Espoo (Swedish: Esbo) is a city in Uusimaa, in the Helsinki
metropolitan area, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. Its
neighboring municipalities are Vihti and Nurmijärvi in the north,
Vantaa and Helsinki in the east, Kirkkonummi in the west and
Kauniainen within Espoo. On 30 June 2020, the population of Espoo
was 291,086. It covers an area of 528.03 km² (1 January 2020), of
which 312.32 km² is land, 17.91 km² is inland water and the
remaining 197.80 km² is sea. Espoo is part of the Helsinki
Metropolitan Area, whose municipalities have waste management and
public transport as their statutory co-operation obligations. HSY is
responsible for waste and water management in the area and HSL for
public transport. In addition to Espoo, the wider Helsinki region
metropolitan area includes 13 municipalities in Uusimaa. The urban
structure of Espoo is strongly connected to Helsinki and other
surrounding municipalities. Almost all of its population lives in
the Helsinki city center area.
Espoo is the second largest
municipality in Finland in terms of population. The population of
Espoo passed Tampere at the beginning of 1991. Espoo is also known
as the hometown of Nokia, the energy company Fortum, the game
company Rovio, which developed Angry Birds, and several other
high-tech companies, Nuuksio National Park and the Otaniemi campus
area, where six Aalto University universities are located. Espoo is
also home to the largest landfill in the Nordic countries, the
Ämmässuo waste treatment center, which stores waste from
approximately 1.2 million inhabitants and industry in the Helsinki
metropolitan area.
At the end of 2004, slightly less than a
third of Espoo's land area was zoned. Espoo has quite a lot of
forest as a city. There are about 2,000 ha of forest in the zoned
area, and there are also unplanned forest areas. There are several
lakes in the northern part of Espoo, the largest of which are
Bodominjärvi, Nuuksio Pitkäjärvi, Pitkäjärvi, Loojärvi, Velskola
Pitkäjärvi, Saarijärvi, Matalajärvi, Siikajärvi and Lippajärvi.
There are a total of 73 lakes of at least one hectare in Espoo.
The Espoo area has been inhabited for at least 8,000 years. The
settlements of the prehistoric period are known from the Stone Age
as well as the Early Metal Age. The oldest historical mention of
Espoo dates back to 1431. Espoo became independent from Kirkkonummi
as its own parish in the 15th century. The first municipal meeting
of Espoo was held in 1868 and the first representative meeting of
the municipal council in 1910. Espoo became a township in 1963 and
the city in 1972.
Espoo Day is celebrated on 27 August.