Espoo

Espoo [ ɛspɔ ː ], Swedish: Esbo [ ɛsbɔ ], with 256 896 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012) is the second largest city in Finland. In the wake of the growth of the neighboring capital Helsinki, the original rural community multiplied its population in the second half of the 20th century and in 1972 a town. Espoo is politically a separate town, but is in fact part of a designated " Capital Region " agglomeration.

• 3.1 Population structure
• 3.2 languages
• 3.3 Religion
• 3.4 Population development

• 5.1 traffic
• 5.2 Established businesses
• 5.3 Formation

• 8.1 Sons and daughters of the town

Geography

Location and extent of the urban area

Espoo is located in the southern Finnish Uusimaa landscape on the coast of the Gulf of Finland west of the capital Helsinki. Other neighboring cities and municipalities are Kirkkonummi in the West, Vihti the northwest, Nurmijärvi in the north, Vantaa in the Northeast and the completely enclosed by the city Espoo Kauniainen.

The total area is 528.16 km ² Espoo. Excluding the marine areas there are 330.18 km ² of which 17.96 km ² are further inland waters. The 58 km long coastline is heavily divided. Before the town is an archipelago of 165 islands. Altogether there are in the city of Espoo 95 lakes; the largest of which is the Bodominjärvi. The highest elevation of Espoo is located in Velskola district and is 114.2 m above sea level.

Settlement structure

The cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen together form a as the "Capital Region " called agglomeration. De facto is a single large city with over one million inhabitants, politically the four cities are but independently.

Since the strong growth Espoo was only the continuation of the growth of Helsinki outside the official boundaries of Helsinki, Espoo does not own, historically developed downtown and no actual own center. Instead, there are five sub-centers ( aluekeskus ), on which to base future urban development should focus. These are Tapiola, Matinkylä - Olari and Espoonlahti along the route of the future " West Metro " and Leppävaara and Espoon keskus on the S- Bahn line.

The population density is 809 inhabitants per square kilometer, significantly lower than in Helsinki ( 2787 Ew. / Km ²) and somewhat lower than in other parts of the capital region. The majority of the population of Espoo concentrating on the southern part of the metropolitan area, which is good transport connected to Helsinki. The northern part of Espoo is sparsely populated and is partially occupied by Nuuksio National Park.

Boroughs

Espoo consists of seven districts ( suuralue ), which are in turn subdivided into a total of 55 districts ( kaupunginosa ):

History

In the city of Espoo is first traces of human settlement for the period to 7000 can prove BC. Permanent populated the area is, however, until the 12th and 13th centuries. Espoo was on the King's Road from Turku to Vyborg. The first mention of Espoo's Documentary from the year 1431st The Swedish name form ESBA likely " Espen flow " mean ( äspe is an old Swedish word for " aspen " å means " river "). 1458 Espoo is triggered by the parish Kirkkonummi. The oldest surviving building in Espoo is the church built around 1490 from Feldstein. 1556 founded the Swedish king Gustav I. Wasa the estate Espoo as royal property, still reminiscent of the crown in the emblem of the city.

Until well into the 20th century Espoo remained a rural community. Still 1920, Espoo only 9,000 inhabitants, of whom 70 percent were Swedish-speaking and 75 percent worked in agriculture. The actual urban development began only with the expansion of Helsinki in the 1950s. Accompanied by a massive construction, the population grew rapidly. The service sector has become the main employment area. The administrative center ( Espoon keskus ) was built around the old church and the train station. 1963 Espoo became a market town in 1972 a town.

In 1991, the Convention on the environmental impact in the cross-border context was held in Espoo - Espoo Convention UNECE signed.

Population

Population structure

The Espoo's population is 256 896 (as at 31 December 2012). This Espoo to Helsinki is the second largest city in Finland. Nearly a quarter of the population lives in the capital region of Espoo.

The Espoo population is younger than the national average: 20 percent of the population is younger than 15 years, 69 percent between 15 and 64 years and 11 percent than 65 years of age or older. At the same time, income and educational level is above average: 44 percent of the over 14 -year-old residents have a higher level of education, while only 28 percent in state funds. The average taxable income per worker is 42 percent higher than the average in Finland, with around 35,000 euros. 7 percent of the population Espoo have a foreign citizenship. The proportion of foreigners is much higher than the Finnish average of 3 percent (as of 31 December 2010).

Languages

Espoo is officially a bilingual city with Finnish as majority and Swedish as a minority language. Of the population of Espoo 82 percent speak Finnish and Swedish as their mother tongue 8 percent (see Finland Sweden). The remaining 10 percent goes to other languages ​​(as of 31 December 2011). Historically, the location on the coast of Uusimaa in Finland-Swedish settlement area of ​​Espoo was Swedish-speaking majority in 1910 said 72 percent of the population Espoo Swedish as their mother tongue, 1950, there were at least 43 percent. Due to the influx of people from other parts of the country, the proportion of Swedish-speaking population has declined significantly in Espoo but, even if he is still slightly higher than the average for the capital region.

Religion

69 per cent of the inhabitants belong Espoo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (2012 ). The city is the seat of the Diocese of Espoo, which includes the Finnish-speaking communities in Western Uusimaa. In the city there are six Lutheran churches. The Cathedral parish and the municipalities Espoonlahti, Leppävaara, Olari and Tapiola are Finnish speakers and belong to the Diocese of Espoo; the Swedish-speaking community, which is responsible for the Swedish-speaking believers throughout the city, belongs to the diocese of Porvoo.

The Orthodox faithful Espoo belong to the Orthodox Church Community of Helsinki. In Espoo, however, is a branch church in the district of Tapiola. Furthermore, in the city there are several free church and Islamic communities.

Population Development

In 1950, Espoo had only 22,000 inhabitants. Within fifty years, this number increased to over 210,000. At the turn of 2008/2009, the population of Espoo was 241 565.

Development of the population (31 December):

• 2002-221597
• 2003-224231
• 2004-227472

Policy

As in all Finnish cities Espoo is also in the city council (Finnish: kaupunginvaltuusto ), the highest decision-making in local affairs. These include urban planning, schools, health care and public transport. Composed of 67 members of Council shall be elected for four years.

The strongest faction in the city council is in Espoo by a large margin the conservative National Coalition Party. Since the local elections of 2008, the Green Federation is the second largest party and the Social Democrats has ousted in third place. For the first time since the 2008 local elections and the base Finns, a populist right-wing party, with over eleven percent of the vote in the city council of Espoo are present, while the Centre Party, one of the three major parties in the country, as in most large cities has no greater significance. Also represented are the Swedish People's Party, the Left Alliance, the Christian Democrats and since 2008 the new party for the cause of the poor.

The City Manager (Finnish: kaupunginjohtaja ) Espoo reports to the City Council and is appointed by this. Its task is to manage the administration and the city's budget. Since 2011, Jukka Mäkelä has held this position.

Economy and infrastructure

Traffic

The most densely populated southern part of Espoo is connected via the running east -west highway with Länsiväylä downtown Helsinki. A roughly parallel to the highway expansion of the metro Helsinki to southern Espoo is currently under construction.

Some kilometers to the north, the railway line runs from Helsinki to Turku, also in East-West direction. It will, inter alia, served by S-Bahn trains of Helsinki. Long-distance trains stop at Espoo Train keskus in Espoon district. Parallel runs the Turunväylä highway.

The most important cross-connections within Espoo are the three ring roads that start near the south coast and (apart from the unfinished ring II) in a northerly or north-easterly direction to Helsinki Vantaa and continue.

Established businesses

Many international companies are headquartered in Espoo, including the mobile phone manufacturer Nokia, the elevator manufacturer Kone, the computer game developer Remedy Entertainment and Rovio Entertainment Ltd. , The paper and cardboard manufacturer Metsä Board and the energy company Fortum and Gasum.

Education

Espoo is home to the main campus of Aalto University. It was created in 2010 through the merger of three formerly independent universities: Helsinki University of Technology, Helsinki School of Economics and the University of Art and Design Helsinki. The Technical University was founded in 1849 in Helsinki and published in the 1950s and 1960s due to lack of space in the district of Espoo Otaniemi. There she was given a new, spacious campus, at the planning and Alvar Aalto participated. Following the merger of 2010, the Graduate School and the University of Art and Design Helsinki were partially moved to the campus in Otaniemi.

A well-known graduate of the Technical University of Helsinki, for example, Linus Torvalds, the initiator of the Linux kernel. Presented for the presentation of Linux 1.0 ( the first complete and sophisticated version of the Linux kernel ) in March 1994, the Technical University of their main auditorium available.

In addition to the Aalto University Espoo is also home to some colleges.

Culture and sights

The Cathedral of Espoo dates from the late 15th century. It is decorated with murals from the early 16th century, but its present appearance until around 1820.

Of architectural interest is the satellite town of Tapiola from the 1960s, families with children, it is more likely to pull the pool center Serena.

Sports

The ice hockey team Espoo Blues play in the top division of Finland, the SM- liiga. The men's team of FC Honka Espoo plays since 2006 in the highest soccer league in Finland, the First Division. The women's team plays in the SM- Sarja, the highest league in the Finnish women's football, and was there in the 2006 and 2007 champion.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the town

• Gösta Sundqvist (1957-2003), bandleader of Leevi and the Leavings
• Ville Virtanen ( born 1961 ), actor
• Mårten Mickos (born 1962 ), entrepreneur
• JJ Lehto (born 1966 ), race car driver
• Jere Lehtinen (born 1973 ), ice hockey player
• Ox ( b. 1975 ), bassist of the band Lordi
• Pekka Kuusisto (born 1976 ), violinist
• Kirsi Heikkinen (born 1978 ), football referee
• Charles Wegelius (born 1978 ), British cyclist
• Alexi Laiho ( born 1979 ), co-founder of the metal band Children of Bodom
• Janne Wirman ( born 1979 ), keyboardist of the metal bands Children of Bodom and Warmen
• Kimi Raikkonen ( born 1979 ), Formula 1 world champion
• Aki Hakala ( born 1979 ), drummer of the band The Rasmus
• Jukka Erätuli (* 1980), Snowboarder
• Petri Lindroos ( born 1980 ), member of metal bands Norther and Ensiferum
• Eero Ettala (* 1984), Snowboarder
• Henkka Seppälä ( born 1980 ), bassist for the metal band Children of Bodom
• Marcus Sandell (* 1987), skier
• Laura Lepisto (* 1988), figure skater
• Carl Lindbom (* 1991), basketball player
• Aaro Vainio (* 1993), race car driver
• Isac Elliot ( * 2000 ), singer, songwriter, actor