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Greater Helsinki

Greater Helsinki Helsingin seutu (Finnish) Helsingforsregionen (Swedish)
Metropolitan area
Looking south over the Capital Region of Greater Helsinki toward the Gulf of Finland.
Country	Finland
Region	Uusimaa
Area
• Land	3,698.99 km2 (1,428.19 sq mi)
• Capital Region	771.04 km2 (297.70 sq mi)
Population  (2024-08-31)
• Total	1,598,667
• Density	432.2/km2 (1,119/sq mi)
• Capital Region	1,260,620
Website	helsinkiregion.fi

Greater Helsinki (Finnish: Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki; Swedish: Helsingforsregionen, Storhelsingfors) is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki (Swedish: Helsingfors), the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (Finnish: Pääkaupunkiseutu, Swedish: Huvudstadsregionen) urban area.

The smaller Capital Region consists of the central cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo, and Kauniainen and has a population of approximately 1.26 million. The Greater Helsinki region is the largest urbanised area in the country with 1,598,667 inhabitants and is by far the most important economic, cultural, and scientific region of Finland. Five out of Finland's 14 universities and most of the headquarters of notable companies and governmental institutions are located in Greater Helsinki, as is Finland's main airline hub and airport, Helsinki Airport, which is located in Vantaa.

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 area a part of the region of Uusimaa.

The term "Helsinki Metropolitan Area" and the other terms used are not firmly established and may vary in different contexts. Greater Helsinki is sometimes incorrectly called (the) Helsinki Region due to an incorrect direct translation of the Finnish and Swedish terms Helsingin seutu and Helsingforsregionen.

Terminology

Capital Region

In the strictest sense, the Finnish Capital Region consists of four municipalities with city title, Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen, whose total population is about 1.1 million (2014). 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.

Greater Helsinki

Commonly about ten more municipalities are considered to be part of Greater Helsinki, as they can be considered to be commuter towns and exurbs of Helsinki. When Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Nurmijärvi, Sipoo, Tuusula, Mäntsälä, Pornainen and Vihti are included, the number of inhabitants rises to 1.4 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, 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 1,550,000.

Other definitions

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.

Statistics Finland define the commuter belt of Helsinki (Helsingin työssäkäyntialue, Helsingfors pendlingsområde) to include a total of 24 municipalities, with a land area of 7,359.80 km² and a population of 1,431,108 as of 31 December 2007. 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. The Helsinki urban area is the largest of its kind in Finland, and encompasses land throughout Greater Helsinki, with notable gaps around forests and other less-densely populated areas.

Statistics

The table below lists population, area, and population density for the largest municipalities of the Greater Helsinki area. (Note that "Helsinki Metropolitan Area" and the other terms used are not firmly established and may vary in different contexts.) The commuter towns of Lohja and Porvoo are not usually included, though, if they were (considering their proximity to Helsinki and their high commuting rate), they would raise the overall population above 1.5 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").

Municipality	Area	Population (2024-08-31)	Population density
Helsinki	214.42 km²	681,802	3,179.75/km²
Espoo	312.35 km²	318,507	1,019.71/km²
Vantaa	238.38 km²	250,073	1,049.05/km²
Kauniainen	5.89 km²	10,238	1,738.2/km²
Capital region	771.04 km²	1,260,620	1,634.96/km²
Hyvinkää	322.69 km²	47,035	145.76/km²
Mäntsälä	580.85 km²	20,892	35.97/km²
Pornainen	146.53 km²	4,959	33.84/km²
Järvenpää	37.54 km²	46,804	1,246.78/km²
Kerava	30.63 km²	38,355	1,252.2/km²
Kirkkonummi	366.6 km²	41,498	113.2/km²
Nurmijärvi	361.9 km²	44,917	124.11/km²
Sipoo	339.66 km²	22,840	67.24/km²
Tuusula	219.53 km²	42,000	191.32/km²
Vihti	522.02 km²	28,747	55.07/km²
Commuter towns	2,927.95 km²	338,047	115.46/km²
Metropolitan area (Greater Helsinki)	3,698.99 km²	1,598,667	432.19/km²

Government buildings

• 
  Helsinki Cathedral behind the Helsinki City Hall and Swedish Embassy, viewed from the South Harbor.
• 
  Soukanniemi, a peninsula in Espoo.

Transportation

• 
  Tikkurila railway station in Vantaa.

Housing

• 
  Kankurinpuisto district (built in the early 2000s) in Hyvinkää; Kankurinlampi pond is in the foreground., Hyvinkää.

Natural areas and public spaces

• 
  A bog pond in Nuuksio National Park, situated 30 km (19 mi) from Helsinki city center in parts of Espoo, Kirkkonummi, and Vihti.
• 
  Docks in Haukilahti, Espoo at sunset.
• 
  Skiing and ice skating on Lake Tuusulanjärvi in Tuusula.
• 
  The Puistoblues Festival in Järvenpää, one of Europe's largest blues festivals.

Architecture

Medieval

• 
  The Espoo Cathedral, a medieval stone church constructed in the 1480s, the oldest preserved construction in Espoo.
• 
  Church of St. Lawrence in Lohja
• 
  Church of St. Lawrence in Vantaa, the oldest building in Greater Helsinki. Constructed in the 1450s, it was the seat of Helsinki Parish well before the the city of Helsinki was founded in 1550.

Religious buildings

Houses of worship in Greater Helsinki.

• 
  Klaukkala church in Klaukkala, Nurmijärvi.
• 
  Hyvinkää kirrko, built in 1961.
• 
  Designed by Yrjö Sadeniuksen and constructed in 1895–96, the Hyvinkään vanha kirkko ('Hyvinkää Old Church') served as the main church of Hyvinkää parish until the
• 
  The Matasaari Chapel was built in 1993 on a small island in the south-western part of Espoo.
• 
  Suvelan kappeli, Espoo.
• 
  The Espoo Cathedral, a medieval stone church constructed in the 1480s, the oldest preserved construction in Espoo.
• 
  Church of St. Lawrence in Lohja
• 
  Church of St. Lawrence in Vantaa, the oldest building in Greater Helsinki. Constructed in the 1450s, it was the seat of Helsinki Parish well before the the city of Helsinki was founded in 1550.

See also

• Helsinki urban area
• Helsinki Metropolitan Area Libraries
• Largest European metropolitan areas
• Largest metropolitan areas in the Nordic countries
• List of urban areas in the Nordic countries
• Largest urban areas of the European Union

External links

• ThisisFinland: Helsinki: A veritable mini-metropolis
• HSL, Helsinki Regional Transport Authority