Espoo

Etymology Before the time of the Swedish colonisation, Espoo was inhabited by Tavastians, a Finnish tribe, and the area in which the city lies on did most likely have a different name. The name of Espoo is believed to have derived from the Medieval Swedish village of Espaby (or Espoby), which was located in the western part of the present-day city. It may refer to aspens that grew on a nearby riverbank, as the archaic Swedish word for the tree is "äspe", and the word for a river is "å", with the suffix "-by" meaning village. The coat of arms of Espoo features a gold horseshoe topped by a gold crown on a blue shield. The crown refers to the old kungsgård of Espoo and the horseshoe refers to the obligation to transport officials, military or prisoners that parishes along the King's Road fell under. Many roads in Espoo still follow the old medieval King's Road. The King's Road in Finland, stretching from Turku in the west to Vyborg in the east, was formed in the 1340s or 1350s and was the most important road in Finland at the time. Prehistory Present-day Espoo was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 8,000 years ago, a few thousand years after the end of the Last Glacial Period. Stone Age settlements have been found from Nuuksio and Perinki. and from Morby dating from the Pre-Roman Iron Age, of which the latter is an important subject relating to research of cattle husbandry. Traces of early settlement in the area remain in the place names. For example, the original name for Soukka was Soukko. The first settlers lived in the northern parts of the current city, around the lakes Pitkäjärvi, Bodomjärvi, and Loojärvi, as the southern parts were still largely covered by the sea. In the Stone Age, people in Espoo lived on south-facing shores and slopes, which provided shelter from cold continental winds. Living close to water bodies also made hunting and fishing easier. The way of life was dictated by seasonal changes, and people rarely stayed in one place throughout the year. The first Swedish settlements in Uusimaa were established during the 12th or 13th century. Espoo became an independent parish in the 15th century. Previously Espoo had been a chapel parish under Kirkkonummi. The stone Espoo Cathedral was built in the 1480s by initiative from the peasants. Up to the 1670s the eastern parts of Espoo belonged to the Helsinki parish, after which they were officially annexed to the Espoo parish and the slottslän of Raseborg. Gräsa is one of the oldest settlements in Espoo and the oldest in southern Espoo, as it was probably founded already in the early 14th century as Swedish settlement moved inland. From the beginning, the settlement was located at the site of the current Olari Church on both sides of the Gräsanoja river. The absence of Finnish names in the area reveals that the population was Swedish-speaking from the beginning. In 1556, King Gustav Vasa decided to stabilize and develop the region by founding a royal mansion in Espoo. The government bought the villages of Espåby and Mankby (Finnish: Mankki) and transferred the population elsewhere, and built the royal mansion in Espåby. (Mankby was eventually abandoned and was never repopulated.) The royal mansion housed the king's local plenipotentiary (vogt), and collected royal tax in kind paid by labour on the mansion's farm. The administrative centre Espoon keskus has grown around the church and the Espoo railway station, but the municipality has retained a network-like structure to the modern day. In the 16th century Espoo changed into a parish of many large farmsteads. The war between Sweden and Russia in the late 16th century attracted farmstead owners to found horse steads in hopes of reduced taxation. Horse stead owners were required to uphold a rider in the wars fought by the realm. In the late 17th century the crown had donated lands to noblemen with success in wars, and during a few decades, the lands in Espoo had been dealt to seven noble families. Swedish rule in Finland came to an end in 1809, when the Kingdom of Sweden ceded all of its remaining territory in Finland under control of the Russian Empire after the Finnish War. When the city of Helsinki became the capital of the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, it brought novel developments to the neighbouring parish of Espoo. Many government officials as well as members of the growing merchant class bought summer houses from Espoo. Staffan Island became a home for a highly skilled and renowned community of joiners, colloquially known as the "University of Espoo" Russia immediately started preparing for war against Germany. At the start of the war, the main forces of the Russian Baltic Fleet had been concentrated at Sveaborg in front of Helsinki. The Russian military feared that Germany would use southern Finland to attack Petrograd, so Russia started building a fortification chain of over surrounding Helsinki to protect it. Construction of the fortification started in 1915 and took almost three years. Construction of the fortification chain required a huge amount of workforce. The construction was led by the engineering administration of Saint Petersburg, but in practice, the actual work was led by the engineering military staff in Sveaborg. The local engineering office was located in Leppävaara in Espoo. However, many houses in Espoo suffered from famine after the Civil War. The war had cut off a large part of the foreign trade in Finland, which worsened the famine. Particularly the price of grain and other necessary foodstuffs had risen significantly, which caused price limits for the most important products. The situation eased out in 1919, but food regulation was only finally discontinued in 1921. and it gained city rights the same year as Espoo, in 1972. However, the border between Espoo and Kauniainen was only defined in the late 1940s. Espoo started to grow rapidly in the 1940s and 1950s. Shortly after the end of the Continuation War, the population of Espoo grew by four thousand as frontline soldiers and evacuees from ceded territories (including the Porkkalanniemi peninsula, leased to the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1956) were settled in the city. Espoo's location right next to the capital city of Helsinki attracted people working in the capital city to move into the rapidly growing neighbour city, and already before World War II there were many suburbs along the Rantarata railway, such as Leppävaara, Kilo and Kauklahti which had formed into an industrial area. After the new Jorvaksentie road (predecessor to the Länsiväylä highway) was completed, new detached houses were built along it, particularly in Westend. After the war, many detached houses for soldiers having fought at the frontline were built in Espoo. The highest increase in population only started in the early 1950s when the Asuntosäätiö foundation started construction of the garden city of Tapiola, and construction of a new campus area of the Helsinki University of Technology started in the neighbouring district of Otaniemi. In the 1940s and 1950s Espoo grew more rapidly than it could afford. The infrastructure of Espoo was not prepared to handle such rapid growth. There was no time for proper zoning, instead new houses were built as people bought lots in the city. Market town and city Espoo became a market town in 1963. The population of Espoo at the time was 65,000. About a decade later, Espoo became a city in 1972. The districts of Suvela, Olari, Matinkylä and Kivenlahti were built in the 1970s. The first of the high-rise buildings in Keilaniemi, the Neste head office was built in 1976. Many of the important roads in Finland go through Espoo. Finland's first highway, the Finnish national road 1, was built in 1962. The Ring I beltway was also built in the 1960s. The next outer beltway, Ring II, was taken into use in 2000. The decision to build a new cultural centre was made in a celebratory session of the Espoo city council on 1 January 1972, when Espoo became a city. Two years later the first room program of the new building was completed, defining its needs and surface area. An architecture contest was held for its design in 1979. About 60 different proposals were submitted for the contest, with architect Arto Sipinen's design Kuunsilta ("Moonlight bridge") being chosen as the winner. Construction of the Espoo Cultural Centre started in 1986. The foundation stone was laid on Jean Sibelius Day on 8 December. The building was constructed of quartz sand bricks, travertine tiles, glass and mosaic concrete, and its cost rose to about 130 million Finnish markka. The building was completed in January 1989. ==Geography==

General . Espoo has an area of — (59%) of land and (41%) of water. Sea water makes up 37% of the total area of Espoo and inland water makes up a bit over 3%. The largest lakes in Uusimaa, Lohjanjärvi and Hiidenvesi, are located west of the ridge. The highest point in Espoo is Velskola at above sea level, and the lowest point is at sea level. Espoo is a part of the Helsinki capital region and is contiguously bordered by the cities, towns and municipalities of Kirkkonummi, Vihti, Nurmijärvi, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Helsinki. For a city of its size, Espoo is home to exceptionally large natural areas. The southern part of the city is characterized by maritime environment, including a varied coastline and an archipelago consisting of 165 islands. Bedrock The minerals and structures of the rocky and hilly topography of Espoo were formed about 1880 to 1650 million years ago. Particularly the Weichselian glaciation has had an effect on the current environment – the continental ice sheet withdrew from what is now Espoo about 13 thousand years ago. The first areas to surface from underneath the sea were the high hills in northern Espoo, such as Mustankorvenkallio. The numerous smooth cliffs on the seashore and in the archipelago were caused by wear by the continental ice sheet; there are grooves on their surfaces, indicating the direction of the flow of the ice sheet. Icebergs split off from the ice sheet have transported glacial erratics, including those in Kunnarla, Soukka and Suomenoja. Main rock types in the Espoo bedrock include gneiss, migmatite, granite, gabbro, amphibolite and mica schist. Rare orbicular granite can be found in Nuuksio, the deposit is internationally valuable. The depth of the southern part of the sea area, in the outer archipelago, is a few dozen metres at the most. The ship route between Helsinki and Stockholm, Sweden goes through the outermost parts of the sea area which contains small treeless, sea-washed islets. One of them is the former fortification island of Kytö. The smallest islands are shallow islets, such as Stenskär. They are significant nesting grounds for birds and many of them are nature-protected areas. In summertime there might be flowering meadow patches on the islands. The islands closest to the Espoo shoreline include Stora Herrö, Pentala, Kopplorna and Lehtisaaret. The islands host many vacation buildings, and they are often referred to as an intermediary archipelago. The maritime traffic in front of Espoo mainly consists of motor boats of various sizes, water scooters and ferries handling traffic in the archipelago. In terms of natural geography, the coastal waters of Espoo are divided into four different sea areas, consisting counting from the west of Espoonlahti, Suvisaaristo-Lauttasaari and Seurasaari. The fourth sea area is Helsinki-Porkkala to the south of the other three. The surface area of the Espoonlahti sea area is . The Espoonlahti nature preserve area is located in its northern part. The western part of the sea area is located in the neighbouring municipality of Kirkkonummi. The surface area of the Suvisaaristo-Lauttasaari sea area is . It reaches from the shores of the islands of Stora Herrö and Pentala up to the West Harbour in Helsinki. The surface area of the Seurasaari sea area is . The Laajalahti nature preserve area is located in its northwestern part. Most of the sea area is located in neighbouring Helsinki. The surface area of the Helsinki-Porkkala sea area is . It reaches from the eastern shore of the Porkkalanniemi peninsula up to Suomenlinna and Santahamina. Islands in the sea area include Kytö, Stenskär, Knapperskär and Gåsgrund. Shoreline The shoreline of Espoo is about long and there are 165 islands in front of it. The shoreline is diverse and contains decomposing bays, reed beds, sandy beaches, coastal cliffs and boat harbours. The district of Westend contains private house lots reaching to the sea shore, while the sea shore in the rest of Espoo is mainly in public use. The Rantaraitti hiking route spans almost the entire sea shore of Espoo. The district of Kivenlahti contains coastal cliffs, man-made shoreline and sandy beaches. The land in Espoo is rising by about a quarter of a metre per century and the moist land rise shores are slowly becoming bogs. The forests in Espoo are mainly pine barrens consisting mostly of spruces and pines, with some deciduous trees. There are lush and diverse groves in some places, containing many hardwood trees such as oak. The ecological core area of southern Espoo is the Espoo Central Park, consisting mainly of two forest massives: Harmaakallo and Bosmalm. The most famous and most popular nature area in Espoo is the Nuuksio National Park located on the lake highland of northern Espoo, reaching over to Kirkkonummi and Vihti. As well as the contiguous forest and pools of sweet water, Nuuksio contains small bogs and meadows. There are also lush grove-like brook valleys in the area. The highest spot in Espoo, Mustankorvenkallio, is located in Velskola to the southwest of Saarijärvi above sea level and over above the water level of Saarijärvi. There are also considerably high spots very near the coast, such as the Kasavuori hill in Soukka, rising to above sea level. Inland waters There are over a hundred lakes and ponds in Espoo, of which 73 have an area of over a hectare. The lakes in Espoo were formed when the land slowly started rising after the continental ice sheet had thawed, and water started flowing into the crevices in the bedrock. The oldest lakes in Espoo are Kalatoin, Iso Majaslampi, Orajärvi and Pieni Majaslampi, all located over above sea level. At that time, what is now the Baltic Sea was in a so-called Yoldia Sea phase, which had formed when the surface of the Baltic Ice Lake had lowered tens of metres in a short time. Nuuksio slowly expanded into part of the mainland and new lakes were formed when the sea level sank. Development stopped for about a millennium and a half when the ancient Baltic Sea changed into the Ancylus Lake. Its surface was originally about above the current sea level. The Ancylus Lake formed into the salty Littorina Sea when the current Danish straits started opening up. The surface of the Littorina Sea was about above the current sea level. At that time, almost all lakes in northern Espoo had been separated from the sea. Only the lake Nuuksion Pitkäjärvi remained as a narrow, fjord-like bay. The shore of the Littorina Sea remained at its place for a long time as upthrust slowed down. Rocky rims remain of the ancient sea shore on hills and cliffs. Nuuksion Pitkäjärvi only separated from the sea and became an inland lake about five millennia ago. About four millennia ago the land had risen so far that also Lake Bodom, Lippajärvi and other pools in central Espoo changed from shallow bays into lakes. The largest depth of Nuuksion Pitkäjärvi is and the average depth is , and there are tens of lakes and ponds in its drainage basin of . Features Although Espoo is relatively highly populated, it has large amounts of the countryside and natural wilderness, particularly in the city's western and northern portions. The city has a total of 71 lakes, the largest of which are Lake Bodom, Nuuksion Pitkäjärvi, Vanhankylän Pitkäjärvi, Loojärvi, Velskolan Pitkäjärvi, Saarijärvi, Matalajärvi, Siikajärvi, and Lippajärvi. The city has a large coastline on the Gulf of Finland. Espoo has six Natura 2000 protected areas: Bånberget forests, Espoonlahti–Saunalahti bay area (partially in Kirkkonummi), Laajalahti bay, Matalajärvi lake, Nuuksio National Park (partially in Kirkkonummi and Vihti), as well as forests in Vestra (partially in Vantaa). The official animal of Espoo is the Siberian flying squirrel, the official bird is the common blackbird, and the official plant is Anemone nemorosa. Flora and fauna s in Matinkylä The city's Central Park's fauna represents a typical range of Finnish forest species. The most common flora in the Central Park includes Equisetum, ferns, Anemone, Lythrum and Orchidaceae. Common mammal species present in Espoo include the European hare and the mountain hare, the raccoon dog, the red squirrel, the elk, the red fox, various bat species, the European badger, as well as the roe deer and the white-tailed deer, The Suomenoja Bird Reserve in Finnoo, southern Espoo, is considered to be nationally significant for its bird diversity. Among others, there are endangered moorhens, as well as horned grebes and gadwalls. The most common and audible maritime bird species is the black-headed gull, but the whooper swan is also a common sight in the city's archipelago, where white-tailed eagles can be found as well. including the Siberian flying squirrel, whose Finnish populations have experienced a steep decline for many decades due to logging. The flying squirrel is considered to be the official animal of Espoo, and the squirrel populations are especially plentiful in the northernmost parts of the city. However, the flying squirrel is also present in some southern areas, including the Central Park, Soukka, Espoon keskus, Tapiola, Laajalahti, Hannusmetsä and Matinkylä. == Climate ==

Temperature and rainfall viewed from the north Espoo's location in the northern latitudes between the large continent of Eurasia and the even larger Atlantic Ocean causes rapid changes in the weather in Espoo. The height of the terrain from sea level also has an effect on the climate: most of the people in Espoo live south of Lake Bodom, where the terrain only rises higher than above sea level in a few spots. There are no proper plateaus in northern Espoo either: the terrain rises a bit over above sea level at the most. Espoo is located in a hemiboreal zone, also known as the oak zone. The most important factor affecting the environment is the Gulf of Finland, cooling the weather down in summer and warming it up in autumn. The coastal convergence increases rainfall going inward into the mainland. The local climate in Nuuksio is different from the rest of Espoo: the terrain in Nuuksio rises up from almost all directions, which causes a forced rise upwards in air currents, which in turn has an effect on the clouds. The ridge in Nuuksio has the highest rainfall in all of Finland. The climate in Nuuksio is also affected by the fractionate terrain, causing friction increasing rainfall. In 1981, the rainfall in Nupuri was measured as , an all-time record in Finland. In southern Espoo the area of Suurpelto is slightly cooler than its surroundings. Although Espoo is the second-largest city in Finland, its meteorological averages have not been measured. At the weather stations in the neighbouring municipalities the average temperature from 1981 to 2010 was about . The coldest time of the year was from January to February and the warmest time was from July to August. The temperature differences between the seasons grow smaller when moving out towards the sea. On the coast and in the archipelago, the temperature rarely rises above or falls below . The average rainfall is from per year. The driest season is in springtime and the rainiest season is in August and from October to December. Most of the rainy days occur in autumn. The Finnish Meteorological Institute has eight outposts in Espoo: Friisilä, Kivenlahti, Kytö, Leppävaara, Luukki, Nuuksio, Otaniemi and Tapiola. Of these, Nuuksio and Tapiola are weather outposts, brought online in the 2010s. The Nuuksio outpost is located in a sparsely populated and fractionate lake ridge above sea level. The Tapiola outpost is located in a suburb on the coast of the Gulf of Finland above sea level. Snow conditions On average, snow first falls on Espoo after Christmas and melts away from late March to early April. The snow conditions vary more on the coast than inland. In some years, the snow may last up to five months, while in other years, there might be hardly any snow during the entire winter. Lows coming from the southwest carry temperate air which can keep the snow layers thin or even melt the snow away. The sea wind has a large effect on the local winds on the coast, and can even create its own wind field. It can change the direction and speed of the basic wind on the coast for many times during the same day. Particularly in springtime and early summertime the sea wind keeps the archipelago and coastline free of clouds, while there is a white cloud wall further inland, which can cause rain showers. Air quality The air quality in Espoo is considerably good despite the negative effect of the traffic. Particularly on pedestrian roads, sand is used to combat slipperiness, which causes a major dust problem in springtime. Studded tires also contribute to the number of harmful particles. The air quality in Espoo is measured in Leppävaara and Luukki. There are also mobile measurement stations. Alder and birch pollen has a harmful effect on the air quality in springtime, hay and mugwort in summertime. Lighting conditions Espoo is located at a latitude of 60° North, which causes the duration of daylight to vary considerably. At summer solstice daylight lasts for nineteen hours, while at winter solstice it only lasts for six hours. The angle of the sun is at its highest at 53.4° in summertime and only at 6.6° in wintertime. Espoo is among the northernmost places to have nautical dusk even at summer solstice, meaning the sun is at least six degrees below the horizon at the darkest hour of the night. At that time, the entire night passes without total darkness. In contrast, daylight at winter solstice is short, especially when there are only few sunny hours from November to January. The official time in Espoo is measured by the 30th eastern meridian. The city is located over five degrees west of it, so the solar noon occurs over 20 minutes later than on the 30th meridian. Growth season Espoo is located at the plant success zone 1b. The thermal growth season lasts for a bit over half a year on average. In general, the growth season starts in April and ends in October. Sometimes it continues to early November. The sum of the effective temperature during the thermal growth season is over times day, and annual variations are large. == Administration ==

Espoo belongs to the region of Uusimaa. Supreme decision-making power in the city is held by the City Council of Espoo. The council has 75 members, elected for a period of four years. Subdivisions in autumn Espoo is divided into seven major areas (, ): Vanha-Espoo (with administrative center), Suur-Espoonlahti, Pohjois-Espoo, Suur-Kauklahti, Suur-Leppävaara, Suur-Matinkylä, and Suur-Tapiola of which Suur-Leppävaara has the highest population. These major areas are then divided into a total of 56 districts. The healthcare, social, cultural and school services of the city have been concentrated to the regional centres in the major areas. Statistics about Espoo also include the division "other", which included 4,582 people on New Year 2022. From 2011 to 2022 the population growth was the highest in Suur-Kauklahti, about 70%. The growth in Suur-Matinkylä was about 27%, while Suur-Tapiola and Suur-Leppävaara grew by about 20%. The population in Suur-Espoonlahti and Vanha-Espoo grew by about 12% to 13% and that in Pohjois-Espoo by about 10%. The postal codes in Espoo start with the digits "02", like in Kauniainen, Kirkkonummi and Siuntio as well. Espoo includes the postal codes 02100 to 02380, 02600 to 02860 (excluding 02700 Kauniainen) and 02920 to 02980. The lowest postal codes are located in the south and the highest ones in the north. Municipal annexations In connection to the municipal renewal plan in Finland there have been suggestions to annex Espoo into the rest of the Finnish capital region, together with some of the surrounding municipalities. So far the City Council of Espoo has strongly opposed these suggestions. Organisation The city of Espoo has three industries and one result area. • Result area of vitality. Led by Mervi Heinaro. • Industry of growth and education. Led by Harri Rinta-Aho. Municipal managers of Espoo include: • Arvi E. Heiskanen 1962–1963 • Teppo Tiihonen 1963–1985 • Pekka Löyttyniemi 1985–1995 • Marketta Kokkonen 1995–2010 • Jukka Mäkelä 2011–2025 • Kai Mykkänen 2025–present City Council Politically, Espoo is a clearly bourgeois city, with the largest party being the National Coalition Party. Support of the Green League and the Swedish People's Party of Finland is also larger in Espoo than the average of Finland. The parties with the largest increase in support in the 2010s were the Green League and Movement Now. == Demographics ==

The city of Espoo has inhabitants, making it the second most populous municipality in Finland. The city of Espoo is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area, which is the largest urban area in Finland with inhabitants. The city is home to 5% of Finland's population. In Espoo, 22% of the population has a foreign background, almost three times the national average. The city is the 7th most densely populated in Finland. In 2022, the average age of people in Espoo was 39.0 years, lower than the average age in Finland (43.7 years). In 2021, the population of Espoo had the second highest average income in Finland after Kauniainen. Language The city of Espoo is officially bilingual, with both Finnish and Swedish as official languages. The majority of the population, persons (), spoke Finnish as their first language. The number of Swedish speakers was persons () of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by of the population.), while in 1960 they accounted for 23.5% (about 13,300 people In 2018, the largest proportions of Swedish speakers in Espoo were in Suvisaaristo (33.6%), Espoonkartano (29.9%), Sepänkylä (24.1%) and Bodom (21.3%). In absolute terms, the most Swedish speakers lived in Haukilahti (993 people) and Matinkylä (813 people). Religion In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 50.3% of the population of Espoo. Other religious groups accounted for 3.8% of the population. 45.9% of the population had no religious affiliation. According to the 2018 division Espoo is home to the following Evangelical Lutheran congregations: • Espoonlahti congregation (formerly known as the Kivenlahti congregation) • Espoo cathedral congregation (formerly known as the Kanta-Espoo congregation) • Leppävaara congregation • Olari congregation • Tapiola congregation • Espoo Swedish congregation Together these congregations form the Espoo Congregation Union (Finnish: Espoon seurakuntayhtymä, Swedish: Esbo kyrkliga samfällighet). In 2003, of the population of Espoo, 1.2 percent belonged to the Orthodox Church of Finland, 0.4 percent were Catholic and 0.2 percent were Jehovah's Witnesses. Members of the Evangelical Free Church of Finland, Mormons, Jews, Muslims, other Orthodox and Methodists amounted to 0.1 percent each. There are five Lutheran churches in Espoo (each Finnish-speaking congregation has one), including the Espoo Cathedral, the Espoonlahti Church, the Olari Church, the Tapiola Church and the Leppävaara Church. There are also 27 chapels of the Lutheran Church in Espoo. Of the Orthodox congregations in Finland, the Helsinki Orthodox Congregation is active in Espoo. It has the Church of the Sanctifier Herman of Alaska in Tapiola. Of the congregations of the Pentecostal Church of Finland, the Pentecostal Congregation of Espoo is active in Espoo. Individual Pentecostal congregations in Espoo include the Espoonlahti Pentecostal congregation, the Keski-Espoo near congregation, the Leppävaara Missionary chapel and Mankby bibliska församling. Of the congregations of the Evangelical Free Church of Finland, the Espoo free congregation is active in Espoo. == Economy ==

Economic history . , opened in 2001, is located in Matinkylä near the sea shore. Still in the middle 19th century, Espoo was a rural community living in subsistence economy. There was hardly any industry, the villages were small and situated evenly across different parts of the parish. There was some population concentration at the location of the current district of Espoon keskus and along the Suuri Rantatie road, and some dense population on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. In 1865 farming was the primary source of income for about 90% of the men in Espoo. There were about seventy craftsmen and about twenty people working in the industry. Of the women in Espoo, over one fifth worked as maids. The economical history of 19th-century Espoo also includes some small-scale mining activity. There was ore mining at the lands of the Kilo mansion around 1840, and this activity continued to the 1850s. The ore was of good quality but poor, and the ore streaks were fragmentary. In the end, the amount of ore mined from Kilo was very small. There was also glass industry in Espoo. Pehr Appelgrén founded a bottle glass factory near the Espoo railway station in 1912. The factory closed down in 1922. The Kauklahti glass factory started in 1923, and by the 1930s it was the largest illumination glass factory in Finland. The factory closed down in 1951. Glass industry in Espoo altogether waned in the 1950s. Companies Espoo is home to the head offices of several global companies and many high technology companies. The Aalto University campus in southeastern Espoo is at the heart of research and development. The head offices of Nokia, Valmet, Remedy Entertainment, Fortum, Neste, Huhtamäki, Metsä Group, Orion Corporation, Oriola, Outotec and LähiTapiola are located in Espoo. Among government enterprises, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Gasum, Neste and Fortum are headquartered in Espoo. Due to the presence of these companies, particularly Nokia, Espoo alone accounts for 60% of patents filed in Finland and ranks #6 among European cities in number of patents filed. The largest shopping centres in Espoo are Iso Omena, Sello, Lippulaiva, Entresse and Ainoa. Along the continuous traffic route formed by Merituulentie to the north of Länsiväylä, Kuitinmäentie and Martinsillantie are located the shopping centre Niitty, Länsikeskus, the retail park Merituuli, the shopping centre Liila as well as several leisure, indoor decoration and automobile businesses. The small shopping centre Suuris, opened in 2017, is located in Suurpelto along Ring II. Industrial areas in Espoo include Juvanmalmi, Karamalmi and Kivenlahti. City of Espoo The city of Espoo funds its services mainly by taxation. In 2021 the tax income of the city, consisting of the municipal tax, the communal tax and the property tax, amounted to 1,711 million euro, with the municipal tax rate being 18.00 percent. By number of employees, the city of Espoo is the biggest employer in Espoo: in 2016 it employed about 14 thousand people. The economy in Espoo leaves a surplus, but this is not enough to finance the investments of the growing city. The highest-income areas in Espoo, such as Westend and Haukilahti, are mainly located on the coast. These districts are part of the Tapiola major district, whose income level is significantly higher than the average in Espoo. The income level in the Matinkylä and Espoonlahti major districts is near the average in Espoo. The income level in the Leppävaara major district and particularly in the Vanha-Espoo major district is lower than the average in Espoo. The city of Espoo is not particularly segregated by major districts, instead the differences in income are significantly higher within the major districts as between them. In low-income major districts the average income level is near the average in Helsinki. In some areas, such as in Kivenlahti and Suvela, it even falls below the average in Vantaa. Areas consisting of detached houses generally have higher income levels than areas consisting of apartment buildings. == Culture ==

in Tapiola, consisting of four different museums Espoo hosts a Museum of Modern Art called EMMA (Espoo Museum of Modern Art), built in a renovated old print house, the WeeGee house, named after an old book print company Weilin & Göös. The same building hosts also Finland's only Museum of Horology (, ) and a Toy Museum. Glims Farmstead Museum is also located in the city. The Espoo cultural centre, home of the world-renowned Tapiola Sinfonietta, where numerous concerts and theater performances are held, is located in Tapiola (). The Akseli Gallen-Kallela Museum is located in Tarvaspää and the Haltia Nature Centre is located in Nuuksio. Espoo has several old manors of which two are open to the general public. The most important is Espoon kartano (, Espoo Manor), first mentioned in maps in 1495, and belonging to the noble Ramsay family since 1756. The current main building dates back to 1914, but a mill dates from the 1750s and Finland oldest walled stone bridge from 1777 is on the King's Road (, ) which passes by the manor. The main building can be rented for weddings and similar occasions. Guided tours are available on request for groups. The other manor open to public is Pakankylän kartano, located on the northern shore of Lake Bodom. The manor hosts a restaurant and club rooms, partly with original furniture open to the public, but meant originally to Kaisankoti sanatory and old people's home located on ground of the manor. The Metal band Children of Bodom comes from Espoo, Finland. They are named after the unsolved murder known as the Lake Bodom murders which took place at the shore of Lake Bodom, a lake in northern Espoo, in 1960. The bands Norther and Kiuas also come from Espoo. The educational department took part in Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 in Finland. Authors in Espoo include Antti Hyry and Mauri Kunnas. Arto Paasilinna, known for his comical narrative, was nominally Espoo's prosaist. Of his novels, Elämä lyhyt, Rytkönen pitkä ("Life is short, Rytkönen is tall") features the districts of Tapiola and Haukilahti, Aatami ja Eeva ("Adam and Eve") features Otaniemi and Herranen aika ("Oh my God") features Jorvi. Events in Lahnus, Espoo The district of Tapiola hosts the annual film festival Espoo Ciné and the annual music festival April Jazz. Leppävaara hosts the annual music festival Kivenlahti Rock. At wintertime, the Serena Waterpark hosts the Pacifique spa party. In summertime, the Espoo Cathedral hosts the concert event Urkuyö ja aaria, belonging to the Finland Festivals event chain. Ropecon, the largest independent role-playing game convention in Europe, was held at the Dipoli conference centre from 1998 to 2015. The annual celebration of the Awakening movement was held in Espoo in 2008. Food culture In the 1980s, the parish dishes of Espoo were listed as cod potatoes, fisherman's herring pan and cake à la Anna. A noteworthy menu was the dinner at the Espoo manor, including bouillon and cheese sticks, roasted veal with cream sauce, canned peas, pickled cucumbers, ice cream and canned strawberries. Cultural history are located on the lands of the old Otnäs manor. The cultural landscape in Espoo started developing in river valleys and on plantations cleared on bays revealed by upthrust of land. The largest plantations were already in the map drawn in the middle 18th century mainly in the same form as in the late 20th century. Tightly built, small groups of buildings started developing on the edges of the plantations, at some places also on hills in between them. The large landscape of Snettans and Röylä stretches to the north of Lake Bodom, with the Pakankylä manor located in its southern part. There is a significant landscape to the west of the Espoo manor, There is a large plantation landscape stretching over the Velskola manor in northern Espoo. The large cultural landscape of Bemböle-Karvasmäki is located to the northeast of Espoon keskus and the clearly defined landscape of Söderskog is located to the south of it. The well preserved village landscape of Gammelgård is located on the shore of lake Pitkäjärvi in eastern Espoo. The most historically valuable landscape is located at Espoonjokilaakso near the Espoo Cathedral. The valley, surrounded by steep cliffs, was probably cleared for plantation use already in ancient times. As well as the cathedral, the landscape includes many other culturally significant buildings. The typical rural village in Espoo was small: two or three houses in an asymmetric group on a hill. A notable exception was the village of Gammelgård: the village had thirteen houses in 1540. Because of the small number houses, the Great Partition in the late 18th century had little effect on the traditional cultural landscape in Espoo. The building tradition in Espoo remained old-fashioned for a long time: low paired houses were common up to the late 19th century. The storm in August 1890 brought upon a change, when new buildings according to the style at the time were built from thousands of logs felled by the storm. Manor houses started appearing when one of the houses of the village grew larger than the others and developed into a riding farm, which ended up as property of the gentry. Thus almost all of the manor houses in Espoo are located at the site of an old peasant village. The Espoo manor was founded at the start of the new era, but most of the manor houses in Espoo had formed without an official founding in the late 18th century. The officers in Suomenlinna bought farms near Helsinki, resulting in so-called officer manor houses such as Bodom, Hovgård and Träskända. The late Carolinian appearance of the main buildings of the manor houses has been preserved the best in Bodom and Backby. The manor houses in Alberga and Kilo represent the style ideals of the late 19th century, while Träskända represents the start of the 20th century. The owners of the manor houses started selling their lands to the municipality and to construction enterprises in the 20th century. The manor houses in southern Espoo were mostly torn down to make way for new buildings and roads. The medieval Gräsa manor, the only so-called old frälse in Espoo, was located in the Olari area. Gräsa is seen as a textbook example of the rapid and fundamental change in the cultural landscape in Espoo. The main buildings of the Hagalund and Matinkylä manor remain, while hardly anything remains of the Frisans and Finno manors. The Soukanpohja manor is the only manor house in Espoo to remain as a contiguous group of buildings. It also forms a small rural landscape in the middle of new development in the late 20th century. The effect of the roads on the cultural landscape of Espoo is indisputable. Villages were founded along the King's Road and the road brought cultural influences along with it. The rural landscapes in Espoo started gradually changing in the late 19th century as new villas were founded on the coast because of regular steamship traffic. There is a well preserved summer villa milieu on the island of Iso Vasikkasaari. Many of the villas are known by their famous architects or commissioners, such as Villa Carlstedt designed by Lars Sonck. Many villas were also founded in Kilo and Leppävaara. The Karhusaari villa was built in southeastern Espoo in the 1890s, as well as Villa Rulludd in Kaitaa. The first villas in Suvisaaristo were built on the island of Tallholm in the 1860s, before that the area had mostly consisted of fishing villages. The most architecturally valuable villa in Espoo is Villa Miniato in Soukka. The Pasila-Karjaa railway, completed in 1903, had a significant impact on the cultural landscape of Espoo. Industrial buildings were built near the railway stations, attracting working class settlements. The first suburban areas also appeared along the railway: tuberculosis was a common cause of death among the Finns in the early 20th century, and the dry and bright hills in Espoo along with the pines growing on them were seen as suitable to prevent and treat the disease. Espoo was seen as a healthy alternative to Helsinki, but new settlement coming from the east was diverse and new residential areas were very different from each other. The city of Kauniainen developed into a showy area, while the district of Leppävaara developed into a more modest one. == Sports ==

(formerly known as Barona Areena and Länsi-Auto Areena) is a sports and entertainment centre located in Tapiolan Urheilupuisto. stadium in Tapiola in summer 2001. In the background are the Espoo Cultural Centre to the right and the Tapiola Central Tower to the left. At the 1952 Summer Olympics, the city's Westend Tennis Hall hosted the fencing events. Many world famous sportspeople are from Espoo, such as ice hockey players Teemu Selänne and Jere Lehtinen, swimmer Antti Kasvio, figure skater Laura Lepistö, javelin thrower Tiina Lillak, cross-country skier Marjo Matikainen and Formula 1 world champion Kimi Räikkönen. Espoo is home to the Vermo race track, the Espoo Metro Areena, the sports parks of Tapiolan urheilupuisto, Leppävaaran urheilupuisto, Espoonlahden urheilupuisto as well as the Serena Waterpark. The largest swimming pools in Espoo are the Leppävaara swimming pool, the Keski-Espoo swimming pool, the Espoonlahti swimming pool and the Tapiola swimming pool. Other exercise sites include the Espoo Central Park, the Espoo outdoor islands and the outdoor exercise areas of Luukki and Pirttimäki of the city of Helsinki. Sportsperson of the year in Espoo Every year a sportsperson of the year is chosen in Espoo. Titleholders include the following people: • 2014: Gymnast Saga Hänninen, who has Down's syndrome. She competes in rhythmic gymnastics and is also active in other sports. She has won gold at the Special Olympics with her ball performance. • 2015: Archer Jarkko Lehtinen. • 2016: Artistic gymnast Oskar Kirmes, who achieved a record score in the Olympic tryouts in Rio de Janeiro, securing the first Olympic participation in men's artistic gymnastics for Finland in 44 years. • 2017: Shooter Cristian Friman, who won the youths' world championship in prone rifle shooting in 2017. Basketball In 2027, the Espoo Metro Areena will be used as Finland's host city for the FIBA Women's EuroBasket. Ice hockey Espoo Blues was a successful hockey club; between 1998 and 2016 it iced a men's hockey team which played at the men's premier SM-liiga and a women's hockey team which played at the women's premier Naisten SM-sarja. The women's team, Espoo Blues Naiset, won 13 Finnish women's championships in the 18-year span (1998–2016), seven of them won consecutively. The men's and women's ice hockey teams were known as Kiekko-Espoo from 1984 to 1998 and 1990 to 1998 respectively. In spring 2016 Jääkiekko Espoo Oy, the organization which owned the clubs, declared bankruptcy. A new club called Espoo United was established to replace Espoo Blues. Espoo United's men's ice hockey team played at the second highest level Mestis. The Espoo United women's hockey team played at the highest level, , and won silver in the 2017 league championships. Espoo United was also active in basketball and the men's basketball team played at the second highest level; the women's basketball team played at the highest level, Naisten Korisliiga. In August 2017, in what was described as an effort to stabilize the club's tenuous financial situation, Espoo United abandoned its women's teams in both ice hockey and basketball. Espoo United's former women's basketball team quickly acquired transfer to Tapiolan Honka but the women's ice hockey team was left in an unsustainable situation. The Finnish Ice Hockey Association chose to intervene in September 2017 and created an organization that would allow the team to play under the name Espoo Blues until a better structure could be identified. In April 2018, despite the dumping of its women's teams, Espoo United declared bankruptcy and its men's teams folded. In April 2019, the women's ice hockey team Espoo Blues merged with Kiekko Espoo Oy, a significant junior hockey club with the largest girls hockey program in the country, to become Kiekko-Espoo Naiset. At the time of the merger, the team was the winningest team in Naisten Liiga history with 14 Naisten Liiga championships and a combined 24 Naisten Liiga championship medals over 29 seasons. Football FC Honka is the most successful local professional football club. The men's team was promoted into the Finnish premier division (Veikkausliiga) for the first time in its history at the end of the 2005 season. They play their home matches at Tapiolan urheilupuisto. Espoo is also home to SexyPöxyt of the fourth-tier Kolmonen league. They play their home matches at Laaksolahden urheilupuisto in the Laaksolahti district. Floorball Espoo also has two floorball teams playing at highest level Salibandyliiga. The two teams are Esport Oilers and Westend Indians. Running Espoo is home to the Länsiväyläjuoksu, an annual running event that starts and finishes in Otaniemi. Athletes from Espoo Espoo is the birthplace of 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, former Dallas Stars forward Jere Lehtinen (three time NHL Selke Trophy winner), former Formula One driver JJ Lehto, professional downhill mountain biker Matti Lehikoinen, professional ten-pin bowling star Osku Palermaa and 2009 European Figure Skating Champion Laura Lepistö. == Parks and recreation ==

The city's Central Park is located directly in the middle of the city, and it consists of natural forests, meadows, cliffs, wetlands as well as recreational routes. Central Park is the second-largest natural area in Espoo, after Nuuksio National Park, located in the northern part of the city. The park consists of two separate areas, Central Park I and II, approved by the City Council in 1996 and 2004, respectively. == Government and politics ==

Espoo's city council has 75 members. Nationally, Espoo is a part of the constituency of Uusimaa. Support for the centre-right politics, especially the National Coalition Party, is traditionally high in Espoo. Following the Finnish municipal elections of 2025 the council seats are allocated in the following way: National Coalition Party 28 seats, Green League 15 seats, Social Democratic Party of Finland 14 seats, Swedish People's Party of Finland 6 seats, Finns Party 4 seats, Left Alliance 3 seats, Christian Democrats 2 seats, Centre Party 2 seats and, Liberal Party 1 seat. Espoo is the home for the former Finns Party chairman Timo Soini. == Services ==

Education of the Aalto University, designed by Alvar Aalto The Otaniemi campus of the Aalto University is located in Espoo, containing all six colleges of the university starting from February 2019. Espoo is also home to the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (formerly known as the Technical University of Applied Sciences in Espoo-Vantaa) and local colleges of the Laurea University of Applied Sciences. The musical institute Juvenalia is located near the Sello shopping centre. The Espoo Musical Institute is located in the Espoo Cultural Centre. Healthcare in Espoo The Jorvi Hospital is located in Karvasmäki in Espoo, cooperating with the Helsinki University Central Hospital and belonging to the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. There are a total of ten healthcare stations handling municipal healthcare in Espoo. == Infrastructure ==

has a connection to the Ainoa shopping centre. There are two controlled-access highways going through Espoo to the west: Länsiväylä, which is part of the Finnish national road 51 between Helsinki and Karjaa, and the Finnish national road 1 going further west to Turku. These roads and other main roads leading from Helsinki to various directions are connected by the beltways Ring I and Ring III, partly located in Espoo, as well as Ring II leading from Länsiväylä to the Finnish regional road 110, located entirely in Espoo. The Finnish regional road 120 goes through northern Espoo, forming part of the old route of the Finnish national road 2. Public transport Espoo is well-served by public transport, through the Helsinki commuter rail network, the Helsinki Metro's Länsimetro extension opened in November 2017, and buses provided by Helsingin seudun liikenne. In 2024 the orbital Jokeri light rail line will connect Espoo to eastern Helsinki. Data communications in Espoo have been handled by sixteen broadcast frequencies. Metro transport The Länsimetro extension to the Helsinki Metro was started in 2008 and the first phase was opened for traffic on 18 November 2017. The first phase consists of six stations: Keilaniemi, Aalto University, Tapiola, Urheilupuisto, Niittykumpu and Matinkylä. The second phase consists of an additional five stations: Finnoo, Kaitaa, Soukka, Espoonlahti and Kivenlahti, and was originally expected to be completed in 2023 at the earliest. The extension was completed on 3 December 2022. Railway transport local train at the Leppävaara railway station There are nine railway stations in Espoo, of which only the Leppävaara railway station serves long-distance traffic. The Leppävaara railway station is the busiest railway station in Espoo, with the Espoo railway station being the second busiest. The local traffic on the Rantarata railway is frequent, and the train lines are marked with letters. L trains stop at every station from Helsinki Central Station to Kirkkonummi railway station. E, U, L and X trains stop at every station in Espoo and Kauniainen except Mäkkylä railway station. Only A and L trains stop at Mäkkylä. Y trains between Helsinki Central Station and Siuntio railway station stop at Leppävaara railway station, Espoo railway station and Kauklahti railway station. A trains travel along the Leppävaara city railway with a terminus at Leppävaara. All local trains travelling through Espoo stop at Pasila railway station, with connections to Tampere, and also at Huopalahti railway station, with a P train connection to the Helsinki Airport in northern Vantaa. Long-distance trains between Helsinki and Turku previously stopped at Espoo railway station. Starting from autumn 2015 the stop was moved to Leppävaara railway station. Bus transport Numerous bus lines serve public transport in Espoo. The Helsinki Regional Transport Authority is responsible for bus transport in Espoo, planning the routes, timetables and ticket systems. Bus line 200 is the only trunk line in Espoo, travelling between Espoon keskus and the Eliel Square in central Helsinki. The line has 32 stops, which is 12 stops fewer in Espoo than on the previous trunk line 235. There are a hundred accessible bus stops in Espoo. The first accessible stop was built in 2006 on Puolarintie, next to the Puolarmetsä Hospital. Bus lines in southern Espoo travel to the Matinkylä metro station and at times of heavy traffic, directly to the Kamppi Center in Helsinki. There are also internal bus lines to Tapiola. In contrast, the bus lines in central and northern Espoo travel via Töölö to the Eliel Square. All line numbers of Espoo bus lines were changed to three digits in the 2010s. Line numbers beginning with 1 mainly travel in southern Espoo and line numbers beginning with 2 in central and northern Espoo. Bus lines travelling between southern and central Espoo have numbers beginning with 5. The Joker line 550 travels between Westend and Itäkeskus bypassing the Helsinki city centre by going to the north of it. ==International relations==

The City of Espoo has ten official sister cities: • Esztergom, Hungary • Irving, Texas, United States • Køge, Denmark • Kongsberg, Norway • Kristianstad, Sweden • Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine • Nõmme, Estonia • Osan, South Korea • Shanghai, China • Skagafjörður, Iceland ==Notable people==

, former Formula 1, WRC, and NASCAR driver, and 2007 world champion • Susan Aho (born 1974), singer and member of the band Värttinä • Peter Ahola (born 1968), former NHL player for the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, and others • Niklas Hagman (born 1979), ice hockey player • Kirsi Heikkinen (born 1978), football referee • Miro Heiskanen (born 1999), ice hockey player • Ella Junnila (born 1998), athlete • Mikko Kärnä (born 1980), politician • Teemu Keisteri (born 1985), visual artist, DJ, also known as Windows95man • Henri Kontinen (born 1990), tennis player • Krista Kosonen (born 1983), actress • Alexi Laiho (1979–2020), guitarist and vocalist, co-founder of the metal band Children of Bodom • Jani Lajunen (born 1990), ice hockey player • Konsta Lappalainen (born 2001), racing driver • Jere Lehtinen (born 1973), ice hockey player • Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (born 1966), racing driver • Laura Lepistö (born 1988), figure skater • Sami Lepistö (born 1984) ice hockey player • Petri Lindroos (born 1980), musician and member of the Finnish folk metal band Ensiferum • Anton Lundell (born 2001), ice hockey player • Pekka Lundmark (born 1966), businessman • Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (born 1999), ice hockey goaltender • Nikolas Matinpalo (born 1998), ice hockey player • Heidi Parviainen (born 1979), musician and member of the Finnish symphonic metal band Dark Sarah, former lead of Finnish symphonic power metal band Amberian Dawn • Kimi Räikkönen (born 1979), former racing driver and 2007 Formula One World Champion • Noora Räty (born 1989) ice hockey player • Tony Salmelainen (born 1981), ice hockey player • Rasmus Schüller (born 1991), football player • Viljami Sinisalo (born 2001), football player • Kristian Sohlberg (born 1978), rally driver • Gösta Sundqvist (1957–2003), bandleader of Leevi and the Leavings • Joonas Suotamo (born 1986), actor in the Star Wars series and a former professional basketball player • Antti Törmänen (born 1970), ice hockey coach • Aaro Vainio (born 1993), racing driver • Valtteri Virkkunen (born 1991), ice hockey player • Ville Virtanen (born 1961), actor • Mirel Wagner (born 1987), singer == See also ==