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Helsinki metropolitan area

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Helsinki metropolitan area (Finnish: Helsingin seutu, Swedish: Helsingforsregionen) or Greater Helsinki (Finnish: Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: Storhelsingfors) is the metropolitan area around Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It also includes the smaller capital region. The terms Helsinki metropolitan area, Greater Helsinki, Capital region and the other terms used are not fixed and may vary in different contexts.

Helsinki metropolitan area
Helsingin seutu – Helsingforsregionen
Metropolitan area
Helsinki skyline
Helsinki skyline
CountryFinland
RegionUusimaa
Sub-regionHelsinki sub-region
Capital areaHelsinki capital region
SeatHelsinki
Area
 • Land3,698.99 km2 (1,428.19 sq mi)
Population
 (2024-08-31)
 • Total
1,598,667
 • Density432.2/km2 (1,119/sq mi)
GDP
[1]
 • Metro€105.831 billion (2022)
WebsiteHelsinki Region Trends

The metropolitan region is the largest urbanised area in the country with a population of approximately 1.6 million (2024)[2] and is by far the most important economic, cultural, and scientific region of Finland. Five of Finland's 14 universities,[note 1] and six universities of applied sciences are located in the metropolitan area, as are most of the headquarters of major companies and government institutions. Finland's main airline hub and airport, Helsinki Airport, is located in the city of Vantaa.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

These regions are located in the south of Finland, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, which is part of the Baltic Sea. They are part of the region of Uusimaa.

Terminology

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Capital Region

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Main article: Helsinki capital region

In the strictest sense, the Finnish capital region consists of four municipalities with city title, Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen. It has a population of about 1.26 million. This area is most often called the Capital region in English, Pääkaupunkiseutu in Finnish, and Huvudstadsregionen in Swedish, although the use of the terms is not especially consistent. The vast majority of the inhabitants live in the urban areas of the cities, but within the boundaries of these cities there are also suburban and rural areas.

Helsinki metropolitan area

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The Helsinki metropolitan area includes around ten additional municipalities that can be considered commuter towns and exurbs of Helsinki. These municipalities are Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Nurmijärvi, Sipoo, Tuusula, Mäntsälä, Pornainen and Vihti, bringing the total population to about 1.6 million. All of the municipalities belong to the region of Uusimaa. Of these, Järvenpää, Kerava, Tuusula, Nurmijärvi, Sipoo, Kirkkonummi, Mäntsälä and Vihti have parts of the urban area within them. Additionally, the cities of Porvoo, Lohja, Karkkila and to some extent Riihimäki, which have very close ties, motorway and, in the case of Riihimäki, commuter train accesses, and are fairly close to the capital, are nowadays often included in regional planning, which raises the total population to about 1.73 million.

Helsinki sub-region

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Main article: Helsinki sub-region

Helsinki metropolitan area differs from the Helsinki sub-region (Finnish: Helsingin seutukunta), which also includes the municipalities of Karkkila, Lohja and Siuntio. The Helsinki sub-region is used for statistical purposes. It is based on cooperation between municipalities and the commuting area. The sub-region has a population of about 1.66 million.

Helsinki Region Cooperation Assembly

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The Helsinki Region Cooperation Assembly is a cooperative body of the municipalities of the Helsinki Region, whose members are the leading elected representatives of the municipalities. Seventeen municipalities participate in cooperation in the Helsinki Region:[9]

  • Cities in the Helsinki Capital Area:[note 2] Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen.
  • The so-called KUUMA municipalities: Järvenpää, Nurmijärvi, Tuusula, Kerava, Mäntsälä, Pornainen, Hyvinkää, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Sipoo.
  • Partnership municipalities: Porvoo, Lohja and Siuntio.

The common goal of the participating municipalities is to develop cooperation and advocacy. The cooperation is based on the common vision of the municipalities in the Helsinki region regarding the challenges facing the region and the common will to contribute to the development of the region.[9]

Other definitions

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As a part of the "Urban audit" project, Eurostat has attempted to standardise the concept of a 'metropolitan area'. According to this study the Metropolitan area of Helsinki consists of the kernel of Helsinki: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. The Helsinki Larger Urban Area (Helsingin seutu in Finnish) consists of 12 cities and municipalities: the kernel of Helsinki and the aforementioned eight municipalities.[10]

Statistics Finland define the commuter belt of Helsinki (Helsingin työssäkäyntialue, Helsingfors pendlingsområde) to include a total of 27 municipalities and a population of 1.79 million.[11][12] In addition to that, there are people from as far as Lahti and even Tampere commuting to Helsinki daily.

Statistics Finland also defines the Helsinki urban area according to the official Finnish definion of an urban area (taajama in Finnish). Urban areas in Finland are defined as inhabited areas of at least 200 people with a maximum distance of 200 metres (660 ft) between buildings.[13][14] The Helsinki urban area is the largest of its kind in Finland, and encompasses land throughout metropolitan area, with notable gaps around forests and other less-densely populated areas.

The commuter towns of Lohja and Porvoo are not usually included to the Helsinki metropolitan area, though, if they were (considering their proximity to Helsinki and their high commuting rate), they would raise the overall population almost two million people. Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Nurmijärvi, Tuusula, Mäntsälä and Pornainen, which have been designated as municipalities in Central Uusimaa in recent decades, have shown clear population growth due to their urban but also loose rural environment. These are also known as "Kuuma-kunnat" (literally means "hot municipalities").[15]

Municipalities

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Coat of
arms 		Municipality Population Land area
(km2) 		Density
(/km2) 		Finnish
speakers 		Swedish
speakers 		Other
speakers
  Espoo 318,507 312 1,020 69 % 6 % 23 %
  Helsinki 681,802 214 3,180 74 % 5 % 19 %
  Hyvinkää 47,035 323 146 91 % 1 % 8 %
  Järvenpää 46,804 38 1,247 90 % 1 % 8 %
  Kauniainen 10,238 6 1,738 59 % 31 % 11 %
  Kerava 38,355 31 1,252 82 % 1 % 16 %
  Kirkkonummi 41,498 367 113 73 % 15 % 12 %
  Mäntsälä 20,892 581 36 94 % 1 % 5 %
  Nurmijärvi 44,917 362 124 91 % 1 % 8 %
  Pornainen 4,959 147 34 94 % 2 % 4 %
  Sipoo 22,840 340 67 64 % 28 % 7 %
  Tuusula 42,000 220 191 89 % 1 % 8 %
  Vantaa 250,073 238 1,049 70 % 2 % 27 %
  Vihti 28,747 522 55 92 % 2 % 7 %
Total 1,598,667 3,699 432.2 76 % 5 % 19 %

Economy

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In 2020 Helsinki's gross metropolitan product was €94.2 billion (US$100 billion). This puts Helsinki in 23rd place among cities in European Union.[16]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ These are Aalto University, the University of Helsinki, the University of the Arts Helsinki, the Hanken School of Economics, and the National Defence University.
  2. ^ The official Finnish and Swedish conventions use the term "capital" (Finnish: pääkaupunkiseudun kaupungit, Swedish: huvudstadsregionens städer), although the unofficial English translation uses the term "metropolitan".

References

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  1. ^ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by metropolitan regions". ec.europa.eu.
  2. ^ "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,625,011 at the end of August 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2024-09-24. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  3. ^ "Campuses - Laurea University of Applied Sciences". www.laurea.fi. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  4. ^ "About Haaga-Helia | Haaga-Helia". www.haaga-helia.fi. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  5. ^ "Helsinki". Diaconia University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  6. ^ "Campuses | Our campuses create an attractive learning environment". www.metropolia.fi. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  7. ^ "On campus your future starts now! | Arcada". www.arcada.fi. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  8. ^ "Humak University of Applied Sciences".
  9. ^ a b "Helsinki Region Cooperation Assembly". Information of Helsinki. City of Helsinki. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  10. ^ http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/dsis/urbstat/library?l=/urban_audit_reports/urban_audit_2006/final_reportpdf_18/_EN_1.0_&a=d[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ Statistics Finland; The correspondence table between municipalities and travel-to-work areas in 2023
  12. ^ National Land Survey of Finland; pdf-file 'Pinta-alatilasto', downloadable from page. Archived 2011-05-20 at archive.today Areas of municipalities in Finland. Accessed on 2008-09-08.
  13. ^ "Taajamissa asuu 84 prosenttia väestöstä". Statistics Finland (in Finnish). 15 January 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  14. ^ Facta (encyclopedia) part 16, page 203, finnish
  15. ^ Kuuma.fi
  16. ^ "EU regions by GDP, Eurostat".
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