Turku

For the traditional Turkish folk songs, see Türkü.
"Åbo" and "Aabo" redirect here. For other uses, see Abo (disambiguation).

Turku
Åbo (Swedish)
City
Turun kaupunki
Åbo stad
City of Turku
Top row: aerial view of Turku from atop Turku Cathedral
2nd row: Turku Castle; Flag of Turku; Tall Ships Races in Turku
3rd row: The Christmas Peace Balcony of Turku; Turku Cathedral; Turku Medieval Market
Bottom row: summer along the Aura River; view of Yliopistonkatu pedestrian area
Flag of Turku
Flag
Coat of arms of Turku
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
Paris of Finland,[1][2][3] Food Capital of Finland
Location of Turku in Finland
Location of Turku in Finland
OpenStreetMap
Map
Interactive map outlining Turku.
Coordinates: 60°27′6″N 22°16′1″E / 60.45167°N 22.26694°E / 60.45167; 22.26694
Country Finland
RegionSouthwest Finland
Sub-regionTurku sub-region
Metropolitan areaTurku metropolitan area
First historical record23 January 1229[4][5]
First possible appearance on map1154[4]
Capital city17 September 1809 – 8 April 1812[6][7]
Government
 • MayorMinna Arve
Area
 • City306.36 km2 (118.29 sq mi)
 • Land245.63 km2 (94.84 sq mi)
 • Water60.7 km2 (23.4 sq mi)
 • Metro
1,185.24 km2 (457.62 sq mi)
 • Rank247th largest in Finland
Population
 (2024-08-31)[8]
 • City204,618
 • Rank6th largest in Finland
 • Density833.03/km2 (2,157.5/sq mi)
 • Metro
313,785
Population by native language
[9]
 • Finnish79.3% (official)
 • Swedish5.4% (official)
 • Others15.3%
Population by age
[10]
 • 0 to 1412.6%
 • 15 to 6466.5%
 • 65 or older20.9%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code
20000–20960
Websiteturku.fi

Turku (/ˈtʊərkuː/ TOOR-koo;[12][13] Finnish: [ˈturku] ⓘ; Swedish: Åbo, Finland Swedish: [ˈoːbu] ⓘ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately 205,000, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 314,000. It is the 6th most populous municipality in Finland, and the third most populous urban area in the country after Helsinki and Tampere.

Turku is Finland's oldest city.[1] It is not known when Turku was granted city status. Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town of Aboa in his Bulla in 1229, and this year is now used as the founding year of the city.[4][5][14] Turku was the most important city in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden (today's Finland). After the Finnish War, Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809, and Turku became the capital of the Grand Duchy. However, Turku lost its status as capital only three years later in 1812,[1] 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 government institutions were moved to Helsinki along with the Royal Academy of Turku, founded in 1640, which later became the University of Helsinki, thus consolidating Helsinki's position as the new capital. Turku was Finland's most populous city until the late 1840s and remains the regional capital, an important business and cultural centre, and a port.

Due to its long history, Turku has been the site of many important events and, as a former capital, has had a major influence on Finnish history. Together with Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, Turku has been named European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, the city of Turku was declared the "Christmas City" of Finland.[15] Turku has also been officially declared the Food Capital of Finland,[16][17] as it is home to some of Finland's oldest and highest quality restaurants, as well as a historically famous fish market held twice a year.[18] Turku's canteen and café culture has often been compared to French food culture, which is why Turku is also known as the "Paris of Finland",[1][2][3] hence the Swedish saying: "Varför Paris, vi har ju Åbo!" ("Why Paris, we have Turku!").[2]

Turku is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 79% Finnish speakers, 5% Swedish speakers, and 15% speakers of other languages, which is well above the national average.[19][9]

Due to its location, the Port of Turku is an important commercial and passenger seaport, with over three million passengers travelling to Stockholm and Mariehamn each year.[20]

  1. ^ a b c d "14 of the World's Most Underrated Travel Destinations". Time Out. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Varför Paris, vi har ju Åbo! – Paulig Archived 12 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  3. ^ a b Turun Vierasvenesatama – Kiss My Turku Archived 12 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference earlyhistory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference turku-790 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Bicentennial of Helsinki as Finnish capital". Yle News. 8 April 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Lobbying for Helsinki 200 years ago". Helsinki Times. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,625,011 at the end of August 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 24 September 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 26 April 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Turku" Archived 12 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine (US) and "Turku". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Turku". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference finland-portrait was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ "Christmas City » Turku, the Finnish Christmas City". www.turku.fi. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  16. ^ "Turku, the Food Capital of Finland". thefoodellers.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  17. ^ "Finland's former capital Turku is now the culinary capital | Baltic Rim Economies". sites.utu.fi. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  18. ^ Wood, Jessica (10 February 2018). "11 Places in Finland Perfect for Food Lovers". Culture Trip. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference statistics-finland-population-2023-final was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Statistical yearbook of Turku" (in Finnish). 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.