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city in the region of Uusimaa in Finland
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Espoo (; Finnish: [ˈespoː]; Swedish: Esbo) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately 326,000. 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 km2 (204 sq mi). Espoo is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 68% Finnish speakers, 6% Swedish speakers, and 26% speakers of other languages, well above the national average.
Espoo was settled in the Prehistoric Era, with evidence of human settlements dating back 8,000 years. However, the population disappeared during the early Iron Age. During the Early Middle Ages, the region was populated by Tavastians and Southwestern Finns. Following the Northern Crusades, Swedish settlers began to emigrate to the coastal regions of modern-day Finland. Espoo was founded as an autonomous Catholic parish in the 15th century. Following the conclusion of the Finnish War, the decision to make Helsinki the new capital of the Russian-controlled Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812 had a significant positive impact on the municipality's growth and development. Nevertheless, the territory continued to be mainly agrarian until the 20th century. After World War II, Espoo underwent swift urbanization and significant demographic shifts, with Finnish becoming the majority language around 1950, replacing Swedish. The municipality attained market town status in 1963 and was granted city status in 1972.
The city is characterized by a suburban landscape dominated by detached housing. It is recognized for its expansive natural surroundings such as a 58 km (36 mi) shoreline, an archipelago, forests, lakes, and a national park. Espoo is divided into seven major districts, with each being further divided into smaller districts and neighbourhoods. Unlike traditional cities, Espoo does not have a central city area; instead, it has five distinct city centres: Leppävaara, Tapiola, Matinkylä, Espoon keskus and Espoonlahti. Espoo has numerous local centres formed around historical manors. Because of its structure, Espoo is generally considered even "the most American suburban city of Finland".
Aalto University is situated in Otaniemi, Espoo, alongside a thriving scientific community that comprises startups and associations such as VTT – the Technical Research Centre of Finland. Espoo is home to leading enterprises like Nokia, HMD Global, Tieto, KONE, Neste, Fortum, Orion Corporation, Metso, and Foreca, in addition to game developers Rovio and Remedy Entertainment. In 2015, Espoo became a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.
Before the time of the Swedish colonisation, Espoo was inhabited by Tavastians, a Finnish tribe, and the area in which the city lies on did most likely have a different name. The name of Espoo is believed to have derived from the Medieval Swedish village of Espaby (or Espoby), which was located in the western part of the present-day city. It may refer to aspens that grew on a nearby riverbank, as the archaic Swedish word for the tree is "äspe", and the word for a river is "å", with the suffix "-by" meaning village.
The coat of arms of Espoo features a gold horseshoe topped by a gold crown on a blue shield. The crown refers to the old kungsgård of Espoo and the horseshoe refers to the obligation to transport officials, military or prisoners that parishes along the King's Road fell under. Many roads in Espoo still follow the old medieval King's Road. The King's Road in Finland, stretching from Turku in the west to Vyborg in the east, was formed in the 1340s or 1350s and was the most important road in Finland at the time.
Present-day Espoo was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 8,000 years ago, a few thousand years after the end of the Last Glacial Period. Stone Age settlements have been found from Nuuksio and Perinki. Settlements from the Early Metal Age have been found from Mikkelä and from Morby dating from the Pre-Roman Iron Age, of which the latter is an important subject relating to research of cattle husbandry. Traces of early settlement in the area remain in the place names. For example, the original name for Soukka was Soukko.
The first settlers lived in the northern parts of the current city, around the lakes Pitkäjärvi, Bodomjärvi, and Loojärvi, as the southern parts were still largely covered by the sea. In the Stone Age, people in Espoo lived on south-facing shores and slopes, which provided shelter from cold continental winds. Living close to water bodies also made hunting and fishing easier. The way of life was dictated by seasonal changes, and people rarely stayed in one place throughout the year.
During the Bronze Age (c. 1500–500 BCE), human settlement shifted southward. Known settlements from the era are few, but more than 70 cairn-like burial sites from the period have been discovered, mostly from southern Espoo, which formed an archipelago at the time. When ironwork was introduced to Finland around 500 BCE, it gave people access to materials that were far more versatile than materials used before. However, the climate grew colder at the beginning of the Iron Age, and it seems that human settlement in Espoo disappeared during the era. Only two discoveries from the time have been made in Espoo.
Most of the original villages of present-day Espoo were founded by Tavastian Finns according to place names. By the 12th century, there were Tavastian houses on the shore of Kaukjärvi (now known as Pitkäjärvi), in Kauklahti, Karvasmäki, Bemböle, Haapalahti and Finnevik.
The first Swedish settlements in Uusimaa were established during the 12th or 13th century. Swedish settlers moved to the area through the current site of Kirkkonummi, and then to the Esboby area. From there, they continued northeast to Kauklahti, Bemböle and Vanhakartano. In later stages, settlers might also have arrived in Espoo directly from Sweden, most likely from Svealand. The Swedish name for Espoo, Esbo, dates from this period. The settlers changed the Finnish names used by the Tavastians to Swedish ones: for example Kauklahti became Köklax and Karvasmäki became Karvasbacka. The current Finnish names might also have changed from the original ones in this process. For example, the place name Välli might have been changed into Vällskog, which has since led to the current Finnish name Velskola. The Swedish settlements were so extensive that the entire area became Swedish-speaking, except for its northernmost part and possibly the Haapalahti-Mäkkylä area.
Palynological analyses indicate that agriculture was already practised in Espoo around the 11th century, but no historical records from the era survive. Until the late 13th century, Espoo was part of a borderland region between the Southwestern Finns and Tavastian Finns. Some artefacts found in Espoo have also been traced to ancient Savo-Karelian Finnish costumes, and the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval women in the area have had similar jewellery as in the region around present-day Mikkeli.
In the Middle Ages, there were about 70 village lots in Espoo. Ancient fields and many passageways have been discovered near the remains of ancient villages. Espaby (at which site the Espoo manor was later founded) was probably the oldest Swedish-speaking village in the area. The name Espoo likely refers to the name of the river Espoonjoki (Swedish: Esboån, originally Espå / Espåå), which in turn is thought to have come from the aspen trees on the shores of the river (the Swedish word for "aspen" is äspe). The name was first mentioned in 1431. Originally, the current river Gumbölenjoki was renamed Espoonjoki after the village located along the river. When a church was founded near the village of Södrik, the name Espoonjoki was given to a river running from lake Kirkkojärvi to Kauklahti.
Espoo became an independent parish in the 15th century. Previously Espoo had been a chapel parish under Kirkkonummi. The stone Espoo Cathedral was built in the 1480s by initiative from the peasants. Up to the 1670s the eastern parts of Espoo belonged to the Helsinki parish, after which they were officially annexed to the Espoo parish and the slottslän of Raseborg.
After the Second Crusade to Finland, settlers from Sweden established permanent agricultural settlements in Uusimaa. Espoo was a subdivision of the Kirkkonummi congregation until 1486–1487. The oldest known document referring to Kirkkonummi is from 1330; Espoo as a subchapter has been dated to the 1380s, although the first document directly referring to Espoo is from as late as 1431. The construction of the Espoo Cathedral, the oldest preserved building in Espoo, marks the independence of Espoo. Administratively, Espoo was a part of Uusimaa. When the province was split to Eastern and Western provinces governed from the Porvoo and Raseborg castles, respectively, the eastern border of the Raseborg province was in Espoo. The 13th-century road connecting the most important cities in Finland at that time, the King's Road, passes through Espoo on its way from Stockholm via Turku and Porvoo to Viipuri.
The oldest frälse stead in Espoo, the Gräsa manor, apparently received frälse rights in the late 15th century. Gräsa is one of the oldest settlements in Espoo and the oldest in southern Espoo, as it was probably founded already in the early 14th century as Swedish settlement moved inland. From the beginning, the settlement was located at the site of the current Olari Church on both sides of the Gräsanoja river. The absence of Finnish names in the area reveals that the population was Swedish-speaking from the beginning.
In 1556, King Gustav Vasa decided to stabilize and develop the region by founding a royal mansion in Espoo. The government bought the villages of Espåby and Mankby (Finnish: Mankki) and transferred the population elsewhere, and built the royal mansion in Espåby. (Mankby was eventually abandoned and was never repopulated.) The royal mansion housed the king's local plenipotentiary (vogt), and collected royal tax in kind paid by labour on the mansion's farm. The administrative centre Espoon keskus has grown around the church and the Espoo railway station, but the municipality has retained a network-like structure to the modern day.
In the 16th century Espoo changed into a parish of many large farmsteads. The war between Sweden and Russia in the late 16th century attracted farmstead owners to found horse steads in hopes of reduced taxation. Horse stead owners were required to uphold a rider in the wars fought by the realm. In the late 17th century the crown had donated lands to noblemen with success in wars, and during a few decades, the lands in Espoo had been dealt to seven noble families.
In the early 18th century the Great Northern War and the Great Wrath caused poverty among the people. During this time, many members of the estates in Espoo moved to Sweden. The foundation of Sveaborg in front of Helsinki increased the traffic in Espoo and many officers bought villas in Espoo. Construction of the fortress required transport of bricks from factories in Espoo. In the same century, agricultural novelties such as the potato and various fruits spread from the manor houses to the peasants.
Swedish rule in Finland came to an end in 1809, when the Kingdom of Sweden ceded all of its remaining territory in Finland under control of the Russian Empire after the Finnish War. When the city of Helsinki became the capital of the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, it brought novel developments to the neighbouring parish of Espoo. Many government officials as well as members of the growing merchant class bought summer houses from Espoo.
There was a great sawmill in Bastvik back in 1883, where great ships from faraway seas came to lade lumber. There were many great bridges so that vessels could be laden simultaneously. After bringing colonial and other necessary goods to Helsinki, they came empty to Bastvik. [...] The superintendent was a German-born Hoffeldt.
— Katri Bergholm, reminiscing life in Bastvik, present-day Saunalahti, at the end of the 19th century.
Throughout the 19th century, most of Espoo's inhabitants worked in agriculture. The population was around 4,000, while most of the people lived in over 60 small villages. Halfway through the century, almost 90% of the population spoke Swedish as their first language. The wealthy estates and mansions of the parish required maids, farmhands and tenant farmers as their workforce to raise cattle, farm crops and raise vegetables in the kitchen gardens. Fishing was also common in the coastal areas. The Glims farmstead in Karvasmäki has been preserved as a museum to present rural life in Espoo during this period when industrial development was still minute in Finland.
The rural community in Espoo began to change in the latter half of the 19th century. Some brickyards had already been built in the 18th century on the grounds of Espoonkartano manor, located in the western part of the present-day city, but it was not until the economic reforms of Emperor Alexander II that the Industrial Revolution started to gain momentum in Finland. As the Russo-Finnish trade legislation liberalized, new brickyards were established in Espoonlahti and Kauklahti, as the shores of Espoo Bay provided high-quality clay for their use. The bricks were mostly carried with steamboats to the neighbouring Helsinki, the growing capital city of the grand duchy.
The most prominent industrial facility in 19th century Espoo was the steam-powered Bastvik Sawmill, founded in 1876. In addition to the growing lumber and brick industries, a joiners' workshop was established on the island of Staffan in 1886. Staffan Island became a home for a highly skilled and renowned community of joiners, colloquially known as the "University of Espoo" or the "University of Soukka".
World War I had an effect on the Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Finland when the German Empire declared war on Russia on 1 August 1914. Russia immediately started preparing for war against Germany. At the start of the war, the main forces of the Russian Baltic Fleet had been concentrated at Sveaborg in front of Helsinki. The Russian military feared that Germany would use southern Finland to attack Petrograd, so Russia started building a fortification chain of over 20 kilometres (12 mi) surrounding Helsinki to protect it. Construction of the fortification started in 1915 and took almost three years.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Espoo”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.