Facts About Espoo
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Espoo is the second-largest city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the Finnish Capital Region.
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The first inhabitants in Espoo arrived about 9,000 years ago.
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The first permanent village, however, didn’t get established until the 12th century, when the Kingdom of Sweden began exerting its influence on the region of modern-day Finland.
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The city of Espoo is officially bilingual. The majority of the population, 83.6%, speaks Finnish as their mother tongue, while a minority of 8.3% speaks Swedish. 8% of Espoo’s population has a first language other than Finnish or Swedish.
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The name Espoo probably comes from the Swedish name for the River Espoo, Espå (or Espåå), which in turn comes from the old Swedish word äspe, meaning a border of aspen, and the Swedish word for “river”, å, thus “a river bordered by aspen”. The name was first mentioned in 1431.
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Espoo is twinned with: Esztergom, Hungary; Gatchina, Russia; Irving, Texas, United States; Køge, Denmark; Kongsberg, Norway; Kristianstad, Sweden; Nõmme, Estonia; Skagafjörður, Iceland; Shanghai, China & Sochi, Russia.
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Some Noble people of Espoo include: Gösta Sundqvist, Joonas Suotamo, Kimi Räikkönen, Laura Lepistö, JJ Lehto, Jere Lehtinen, Alexi Laiho, Krista Kosonen, Kirsi Heikkinen, among others.
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The city is has gained international fame as a hub of know-how, research and development, at the heart of which stands the Aalto University campus.
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24 % population growth within the next 20 years
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At the 1952 Summer Olympics, the city’s Westend Tennis Hall hosted the fencing events.
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Espoo encompasses 528 square kilometres, of which 312 km2 is land.
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The official animal of Espoo is the Siberian flying squirrel, the official bird is the common blackbird, and the official plant is Anemone nemorosa.
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Espoo received its town charter in 1972.
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The national park of Nuuksio is situated in northwestern Espoo.
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Forty-one per cent of Espoo’s area is covered in water.
