Pori (Swedish: Björneborg) is a city in Finland and the
provincial center of Satakunta, located at the mouth of the
Kokemäenjoki River on the Bothnian coast in Satakunta province. The
city's population has been rising in recent years due to municipal
associations, and on 30 June 2020, the city had a population of
83,790. Pori is the 10th largest city in Finland and the eighth
largest urban area. The neighboring municipalities are Eurajoki,
Kankaanpää, Kokemäki, Merikarvia, Nakkila, Pomarkku, Sastamala,
Siikainen and Ulvila. In addition to the Pori countryside, Ahlainen,
Noormarkku and Lavia, which are connected to the city, the former
neighboring municipalities are Kullaa, which is connected to Ulvila,
and Luvia, which is connected to Eurajoki.
Pori is known for
its Jazz Festival, Yyteri's sandy beaches, Kirjurinluoto, the hockey
club Pori's Äss, the football club FC Jazz, which won two
championships in the Veikkausliiga in the 1990s, and Pori Theater,
which is the first theater in Finnish. During its history, the city
of Pori has burned nine times. In Finland, only Oulu has burned more
often, ten times.
The city of Pori was founded in 1558 north
of the then city of Ulvila, when the port of Ulvila had become
impassable to large ships due to land uplift. Pori was established
on the then coast, but due to land uplift, the shoreline of the
Bothnian Sea has spread about ten kilometers from the city center.
The seafront districts (Meri-Pori) are 20-30 km from the city
center. Pori is still a significant port city on a Finnish scale;
The ports are currently located in Mäntyluoto and Tahkoluoto. In
addition, Pori has an airport and a train station. The most
important road connections are Highways 2, 8, 11 and 23. When
Noormarkku and Lavia were connected to Pori, the city's area
expanded tens of kilometers inland.
The rest of the Swedish
name of the city, Björneborg -borg (city, castle), is derived from
the Finnish name Pori. The entire Swedish name means Bear City (Bear
Castle) and the Latin name Arctopolis derived from ancient Greece
also means Bear City. Pori is often used as a nickname in Finnish.
The present coat of arms of the city of Pori was confirmed by
the President of the Republic for use on December 11, 1931, and was
later redrawn by Olof Eriksson. The city council reaffirmed the use
of the redrawn version on October 27, 1959. The bear theme of the
coat of arms comes from a 17th century seal and the motto, Deus
Protector noster or "God is our protector", is on the coat of arms
of the city's founder, Juhana Herttua.
The city is born in the estuary of the river
The
forerunner of Pori is the city of Ulvila, which was founded along
the Kokemäenjoki River in the 14th century. However, sailing on the
river became increasingly difficult. The importance of Kokemäki and
Ulvila diminished as the ships could no longer reach the river.
Gustav Vaasa abolished the city of Ulvila in 1550 and ordered
its inhabitants, as well as the inhabitants of Rauma, Porvoo and
Ekenäs, to move to Helsinki. However, the bourgeoisie did not thrive
in newly founded Helsinki, and after several applications, these
residents of the abandoned cities were allowed to return to their
former residential areas. However, a new order to move awaited the
people of Ulvila, as Juhana Herttua wanted to establish a new port
and trade city, Pori, closer to the sea, where the people of Ulvila
had to move. His charter of the city of Pori, dated March 8, 1558,
states: "Since we have seen that a strong trading city should be
built on the sea side, and we cannot find any suitable place to
fortify in Ulvila, we have chosen another place near Pori." At the
beginning, Pori was inhabited by about 300 reluctant residents.
However, they quickly began to find the pros and cons of their new
residence, including an affordable location.
The era of
counterattacks
The city of Pori grew and prospered, and the royal
manor of Pori was built there. At the end of 1563, however, the
situation suddenly changed when John and his brother King Erik XIV
disputed. The people of Pori found themselves in a situation where
they had to choose between Eerik and Juhana. They rejected Juhana,
thus submitting to Erik. Eerik was pleased, and in 1564 gave the
people of Pori the prize of city and free trade rights. The
development of the city looked very good until it was destroyed by
fire in the 1570s. Fire destroyed about a third of the city, but it
was soon rebuilt again.
In the early 17th century, Pori had
grown into Finland's third largest city. There were less than a
thousand inhabitants, and there was no end to the increase in
population. In the 1640s, the Pori region was about to be separated
into its own county, but the Pori county remained short-lived. [24]
However, it was not the only setback experienced by Pori at that
time. Pori's pedagogy was discontinued in the 1630s, and its
students were forcibly relocated to Turku. Peter Brahe tried to
alleviate the city's educational deficit by establishing a trivial
school there, but that prestigious institution was completely
destroyed in the 1688 city fire. The trivial school was transferred
to Rauma and a much more modest pedagogy was opened in its place. As
a result of that series of events, Pori drifted into a discount
mode. It was conquered in the great Northern War, and the Russian
conquerors destroyed the city’s infrastructure to a large extent.
However, with the advent of peace, the city began to recover again
when it was exempt from taxes.
March of the manufacturing
industry
In the middle of the 18th century, the population of
Pori rose to over a thousand. Pori had once again got a taste of
good development. The drivers of growth are, among other things,
abundant foreign trade and land trade in Pori and its surrounding
areas. Pori regained its rights in 1765 after a break of more than a
hundred years. Exports included grain, livestock, flax and timber.
Pori also had an awesome merchant fleet whose ships even visited
Germany. The manufacture of sailing ships was significant. The
manufacturing industry also raised its head in Pori at that time,
and the establishment of a tobacco factory started an industrial
revolution, as a result of which a dyeing plant and a flannel
weaving mill were also established in the city. The city thus did
relatively well again, until the fire again destroyed the city in
1801. The fire almost completely destroyed the city, leaving about
3,000 inhabitants at home.
Reconstruction work began quickly.
Pori was still an economically significant city; shipping was
significant due to exports of sawn timber and tar. The merchant
fleet grew even more spectacular, and in the 1840s the first
Steamships were introduced. But it did not take long for the fire to
return again to destroy the city on May 22, 1852. This fire
destroyed 3/4 of the buildings in Pori, and the poor townspeople
built temporary homes from the fire debris. The losers of all their
possessions moved into pit dwellings dug in the sand canvas. City
leaders got enough of the fires, and decided to stop them once and
for all. A new downtown with wide park streets was planned.
Ship equipment and the merchant fleet waned in the mid-19th
century. Shipbuilding continued to be lively on the coast, e.g. In
Luvia, Reposaari and Ahlais. Some of the city's newly established
factories went bankrupt, but Pori had become an industrial city. The
sawmill, metal and textile industries were the largest employers. In
1852 Rosenlew was founded and in 1900 the Pori cotton mill.
Industrial activity gave birth to the upper class of Pori, which
quickly took over the coastal quarters of the South Shore and became
a residential area for a wealthy people. At the same time, however,
an even poorer working class emerged. The gap between rich and poor
caused a revolt, and in the early 20th century, the working
population began to demand better treatment.
After the wars,
the city’s population rose at a rapid pace. The limit of 75,000
inhabitants was exceeded in 1970. The highest peak was in the
mid-1970s, when Pori had more than 80,000 inhabitants. After that,
however, the population began to decline.
According to the measurements of the National Land
Survey of Finland, the area of Pori on 1 January 2020 was 2,062.00
km², of which 1,156.01 km² is land, 61.86 km² is inland water areas
and the remaining 844.13 km² is seawater areas. The Kokemäenjoki
River flows through Pori, which has had a great impact on the city's
history. The width of the river at the center is just under 200
meters. The river flow rate in the urban area is low. Its estuary,
where the estuary islands, known as the islets of Pori, lie between
the mouths of the river, ie the ditches, begins to feel the center
of Pori.
The soil in and around Pori varies from the flat or
more broken moraine land of the southern and northern edges to the
ridge material of Yyterinniemi and the clay, sand and sand strata of
the Kokemäenjoki estuary and the river bank. The coastal areas of
the city are low and flat land, with an average altitude of less
than ten meters. The sea bays in the area are usually shallow. On
the coast, the sand has accumulated in places into gentle dunes,
which can be seen in Yyteri, whose sandy beaches are the most famous
in Finland.
The most common rock type in Pori soil is
sandstone. It has spread into the bedrock into a flat mattress and
is covered with thick loose layers of soil. The highest point in
Pori is Tornivuori in the eastern part of Lavia.source? According to
the basic map, the peak exceeds 137.5 meters.
Pori is an
archipelago association, ie the provisions concerning the
archipelago municipality apply to its archipelago parts.
Regional associations
Before regional unions, the area of the
city of Pori was 66.1 square kilometers, of which 35 square
kilometers were land and 31.1 water areas.
Bedrock
The
bedrock appears as silo cliffs on the sea coast and islets and in
some places even as ridges of hills. The exposed bedrock has eroded
into large boulders in some places. This is seen in Ahlais, for
example. Kokemäenjokilaakson, as well as the southern and
south-western side of bedrock is sandstone. Diabase rocks penetrate
through the sandstone layer in Luvia and the southwestern parts of
Nakkila. On the northern and northeastern side of the Kokemäenjoki
River, the bedrock is mainly of various diorites. The bedrock lines
often follow the direction of the Kokemäenjoki River, ie they are in
the northwest – southeast direction.
The provincial stone of
Satakunta is a sandstone. According to structural studies, the
sandstone of Satakunta is a estuary sediment, where the main
transport directions of the material have been northwest and north.
Ores have been explored in the Pori regions, especially in Ahlais.
Ore minerals have been found in surveys, but the ore content has
been so low that it has not been worthwhile to start mining.
Soil
The soil in the edge areas of Pori is especially moraine in
the direction of Viasvesi and Kuuminaistenniemi, which consists of
aggregates of all sizes. Usually the moraine lands are covered with
spruce forest. In Ahlais and Ruosniemi, moraine ridges are eroded by
rock outcrops and there are clay and peat soils in the depressions.
Ridge material is especially in Yyterinniemi. Sand and gravel have
been taken from the ridges in places for various purposes, so only
large bumps remain. Sand on the coast has accumulated in some places
into sand dunes. The most common soil types in lowland plains and
river embankments are clay, loam and fine sand.
The clay
layers are in some places up to 50 meters thick. Fields containing
clay and sand are excellent arable land. The largest bogs around
Pori are located in Kulla and the eastern parts of Noormarkku. Few
of them are no longer in their natural state. The bogs have been
dried and put into cultivation and peat has been taken from them in
places.
Bodies of water
Pori has many water bodies. The coast of the
Bothnian Sea is about 20 kilometers near Pori. The bays are shallow.
The seawater flow directions are on the coast from south to north.
The water level varies on average 130 centimeters. The seawater
temperature in the pits is 2–3 degrees, while the surface water
warms to 14–15 degrees in July. Coastal waters freeze in
November-December and the strength of solid ice is 30-50
centimeters. The water in Pori's Kokemäenjoki River has been very
polluted, but it has started to purify when the treatment plants
prescribed by the new water laws have been put into operation.