Helsinki

Helsinki (Swedish Helsingfors), largest city, capital, and chief seaport of Finland. The city is located in southern Finland, on a small peninsula extending into the Gulf of Finland. Small islands fringe the peninsula, and the entrance to Helsinki Harbor is protected by the fortifications of Suomenlinna (Swedish Sveaborg), covering seven of the islands.

Helsinki is laid out with spacious streets interspersed with many gardens and parks. Architecturally, Helsinki is a mixture of old and modern styles, with the old senate house and the Tuomiokirkko, or Lutheran Cathedral, representing the older buildings, and the railroad station, designed in 1918 by the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen, as a notable example of modern architecture. Other points of interest include the Jean Sibelius Monument, the Uspensky Cathedral, the Ataneum Art Museum, the Sports Museum, and Helsinki's islands, with a zoo, recreational park, and museums. Helsinki is the cultural, commercial, and political center of Finland. The University of Helsinki has been in the city since 1828, when it was moved from Åbo (Turku), where it was founded in 1640. The National Museum of Finland, the Finnish National Opera, and several theaters, presenting works in both Finnish and Swedish, are located in the city.

The principal manufactures of Helsinki include paper, textiles, liquors, china, chemicals, and metal goods; agricultural and dairy products and lumber and wood products are exported in considerable quantity. A major part of the commercial activity is centered on the harbor, in which separate facilities are maintained for passengers and small shipments, for bulk shipments of lumber and wood products, and for handling large incoming cargoes of coal and grain. The port can accommodate any vessel, but it is icebound from January to May, except for a channel that is kept clear by an icebreaker. Helsinki is also an international airline center.

The city was founded by Gustav I Vasa, king of Sweden, in 1550 on a site some distance inland from its present location, to which it was moved in 1640. In 1713, during the Northern War (1700-1721) between Russia and Sweden, the city was destroyed by a retreating Swedish force; the present fortifications were begun in 1729. Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1809, and Helsinki was made the administrative capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812; since 1917 the city has been the capital of the Finnish Republic. In 1952, Helsinki was the site of the Olympic Games. Population (2005 estimate) 559,046.