currently located in different places. The City of Turku is planning to combine these two in a new greater station complex in the near future. This new travel center will consist of a hotel and several shopping estates. This center will connect all public transportation from commuter trains to long-distance buses.
Turku's most significant highways for traffic are Highway 1 leading to Helsinki; Highway 10 leading to Hämeenlinna; Highway 9 leading to Tampere, Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...
, Kuopio and Joensuu; Highway 8 leading to Pori, Vaasa
Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas), and Oulu; and the Turku Ring Road, which protrudes circumferentially from Turku.
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 fou ...
is located to the north of the city centre, partly in the neighbouring municipality of Rusko
Rusko () is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in 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 population density is
.
The municipali ...
. The airport is served by six passenger airlines, including airBaltic and SAS Scandinavian, and one cargo airline.
There are also daily ferry services from the Port of Turku
The Port of Turku ( fi, Turun satama, sv, Åbo hamn) is a port located in the south-west of Finland, where the mainland meets the beginning of the Turku archipelago. Sited within Finland's sixth largest city, the port principally handles traffi ...
to Sweden and Åland, operated by Silja Line and Viking Line
Viking Line Abp is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Viking Line is operate ...
. These are something of a Finnish cultural tradition (see ruotsinlaiva), and people often travel long distances across Finland to Turku just to take a cruise across the Gulf of Bothnia.
The Archipelago Sea boat traffic is handled by, among others, SS Ukkopekka
SS ''Ukkopekka'' is a Finnish steamship in service as a tourist and heritage attraction.
History
The ship was built at Wärtsilä Hietalahti Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland in 1938 and was at the time a modern, icebreaking inspection vessel. The v ...
, an old steamship that cruises on the route Turku-Naantali
Naantali (; sv, Nådendal) is a town in southwestern Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important tourist centre of the country. The municipality has a population of
(), and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, west ...
-Turku.
Turku is the only city in Finland to have three long-distance railway stations: Turku Central, Port of Turku
The Port of Turku ( fi, Turun satama, sv, Åbo hamn) is a port located in the south-west of Finland, where the mainland meets the beginning of the Turku archipelago. Sited within Finland's sixth largest city, the port principally handles traffi ...
, and Kupittaa.
Education
Turku has a longer educational history than any other Finnish city – the first school in the city, the Cathedral School
Cathedral schools began in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education, some of them ultimately evolving into medieval universities. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, they were complemented by the monastic schools. Some of these ...
, was founded along with Turku Cathedral in the late 13th century. The first university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
in Finland, the Royal Academy of Turku
The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo ( sv, Kungliga Akademin i Åbo or ; la, Regia Academia Aboensis; fi, Turun akatemia) was the first university in Finland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country ...
(now University of Helsinki), was established in the city in 1640. In 1820, the first school in Finland conforming to the Bell-Lancaster method The Monitorial System, also known as Madras System or Lancasterian System, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century, because of Spanish, French, and English colonial education that was imposed into the areas of expansion. ...
was founded in Turku with the aim of making primary education more inclusive to the lower classes.
Turku is home to about 35,000 higher education students. There are two universities and several " polytechnics" in the town.
The Finnish University of Turku is the second largest university in Finland (18,000 students), as measured by student enrollment, and one of the oldest as well, having been founded in 1920. Åbo Akademi, founded 1918 as the second university of Finland, is one of Finland's two Swedish-language universities. Turku School of Economics
Turku School of Economics ( Finnish ''Turun kauppakorkeakoulu'') is a unit of the University of Turku located in Turku, Finland. It was established as an independent higher education business school in 1950, until it was acquired by the state in 1 ...
merged with The University of Turku in 2010, and Åbo handelshögskola, its Swedish counterpart, with Åbo Akademi 1980. The central hospital of Turku, Turku University Hospital
Turku University Hospital ( fi, Turun yliopistollinen keskussairaala, TYKS, sv, Åbo universitetscentralsjukhus, ÅUCS) is a hospital in Turku, Finland.
General information
The hospital serves as the central hospital for southwestern Finland. I ...
, is affiliated with the University and it is used as a teaching hospital.
Turku University of Applied Sciences is the second largest polytechnic
Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences.
Polytechnic may also refer to:
Educatio ...
in Finland after Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Also Novia University of Applied Sciences
The Novia University of Applied Sciences ( sv, Yrkeshögskolan Novia) is an institution of higher professional education (vocational university) in Finland. It offers Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in Swedish in Vaasa, Turku, Raseborg ...
and Diaconia University of Applied Sciences have campuses in the town.
Turku is one of only two cities in Finland to have an established international school
An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body an ...
(the other city being Helsinki). Turku International School, located in the eastern district of Varissuo, has been operating since 2003. By an agreement signed between the city of Turku and the University of Turku, Turun normaalikoulu takes care of the teaching in the international school.
Media
The most widely read newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...
of Turku, and the area around it, is the daily regional morning newspaper '' Turun Sanomat'', with a readership of over 70% of the population every day. ''Åbo Underrättelser
''Åbo Underrättelser'' is a Swedish language newspaper published in Turku ( sv, Åbo), Finland.
History and profile
''Åbo Underrättelser'' is the oldest newspaper still in print in Finland, founded by Christian Ludvig Hjelt in 1823. The fir ...
'', a Swedish language newspaper published in Turku, is the oldest newspaper in Finland, having been published since 1824. The free-of-charge ''Turkulainen'' newspaper is also among the most popular newspapers, together with the local edition of '' Metro International'' and the national evening tabloid '' Ilta-Sanomat''. There are also a number of local newspapers such as ''Kulmakunta'' (for the eastern suburbs of Turku, including Varissuo and Lauste), and ''Rannikkoseutu'' (for the area around the neighbouring cities of Raisio and Naantali).
The first Finnish newspaper '' Tidningar Utgifne Af et Sällskap i Åbo'', in Swedish, was started in Turku in 1771, as well as the first Finnish-language newspaper ''Suomenkieliset Tieto-Sanomat'' which was started in 1775.
The newspaper ''Turun Sanomat'' also operates a regional television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
station, called ''Turku TV''. The Finnish national broadcaster '' Yleisradio'' screens local news, daily from Monday to Friday, for the Southwest Finland (including the regions of 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 reg ...
and Satakunta
Satakunta (in both Finnish and Swedish, ) is a region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia. The capital city of the region ...
) residents. All Finnish national TV channels are viewable and national radio channels audible in the Turku area. In addition, a number of local radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
stations, e.g. ''Auran Aallot'', ''Radio Sata'' and ''Radio Robin Hood'' are operational. Local public service
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
radio stations are ''Yle Turun Radio'' in Finnish language (the regional version of Yle Radio Suomi) and ''Yle Vega Åboland'' in Swedish language (the regional version of Yle Vega).
Notable people
* Agnes Lundell (1878 –1936), Finland's first female lawyer.
* Rauno Aaltonen, rally driver
*Teemu Brunila
Teemu William Brunila (born 24 November 1976, in Turku) is a Finnish singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Brunila became known as the lead vocalist and songwriter for the pop group The Crash. During their career, the band released four stud ...
, singer, songwriter, musician and producer
* Antti Buri, racing driver
*Darude
Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen (; born July 17, 1975), better known by his stage name Darude (), is a Finnish DJ and record producer from Eura, Satakunta. His music is characterised by its progressive/uplifting style. He started making music in 199 ...
, dance musician, artist of the hit song Sandstorm
A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transpo ...
*Alex Federley
Alexander (Alex) Thiodolf Federley (12 July 1864, in Turku – 17 November 1932, in Helsinki) was a Swedish-Finnish graphic artist who created political cartoons, posters, book illustrations and postcards. His works are generally signed AFley.
B ...
, political cartoonist and illustrator
*Marcus Forss
Marcus Forss (born 18 June 1999) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Middlesbrough and the Finland national team.
Forss is a graduate of the West Bromwich Albion academy and after transferring to Brentford B ...
, football player, member of Finland's UEFA Euro 2020 squad
*Johan Gadolin
Johan Gadolin (5 June 176015 August 1852) was a Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist. Gadolin discovered a " new earth" containing the first rare-earth compound yttrium, which was later determined to be a chemical element. He is also ...
, chemist, physicist and mineralogist
* Utti Hietala, bodybuilder
* Vera Hjelt, Member of Parliament and social reformer
* Lukáš Hrádecký, football goalkeeper, member of Finland's UEFA Euro 2020 squad
*Kaapo Kakko
Kaapo Kakko (; born 13 February 2001) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kakko was selected second overall by the Rangers in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Kakko plays right win ...
, hockey player
* Katja Kallio (born 1968), novelist, journalist, columnist and screenwriter
* Joni Kauko, football player, member of Finland's UEFA Euro 2020 squad
* Miikka Kiprusoff, former professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks during his NHL career
* Mauno Koivisto, 9th President of Finland
*Saku Saku may refer to:
Places
*Saku, Nagano, a city in Japan
*Saku, Nagano (Minamisaku), a town in Japan
*Saku Parish, a rural municipality in Harju County, Estonia
**Saku, Estonia, a small borough in Saku Parish, Harju County, Estonia
*Saku Constituen ...
and Mikko Koivu
Mikko-Sakari Koivu (born 12 March 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. Koivu was drafted sixth overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild. After four seasons with TPS in the SM-liiga, Koivu joined the Wild in ...
, ice hockey playing brothers playing respectively in Montréal and Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild as an alternate captain and captain
*Christina Krook Christina Krook (1742 – 1806) was a Finnish educator. She was the principal of a Finishing school for girls in Åbo, regarded as the most successful in Finland at the time.
Life
Christina Krook was the daughter of the official Gustav Krook (1704- ...
(1742–1806), educator
* Joalin Loukamaa, a member of global pop group Now United
Now United (sometimes abbreviated as NU) is a global pop group, formed in Los Angeles in 2017 by '' Idols'' creator Simon Fuller. Originally, the group was consisted of 14 members from 14 countries; but as of 2022, the group consist of 19 member ...
* Erik Johan Löfgren, portrait painter
* Baron C. G. E. Mannerheim
Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finland, Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the White Guard (Finland), Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as List of reg ...
, military leader and statesman
*Niklas Moisander
Niklas Moisander (born 29 September 1985) is a Finnish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Swedish club Malmö FF. Moisander was born in Turku, where he played for the local Turun Palloseura, TPS youth te ...
, former captain of Finnish national football team
*Michael Monroe
Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm (born 17 June 1962), better known by his stage name Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star sid ...
, rock musician, the vocalist of Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving accide ...
* Paavo Nurmi, The Flying Finn
"The Flying Finn" ( fi, Lentävä suomalainen, sv, Flygande finländaren) is a nickname given to several Finnish athletes who were noted for their speed. Originally, it was given to several Finnish middle and long-distance runners. The term w ...
, 9 time Olympic Champion in long-distance running
* Joni Ortio, professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for HC Vityaz
Hockey Club Vityaz (, en, HC Knight) is a professional ice hockey team based in Podolsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. In the first few seasons of the KHL, the team was widely k ...
of the KHL
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...
* Elli Pikkujämsä, defender for KIF Örebro DFF
KIF Örebro DFF is a Swedish women's football club based in Örebro. Founded in 1980 as the women's football section of multi-sports association Karlslunds IF, the club's first team currently plays in the Damallsvenskan, the top level of the wome ...
and the Finland women's national football team
The Finland women's national football team, also known as nickname The Boreal Owls ( fi, Helmarit), represents Finland in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Finland (SPL/FBF), reached the semi- ...
*Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Ristolainen (born 27 October 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected eighth overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing ...
, hockey player currently with the Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Well ...
of the NHL
*Seppo Ruohonen
Seppo Ruohonen (25 April 1946 — 1 March 2020) was a Finnish operatic tenor and voice pedagog.
Education
Ruohonen trained initially under Lea Piltti, and later continued in Vienna at the Vienna State Opera school and the ''Hochschule für Mu ...
(1946-2020), opera singer
*Jiri "Linkzr" Masalin, Professional Overwatch
''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
player for the team Houston Outlaws
The Houston Outlaws are an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Houston, Texas. The Outlaws compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region.
Founded in 2017, Houston Outlaws is one of the leag ...
and two time player for 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 ...
in the Overwatch World Cup
The Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) is an annual international ''Overwatch'' esports tournament organized by Blizzard Entertainment, the game's developer, with the first edition taking place in 2016. The tournament ran every year until 2019; after a t ...
*Joona "Fragi" Laine, Former professional Overwatch
''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
player for the Philadelphia Fusion
Philadelphia Fusion is an American-based professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Fusion compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2017, Philadelphia is one ...
, and briefly for the Guangzhou Charge
Guangzhou Charge () is a Chinese professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The Charge compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's East region. Founded in 2018, Guangzhou Charge began play as on ...
*Aleksi "Zuppeh" Kunti, former professional Overwatch
''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
player for the Florida Mayhem
Florida Mayhem is an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Miami and Orlando, Florida. The team competes in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West Division. Founded in 2017, Florida Mayhem is one of the ...
and team Gigantti
*Joonas "Zappis" Alakurti, retired professional Overwatch
''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
player for the Florida Mayhem
Florida Mayhem is an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Miami and Orlando, Florida. The team competes in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West Division. Founded in 2017, Florida Mayhem is one of the ...
and team Gigantti
*Jarno Saarinen
Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen (11 December 1945 – 20 May 1973) was a Finnish professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In the early 1970s, he was considered one of the most promising and talented motorcycle racers of his era until he was kil ...
, 1972 Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
*Matti Salminen
Matti Kalervo Salminen (born 7 July 1945) is a Finnish operatic bass, now retired, who has sung at the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival. He is distinguished by an imposing figure and ...
, bass singer
* Henri Sigfridsson, classical pianist
* Tabe Slioor, socialite, reporter and photojournalist
*Herman Spöring Jr.
Herman Diedrich Spöring Jr. (1733–1771) was a Finnish explorer, draughtsman, botanist and a naturalist.
Early life
He was born in 1733 in the Finnish town of Turku, at that time the major Finnish city and administrative center under the ...
, explorer and botanist
*Niilo Sevänen
Niilo Sevänen (born 19 August 1979) is a musician from Joensuu, Finland. He is best known as the current lead vocalist/bassist for the melodic death metal band, Insomnium.
Background
Sevänen grew up on the coast of Finland in the town of Tur ...
, vocalist and bass guitarist of Insomnium
Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Joensuu, Finland. The sound and lyrical themes of their music portray darkness, sorrow, loss, pain, and nature. They are primarily a melodic death metal band with occasional elements of doom metal and ...
* Elsa Sylvestersson, ballet dancer and choreographer
* Jere Uronen, football player, member of Finland's UEFA Euro 2020 squad
*Jonne Valtonen
Jonne Valtonen is a Finnish composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is renowned for his contributions in the field of demoscene and tracker music, under the name Purple Motion, and with Future Crew.
Life and early career
Jonne Valtonen was b ...
, composer
* Tony Vidgren, ice hockey player
*Johannes Rojola, developer of My Summer Car
International relations
Twin towns – sister cities
Turku is twinned with:
* Aarhus, Denmark (1946)
* Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
, Norway (1946)
* Bratislava, Slovakia (1976)
* Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, Germany (1967)
* Constanța, Romania (1958)
* Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
, Italy (1992)
* Gdańsk, Poland (1958)
* Gothenburg, Sweden (1946)
* Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...]
, Germany (1958)
* Szeged
Szeged ( , ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the m ...
, Hungary (1971)
* Tartu, Estonia (2008)
* Varna
Varna may refer to:
Places Europe
*Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria
**Varna Province
**Varna Municipality
** Gulf of Varna
**Lake Varna
**Varna Necropolis
*Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy
*Varniai, a city in Lithuania
* Varna (Šaba ...
, Bulgaria (1963)
In March 2022, Turku suspended the agreement with 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 ...
, Russia (twinning since 1953[) due to the ]Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
Co-operation agreements
Turku has co-operation agreements with:[
* ]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 '' ...
, Estonia
* Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, China
Gallery
See also
* Archipelago Sea
* Bishop Henry
Saint Henry ( fi, Henrik; sv, Henrik; la, Henricus; died 20 January 1156.) was a medieval English clergyman. He came to Sweden with Cardinal Nicholas Breakspeare in 1153 and was most likely designated to be the new Archbishop of Uppsala, but ...
* Christmas Peace
Christmas Peace ( fi, joulurauha, sv, julfrid) is a tradition based on old Swedish legislation created by Birger Jarl in the 13th century, extending the tradition of the Peace and Truce of God, Truce of God. Offenders who committed crimes on reli ...
* Great Fire of Turku
The Great Fire of Turku ( fi, Turun palo, sv, Åbo brand and russian: Пожар Або) was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had burned ...
* 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 ...
* Medieval Market of Turku
The Medieval Market of Turku ( fi, Turun keskiaikaiset markkinat, sv, Åbo medeltidsmarknad) is an annual historical reenactment event organised in the historic city centre of Turku, Finland. Admission to the event is free. In addition to living ...
* Pori
* Posankka
''Posankka'' ( sv, Grisankan) is a statue located in Turku, Finland. The statue, which is located near the campus area of the University of Turku and the Turku Student Village, represents a hybrid between a marzipan pig ("possu") and a rubber du ...
* Royal Academy of Turku
The Royal Academy of Turku or the Royal Academy of Åbo ( sv, Kungliga Akademin i Åbo or ; la, Regia Academia Aboensis; fi, Turun akatemia) was the first university in Finland, and the only Finnish university that was founded when the country ...
* ''The Tomten in Åbo Castle
fi, Turun linnan tonttu-ukko
, translator = Frank R. Southerington
, image =
, caption =
, author = Zachris Topelius
, illustrator =
, cover_artist =
, country = Finland
, language = SwedishFinnish ...
''
* Turku Cemetery
* Turku sub-region
The Turku Region ( fi, Turun seutukunta, sv, Åbo ekonomiska region), The City Region of Turku ( fi, Turun kaupunkiseutu, sv, Åbo stadsregion) and Greater Turku ( fi, Suur-Turku, sv, Storåbo) all refer to regions of different size surrounding ...
Other medieval cities and towns of Finland
* Naantali
Naantali (; sv, Nådendal) is a town in southwestern Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important tourist centre of the country. The municipality has a population of
(), and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, west ...
* 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 ...
* Rauma
* Ulvila
Ulvila (; sv, Ulvsby) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is one of the six medieval cities of Finland, as well as the third oldest city in the country. Ulvila was granted charter as a town by King Albert of Sweden on 7 February 1365. How ...
* 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 ...
(now in Russia)
References
Sources
Turku
at ''EuroWeather''.
Bibliography
* Anttonen, Martti (ed) (1992). ''Täällä Suomen synnyinmuistot''. Jyväskylä: Varsinais-Suomen maakuntaliitto.
* Knuuti, Heikki et al. (1986). ''Kotikaupunkini Suomen Turku''. Keuruu: Otava Publishing.
* Virmavirta, Jarmo (2004). ''Finland's City of Turku''. Keuruu: Otava Publishing.
* Turun kaupunki (2007)
Muutoksen suunnat 3/2007
Retrieved 27 September 2007.
Notes
External links
* The city's official website at http://www.turku.fi/.
* The website of the tourist organisation Turku TouRing at https://web.archive.org/web/20060202002518/http://www.turkutouring.fi/.
Turku
– Finland's official Christmas City
*
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
Port cities and towns of the Baltic Sea
Former capitals of Finland
Populated places established in the 13th century
Medieval Finnish towns