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 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 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 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 million.
Helsinki sub-region Helsinki metropolitan area differs from the
Helsinki sub-region (), 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 million.
Helsinki Region Cooperation Assembly 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: • Cities in the Helsinki Capital Area: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen. • The "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.
Statistics Finland define the commuter belt of Helsinki (
Helsingin työssäkäyntialue,
Helsingfors pendlingsområde) to include a total of 27 municipalities and a population of million. 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 definition of an urban area ( in Finnish). Urban areas in Finland are defined as inhabited areas of at least 200 people with a maximum distance of between buildings. 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 the "KUUMA municipalities". ==Municipalities==