Vantaa

Vantaan kaupunki - Vanda stad
Vantaa.vaakuna.svg Vantaa.sijainti.suomi.2008.svg
Coat of Arms Location
Founded 1974
Province Southern Finland
Region Uusimaa
Sub-region Greater Helsinki
Area
- Of which land
- Rank		 243 km²
240,84 km²
ranked 316th
Population
- Density
- Rank		 190 058 (2007)
790.1 inh./km²
ranked 4th
Unemployment 7.7%
Official languages Finnish, Swedish
City Manager Juhani Paajanen
Home page http://www.vantaa.fi/
The Tikkurila railway station is the busiest station in Vantaa.

Vantaa (IPA: [ˈʋɑntɑː]; Vanda in Swedish) is a city and municipality in Finland. Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo, and Kauniainen make up the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

Vantaa, with its population of 190,058, (as of 31 January 2007) is the fourth most populated city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is located there. It also hosts a science centre, Heureka.

Vantaa is known for being the birthplace of the famous Finnish race driver Mika Häkkinen. Mika Salo, another car racer, has also lived there in the district of Martinlaakso.

The Helsinki-Vantaa airport (HEL), although associated with Helsinki, is located in Vantaa.

In addition there is the city museum next to the railway station in Tikkurila. The museum is housed in the oldest station building in Finland, designed by Carl Albert Edelfelt and completed in 1861. There are exhibitions with various themes on local history.

Contents

Geography

Location

Vantaa encompasses 243 km², of which 1.90 km² is water. Population density is 790.1/km². It borders Helsinki, the Finnish capital, which is to the south and southwest. Other neighbouring municipalities are Espoo to the west, Nurmijärvi, Kerava and Tuusula to the north and Sipoo to the east.

Subdivision

Main article: Districts of Vantaa

Vantaa is divided into 5 districts (finn. palvelualue): Tikkurila, Korso-Koivukylä, Hakunila, Myyrmäki and Martinlaakso.

History

The name Vantaa was taken into use in 1972 when the municipality gained market town rights. The first record of the area is as Helsinge in 1351 when king Magnus II of Sweden granted salmon fishing rights on the river Vantaa to the Estonian Padise monastery. The municipality was formerly known as Helsingin maalaiskunta "Rural municipality of Helsinki". The rapids of river Vantaa were known as Helsingfors, from which the current Swedish name of Helsinki derives. In 1972, the municipality was renamed Vantaa and promoted to a market town (i.e. Vantaan kauppala), and in 1974, finally renamed Vantaan kaupunki "City of Vantaa".

On October 11, 2002, the city was shocked by the explosion of a bomb in the local Myyrmanni shopping centre, killing 7, including the bomber, a 19-year-old chemistry student from the Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology (see Myyrmanni bombing).

Climate

Climate diagram


Demographics

Districts of Vantaa
Demographic evolution
Year Population
1805 4 840
1865 6 974
1880 7 819
1890 8 865
1900 11 110
1910 18 321
1920 22 368
1930 23 558
1940 31 511
1950 14 976
1960 41 906
1970 72 215
1980 129 918
1990 152 263
2000 176 386
2007 190 058

Politics

Municipal council

Composition of the City Council (2008–2012)
Party Election results[1] Seats Votes
National Coalition Party 28.1 % 20 22 566
Social Democratic Party of Finland 25.6 % 18 20 498
Green League 13.8 % 9 11 105
True Finns 9.8 % 6 7 837
Left Alliance 7.7 % 5 6 209
Center Party 5.6 % 4 4 497
Christian Democrats 3.7 % 2 2 946
Swedish People's Party 3,5 % 2 2 825
Pro Vantaa 1,4 % 1 1 132

Sister cities

Mayors

See also

References

  1. ↑ Party results from YLE

External links


Municipalities of Uusimaa Coat of arms of Uusimaa
Ekenäs | Espoo | Hanko | Helsinki | Hyvinkää | Ingå | Järvenpää | Karis | Karjalohja | Karkkila | Kauniainen | Kerava | Kirkkonummi | Lohja | Mäntsälä | Nummi-Pusula | Nurmijärvi | Pohja | Pornainen | Sammatti | Siuntio | Tuusula | Vantaa | Vihti
Uusimaa Region | Southern Finland | Finland