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| Espoon kaupunki - Esbo stad | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coat of Arms | Location |
- Of which land
- Rank
312 km²
ranked 279th
- Density
- Change
-Rank
729 inh./km²
+ 1.4%
ranked 2nd
Espoo (IPA: ; Esbo in Swedish) is a city on the Southern coast of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with Helsinki, Vantaa and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen. Other bordering municipalities are Nurmijärvi and Vihti in the north and Kirkkonummi in the west. The national park of Nuuksio is situated in northwest Espoo.
Espoo encompasses 528 km², 312 km² of which is land. The current population is 229,443 (as of 2005-07-31), in Finland second only to that of Helsinki.
The purpose of the city has always been to preserve nature, while developing, which has led to the creation of several local 'area-centers'. Espoo is thus divided into the following major areas: administrative center Espoon keskus, Espoonlahti, Kalajärvi, Kauklahti, Leppävaara, Matinkylä-Olari and Tapiola.
This decentralised nature has led to Espoo being jocularily called "Finland's only highway with city privileges". Another soubriquet is "Los Angeles of Finland", meaning no decent city center but a cluster of area centers.
The Helsinki University of Technology is based in Otaniemi, Espoo along with a thriving science community that includes numerous startups and organizations such as VTT - the Technical Research Center of Finland. Nokia, the telecommunications company, operates from Keilaranta (and also from Karamalmi), Espoo, along with other high-tech companies such as Kone, Fortum and the mobile telephone branch of Elisa Oyj.
History
The name Espoo probably comes from the old name of river Espoo, Espå (or Espåå), which in turn comes from the Swedish word äspe, or aspen. The name was first mentioned in 1431.
The first inhabitants in the area arrived about 9,000 years ago. A permanent settlement was established during the 12th and the 13th centuries. The King’s Road passes through Espoo on its way from Turku to Viipuri dates back to the 13th century. The oldest preserved building in Espoo, the Espoo Church, originates from the 1490s. The administrative center Espoon keskus has grown around the church and the railway station.
In 1920 Espoo was only a rural municipality of about 9000 inhabitants and 70% of the population was Swedish-speaking. Agriculture was the primary source of income with 75% making their living out of it. Kauniainen was separated from Espoo in 1920.
Espoo started to grow rapidly in the 1940s and 50s and from a rural municipality it developed fast into a fully-fledged industrial city, gaining city rights in 1972. Due to its proximity to Helsinki, Espoo soon became popular amongst the people working in the capital. In fifty years, from 1950 to 2000, the population of Espoo grew from 22,000 to 210,000. Today the majority of the people in Espoo are Finnish-speaking. The population growth still continues, albeit at a slower rate.
Demographics
| City of Espoo Population by year * | |
| 1950 | 22,878 |
| 1960 | 53,042 |
| 1970 | 92,655 |
| 1975 | 120,632 |
| 1980 | 137,409 |
| 1985 | 156,778 |
| 1990 | 172,629 |
| 1995 | 193,754 |
| 2000 | 213,271 |
| 2005 | 229,443 |
| 2030 (est.) | 305,000 |
Population by nationality in per cent on 1 January 2005 was 95.7% Finnish nationality, 4.3% other nationalities. Religious affiliation in per cent on 1 January 2005 was 78.1% Lutheran, 1.2% Greek Orthodox, 1.4% other, 19.2% no religious affiliation.
Espoo contains many high income suburbs, six out of ten highest average income zip code areas in Finland are in Espoo.
The population of the seven areas of Espoo in 2005:
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Sports
Espoo is home to several premier league sports teams. The Espoo Blues play at LänsiAuto Areena in the SM-Liiga - professional ice hockey league. The club was established in February 1984 as "Kiekko-Espoo" and played their first season in 1984-1985 in the Finnish Second Division. In 1988 they achieved a place on the Finnish First Division and in 1992 they celebrated their promotion to the SM-liiga. The club and the team changed their name in 1998. The name came from the dominant colour of their home jersey. The full name of the club is Blues Hockey Oy.
Another sports club from Espoo, FC Honka is a Finnish football club, based in Tapiola in southern Espoo. It was promoted into the Finnish premier division (Veikkausliiga) for the first time in its history at the end of the 2005 season. The manager of the club is Mika Lehkosuo, and it plays its home matches at Tapiolan urheilupuisto. Originally founded in 1953 as "Tapion Honka", it changed its name into FC Honka in 1975. FC Honka is largely known in Finland for its extensive youth scheme with over 1000 young players playing in various age groups.
City districts
- This is an incomplete list; only the most important parts of Espoo have been mentioned here. For others, see Districts of Espoo
- Espoon keskus
- Espoonlahti
- Haukilahti
- Järvenperä
- Kalajärvi
- Kauklahti
- Kilo
- Laaksolahti
- Leppävaara
- Lintuvaara
- Lippajärvi
- Mankkaa
- Matinkylä
- Nöykkiö
- Olari
- Otaniemi
- Pohjois-Tapiola
- Soukka
- Tapiola
- Viherlaakso
- Westend
Famous people from Espoo
- Kimi Räikkönen, Formula One driver
- Jaska Raatikainen, drummer of Children of Bodom
- Antti Kasvio, freestyle swimmer
- Jere Lehtinen, ice hockey forward
- Jami Puustinen, soccer player
- Janne Saarinen, soccer player
- J. J. Lehto, Formula One driver
- Alexi Laiho, lead guitarist of Children of Bodom
- Matti Lehikoinen, professional downhill mountain biker, rides for Team GCross Honda
- Aki Hakala, drummer of The Rasmus
- Henkka Seppälä, bassist of Children of Bodom
- Janne Wirman, keyboardist of Children of Bodom
The sister cities of Espoo
- Esztergom, Hungary
- Gatchina, Russia
- Kristianstad, Sweden
- Køge, Denmark
- Kongsberg, Norway
- Nõmme, Estonia
- Sauðárkrókur, Iceland
- Sochi, Russia
References
- Espoon kaupungin taskutilasto 2005, issued by the City of Espoo, 2005
See also
- Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, signed in Espoo 1991
- Districts of Espoo
External links
- City Website
- City Website
- Espoo City Travel Website
- / Helsinki University of Technology - located in Espoo
Cities and towns in Finland | Coastal cities in Finland | Espoo | Municipalities of Uusimaa Region
Еспоо | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Έσποο | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espo | Espo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Espoo | Esbo
"Espoo"