Helsinki is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland and has a population of 665,558. The city's urban area has a population of 1,268,296, making it by far the most populous urban area in Finland as well as the country's most important center for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 km (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 km (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical ties with these three cities.
Turku is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and the former Turku and Pori Province. The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 31 March 2021, the population of Turku was 194,244 making it the sixth largest city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa and Oulu. There were 281,108 inhabitants living in the Turku Central Locality, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Capital Region area and Tampere Central Locality. The city is officially bilingual as 5.5 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother tongue.
VR-Group Plc, commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 commuter rail services every day. With 7,500 employees and net sales of €1,251 million in 2017, VR is one of the most significant operators in the Finnish public transport market area.
Television was introduced in Finland in 1955. Color television started in 1969 and was introduced gradually, with most programs in color by the late 1970s. All terrestrial analogue stations stopped broadcasting on 1 September 2007 after the introduction of digital television; cable providers were allowed to continue analog broadcasting in their networks until 1 March 2008.
Pori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, 110 kilometres (68 mi) west of Tampere, 140 kilometres (87 mi) north of Turku and 241 kilometres (150 mi) north-west of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Pori was established in 1558 by Duke John, who later became King John III of Sweden.
Raisio is a town and municipality in south-western Finland and an important junction of major roads. The town has a population of 25,046 and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, neighbouring the region's capital, Turku. The town's land area is 48.76 km2 (18.83 sq mi), and has about 5 kilometres (3 mi) of coastline to the Bay of Raisio on its southern tip.
Salo is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of 50,966 and covers an area of 2,168.30 square kilometres (837.19 sq mi) of which 181.78 km2 (70.19 sq mi) is water. The population density is 25.66/km2 (66.5/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Gatorade Center is a multi-functional indoor arena in the district of Artukainen in Turku, Finland. Opened in November 1990, it can hold up to 11,820 spectators for ice hockey games.
The Finnish railway network consists of a total track length of 9,216 km (5,727 mi). The railways are built with a broad 1,524 mm track gauge, of which 3,249 km (2,019 mi) is electrified. Passenger trains are operated by the state-owned enterprise VR that runs services on 7,225 km (4,489 mi) of track. These services cover all major cities and many rural areas, though the coverage is less than the coverage provided by the bus services. Most passenger train services originate or terminate at Helsinki Central railway station, and a large proportion of the passenger rail network radiates out of Helsinki. VR also operates freight services. Maintenance and construction of the railway network itself is the responsibility of the Finnish Rail Administration, which is a part of the Finnish Transport Agency. The network consists of six areal centres, that manage the use and maintenance of the routes in co-operation. Cargo yards and large stations may have their own signalling systems.
Pasila station is a railway station in Helsinki, Finland, approximately 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of Helsinki Central. It is the second busiest railway station in Finland, after Helsinki Central, and takes up a large part of the district of Pasila. The station was first opened in 1862 along the Finnish Main Line. The current station building opened in 2019.
The Great Fire of Turku was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had burned once before, in 1681.
Leppävaara station is a railway station located in Leppävaara, a district of the city of Espoo in Finland. It is located about 11 kilometres (7 mi) to the northwest of Helsinki Central.
Kupittaa railway station is located in the Kupittaa district of Turku, Finland. The station is located about three kilometres from the Turku Central railway station in the immediate vicinity of the Turku Science Park. All trains between Helsinki and Turku stop at Kupittaa. The station is part of the Turku traffic point, and traffic control is handled from Turku Central railway station. The station has bus connections to Turku internal lines 32, 42 and 58 and regional line 110.
The Sm3 Pendolino is a class of high-speed body-tilting trains operated by VR Group. It is a member of the Pendolino train family; its design is based on the ETR 460. The first two trainsets were assembled in Finland by Rautaruukki-Transtech in the mid-1990s. The rest of the series of eighteen EMUs were built by Fiat Ferroviaria between 2000 and 2006. The trains serve most of Finland's major cities such as Helsinki, Turku, Oulu and Joensuu with a maximum speed of 220 km/h (140 mph), although this speed is only attained between Kerava and Lahti. The train has a power output of 4,000 kW (5,400 hp) and weighs 328 tonnes.
Although Finland has no dedicated high-speed rail lines, sections of its rail network are capable of running speeds of 200 km/h (124 mph). The Finnish national railway company VR operates tilting Alstom Pendolino trains. The trains reach their maximum speed of 220 km/h (137 mph) in regular operation on a 75.7 km (47.0 mi) route between Kerava and Lahti. This portion of track was opened in 2006. The trains can run at 200 km/h (124 mph) on a longer route between Helsinki and Seinäjoki and peak at that speed between Helsinki and Turku. The main railway line between Helsinki and Oulu has been upgraded between Seinäjoki and Oulu to allow for trains to run at speeds between 160 km/h (99 mph) and 200 km/h (124 mph). Other parts of the Finnish railway network are limited to lower speed.
The Voice of Finland is a Finnish reality singing competition and local version of The Voice first broadcast as The Voice of Holland. The series premiered on Nelonen on 30 December 2011 and the first season concluded in April 2012. A second season started on 4 January 2013 and concluded on 26 April 2013. The series was further renewed for a third season, which premiered on 3 January 2014.
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu is an annual music contest organised by the Finnish public broadcaster Yle. UMK began in 2012 as the new Finnish selection format for the Eurovision Song Contest, replacing the original Finnish Eurovision selection Suomen euroviisukarsinta which had been held since 1961.
Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with the song "Cha Cha Cha" performed by Käärijä. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu2023 in order to select the Finnish entry for the contest. Seven entries were selected to compete in the national final on 25 February 2023, where the combination of votes from seven international jury groups and votes from the public selected the winner.
The Museum of History and Future is a museum planned for Turku, which will open to the public in its entirety in 2030. The purpose of the interactive and experiential museum is to present the history of both Finland and Turku and to combine the different characteristics of museums, science centers and theme parks.
