ABSTRACT
With a population of 560,000, the capital city of Helsinki is by far the largest in Finland. In 1998, the Via Finland belt – which refers to the urban corridor including Helsinki-Tampere-Seinäjoki-Oulu-Rovaniemi – had a population of 2.2 million, or 43 per cent of total population of Finland. Many of the fastest growing centres in the country are located in this zone: in recent years, its population has grown faster than the total Finnish population. According to Statistics Finland, this trend will continue. Table 4.1 gives an illustration of the social and economic dimensions of the Helsinki region at various levels. Facts on Helsinki population (2000)
Population
Employed labour force
% jobs in service sector
% students
Metropolitan area
945,725
489,861
83.4
6.9
City of Helsinki
551,123
280,773
85.2
6.9
Espoo
209,667
111,281
82.5
7.4
Vantaa
176,386
93,854
78.6
6.1
Kauniainen
8,549
3,953
86.6
8.2
Rest of Helsinki region
241,470
121,553
72.2
6.4
Finland
5,171,302
2,236,553
68.5
7.6
Source: City of Helsinki Urban Facts, 2002a.