Turku

Turku Turku – Åbo
City
Turun kaupunki Åbo stad City of Turku
Top row: Aerial view of Turku from atop Turku Cathedral 2nd row: Statue of Per Brahe, Turku Castle, Turku Cathedral 3rd row: Turku Medieval Market, The Christmas Peace Balcony of Turku, Twilight on the Aura River Bottom row: Summer along the Aura River, view of Yliopistonkatu pedestrian area
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Finland
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	306.36 km^2 (118.29 sq mi)
• Land	245.67 km^2 (94.85 sq mi)
• Water	60.7 km^2 (23.4 sq mi)
• Rank	247th largest in Finland
Population  (2019-01-31)[2]
• Total	191,603
• Rank	6th largest in Finland
• Density	779.92/km^2 (2,020.0/sq mi)
Population by native language [3]
• Finnish	88.1% (official)
• Swedish	5.2%
• Others	6.7%
Population by age [4]
• 0 to 14	12.6%
• 15 to 64	66.5%
• 65 or older	20.9%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code	20000–20960
Municipal tax rate[5]	19.5%
Website	www.turku.fi

Turku (Swedish: Åbo) is a city in Southwest Finland. It is the fifth-largest city in Finland, with a population of around 190,000.

It is next to the municipalities of Aura, Kaarina, Lieto, Masku, Mynämäki, Naantali, Nousiainen, Pöytyä, Raisio and Rusko.

The official languages spoken in Turku are Finnish and Swedish.

The harbour of Turku is an important port. Many ships go from there to Mariehamn and to Stockholm. Turku Airport is also one of Finland's busiest airports.

Turku is located near the mouth of Aura river, and is spread on either side of the river. There are ten bridges over the Aura river in Turku.

History

Turku is the oldest city in the country. it was founded in 13th century, when Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden. It used to be the largest city and capital of Finland. From 1809 Russia ruled Finland, and in 1812 the government moved to Helsinki.^[6] A big fire destroyed much of Turku in 1827. After that, even the university moved to Helsinki.^[7]

The first school in Finland was established in Turku, the old Cathedral school in 13th century. The first university in Finland, "The Royal Academy of Turku" was established in the city in 1640, but it has moved to Helsinki and become the University of Helsinki. Now there are five universities in Turku: three in Finnish language and two in Swedish language.^[7]

Museums and other sights

• 
  The medieval Turku Castle as seen from the harbour side.
• 
  Turku Museum of Art is a classical example of Romantic nationalism in architecture.
• 
  Pharmacy museum.
• 
  The Court of Appeal.
• 
  Luostarinmäki handicraft museum.
• 
  Michael's Church
• 
  Martin's Church
• 
  Western side of Aura River in central Turku.
• 
  Turku Orthodox Church stands next to the main Market Square.
• 
  Brinkhall Manor in Kakskerta island.
• 
  Kakskerta Church.
• 
  Old Mill in Samppalinna.

References

1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
2. "Suomen virallinen tilasto (SVT): Väestön ennakkotilasto [verkkojulkaisu]. Tammikuu 2019" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
3. "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
4. "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.
5. "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2021" (PDF). Tax Administration of Finland. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
6. Destination:Turku Flu SAS
7. Turku^{[permanent dead link]} University of Applied Sciences

Other websites

• Official site of Turku
• How to (say or) pronounce the Finnish city "Turku". Say the Word (Youtube channel)

Media related to Turku at Wikimedia Commons