Espoo is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately 319,000. It is the 2nd most populous municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, which has approximately 1.6 million inhabitants. Espoo is on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland and borders Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi. The city includes the enclave of Kauniainen. Espoo covers an area of 528 square kilometres (204 sq mi). Espoo is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 70% Finnish speakers, 6% Swedish speakers, and 24% speakers of other languages, well above the national average.
Ruoholahti is a quarter in Helsinki, part of the Länsisatama neighbourhood and Kampinmalmi district. It is located in the southwestern part of the central city area of Helsinki, close to the Lauttasaari island, and it functions as the principal connection between the Helsinki city centre and the city of Espoo to the west. As of 2005 Ruoholahti is inhabited by approx. 3300 people. The Länsisatama port is also situated in Ruoholahti.
Lauttasaari is an island in Helsinki, Finland, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the city centre. Together with some surrounding unpopulated small islands, Lauttasaari is also a district of Helsinki. With 23,226 residents as of 2017, the island is Finland's second largest by population, after Fasta Åland. Its land area is 3.85 km2.
Länsimetro is an extension to the Helsinki Metro system in Finland, which opened on 18 November 2017. Länsimetro extends the system's two lines, M1 and M2, from Central Helsinki to the neighbouring city of Espoo. The new stretch continues the lines from the existing Ruoholahti station via the island of Lauttasaari, the Aalto University Otaniemi campus and Tapiola, the terminus of line M2. Line M1 continues further west to Matinkylä. Unlike previous extensions to the Helsinki Metro system, Länsimetro runs entirely underground. The second phase opened on 3 December 2022 and continues the line further west to Kivenlahti, near the municipal border of Kirkkonummi.
Haukilahti is a neighbourhood in Espoo, Finland. It is located on the seashore of the Gulf of Finland in the southern part of the city.
Länsiväylä is a motorway in the Greater Helsinki area of Finland, mainly at the Helsinki conurbation. It is part of the Finnish national road 51. The road begins in Ruoholahti in western Helsinki and continues west through the island of Lauttasaari and then across the city border to Espoo. The Länsiväylä road continues all the way throughout the southern part of Espoo. It continues as a motorway until finally crossing the border west to Kirkkonummi.
Keilaniemi is a district in the south-eastern part of Espoo, Finland.
Koivusaari is an island and a part of the district of Lauttasaari in Helsinki, Finland. The island hosts two yacht clubs and a former Nokia training centre. The current island of Koivusaari has been formed by combining the island of Koivusaari proper with the island of Leppäsaari to the south of it and expanding it. Since the late 1990s and early 2000s there have been plans to construct a new residential area on reclaimed land in Koivusaari, served by the Koivusaari metro station.
Niittykumpu (Finnish) or Ängskulla (Swedish) is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. The districts belongs to the major district of Suur-Tapiola. The district, partly located on the eastern lands of the former Gräsa manor, started developing along with the rest of southern Espoo in the 1930s when the street Jorvaksentie was completed. The first significant construction phase of Niittykumpu happened during the 1960s and 1970s, when a large number of terraced houses were built in the area because of rapid growth of the city of Espoo. Construction slowed down during the early 1990s depression in Finland. Construction picked up pace again in the 2000s and increased even further during the construction of the Länsimetro transport line.
Leppävaara is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. The Rantarata rail line and the Ring Road I, the busiest road in Finland, cross in Leppävaara, thus making it a major traffic hub in the Greater Helsinki region. The Sello Shopping Centre is also located in Leppävaara.
Ring II in the city of Espoo is one of the major highways in Finland. The road runs north–south, connecting Turuntie in the north, to Länsiväylä in the south. Despite its name suggesting a circle, it has not been built as a true beltway yet, unlike the parallel Ring I and Ring III highways.
The Haukilahti water tower is located in Haukilahti in southern Espoo, Finland. The water tower was built in 1968 and is owned by the Espoo waterworks. The diameter of the tower is 45.3 m and it has two water containers—one inside the other—with a total volume of 4100 m3. The height of the tower is 45.3 m and from sea level 76.3 m.
Wilhelm Carpelan is a former Von Fersen-class transport boat. Built in 1915 for the Imperial Russian Navy, she was used as a transport boat and later a minesweeper by the Finnish Navy until 1977. After decommissioning, she was sold to private ownership and used as a pleasure boat. In 2013, Wilhelm Carpelan was donated to the collections of Forum Marinum, the maritime museum in Turku, Finland.
Talinhuippu is a former dumping ground known as the Iso-Huopalahti dumping ground and was one of the “big three” dumping grounds in Helsinki at the time it was in operation. The site is located at the boundary between Helsinki and Espoo and was in use from 1963 to 1979. It is located between Talinranta, the Tali Golf Course and the Vermo harness racing track, on the northern shore of the Laajalahti Bay, north of Tarvo Island and Finnish national road 1.
The Blominmäki sewage treatment plant is a major waste water treatment facility in Espoo, Finland, which was brought into service in August 2023.
Helsinki light rail line 15 is a 25-kilometre (16 mi) light rail line connecting Keilaniemi in Espoo and Itäkeskus in Helsinki, Finland. Known during construction as Jokeri light rail, construction was started in June 2019 and the line began operating in October 2023, about 10 months ahead of the original schedule. The line replaced the trunk bus line 550, the busiest bus service on the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority public transport network, at the end of 2023.
The Helsinki–Turku high-speed railway or Espoo–Salo-oikorata, also formerly known as the ELSA-rata (Espoo-Lohja-Salo), is a proposed railway line in the planning stage to provide a more direct connection between Helsinki and Turku, Finland than the current Rantarata railway line which follows the southern coast. The project is also known as Turun tunnin juna, despite the fact that a journey between Helsinki and Turku on the new line would last about one hour and 18 minutes.
The Lauttasaari bridge is a bridge in Helsinki, Finland, over the Lauttasaarensalmi strait. The bridge connects the island of Lauttasaari to mainland Helsinki. The mainland end is in Salmisaari in the Ruoholahti district, with the Porkkalankatu street leading to the city centre. In Lauttasaari, the street Lauttasaarentie leads west from the bridge.
Hanasaari is an island in Espoo, Finland, in the district of Westend, between Lauttasaari and Keilaniemi. The Hanasaari Swedish-Finnish cultural centre with its own hotel is located on the island. This centre was built with the money that Sweden loaned to Finland during World War II and later decided not to collect back. The cultural centre was opened in 1975.
Suurpelto is an area under construction in Espoo, Finland, between the districts of Henttaa, Mankkaa and Olari.
