Turku, bo in Swedish, Aboa in Latin, is a city in Finland, founded in the 13th century. The exact year of foundation is not commonly agreed, but tradtionally it is often dated from the year 1229. According to documents, this was the year the bishop s see was moved to what is now the present center of city. Turku is located in the south-west of the country at the mouth of the Aura river and due to its history and location, over 5% of its inhabitants are Swedish speakers. It belongs to the historical province of Finland Proper and is the capital of the administrative province of Western Finland.

Turku has a population of about 175,000, and is the fifth biggest city of Finland. Including the surrounding municipalities, the Turku region has around 290,000 inhabitants, ranking as the third largest urban area in the country after the Helsinki capital area and the Tampere region.

The Turku Castle was built in the 1280s.

History

Until 1812, Turku was the capital of Finland - then part of the kingdom of Sweden. When the territory fell to Russia, the Russians moved the capital to Helsinki (more convenient for the new rulers) where it has been ever since.

Today Turku remains the seat of the Archbishop of Finland. The 14th century cathedral there is one of only 3 remaining brick buildings of that date. Turku Castle was founded in the 13th century, built on an island to guard the entrance to the river. As the Finnish land mass has been gradually rising ever since the end of the last ice-age, the island was assimilated into the mainland and the castle now stands some distance from the river.

Education

Turku was the site of the Academy of bo from 1640 until 1850 when, after a disastrous fire, it was moved to the new capital, Helsinki. Today there are three institutions of academic higher education in the city.

• University of Turku
• bo Akademi University
• Turku School of Economics and Business Administration

However, the education system of Finland (http://www.edu.fi/english/SubPage.asp?path=500;4699) classifies polytechnics together with universites as institutions of higher education, and Turku Polytechnic is the largest polytechnic in Finland, as measured by the total amount of students.

Culture

• The Aboa Vetus museum, built over the site of archaeological excavations of 14th century remains
• W Aaltonen Museum of Art
• Sibelius museum
• Moomin World in nearby Naantali

External links

• Travel guide to Turku from Wikitravel
• Turku (http://www.turku.fi/) - Official site