Oulu
—  City  —
Oulun kaupunki
View of Oulu guest Harbour and Oulu City Theater from Elba Island
Coat of arms Logo
Location of Oulu in Finland
Coordinates: 65°01′N 025°28′E / 65.017°N 25.467°E / 65.017; 25.467Coordinates: 65°01′N 025°28′E / 65.017°N 25.467°E / 65.017; 25.467
Country	Finland
Region	Northern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region	Oulu sub-region
Charter	1605-04-08
Government
• City manager	Matti Pennanen
Area(2011-01-01)[1]
• City	1,513.37 km2 (584.32 sq mi)
• Land	1,410.17 km2 (544.47 sq mi)
• Water	103.2 km2 (39.8 sq mi)
• Urban	187.1 km2 (72.2 sq mi)
Area rank	67th largest in Finland
Population (2013-02-28)[3]
• City	191,237
• Rank	6th largest in Finland
• Density	135.61/km2 (351.2/sq mi)
• Urban	180,000[2]
• Urban density	915.8/km2 (2,372/sq mi)
Population by native language[4]
• Finnish	97.3% (official)
• Swedish	0.2%
• Others	2.4%
Population by age[5]
• 0 to 14	17%
• 15 to 64	70.5%
• 65 or older	12.5%
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[6]	19%
Website	www.ouka.fi

Oulu (pronounced [ˈoulu] ( listen), Swedish: Uleåborg [ˈʉːleɔˌbɔrj]) is a city and municipality of 191,237 inhabitants (28 February 2013)^[3] in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the fifth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world. Oulu is considered one of Europe's "living labs", where residents experiment with new technology (such as NFC tags and ubi-screens) at a community-wide scale.^[7]

History [edit]

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Oulu was founded on April 9, 1605, by King Charles IX of Sweden opposite the fort built on the island of Linnansaari. This took place after favourable peace settlements with the Russians, which removed the threat of attack via the main east-west waterway, the river Oulu. The surrounding areas were populated much earlier. Oulu is situated by the Gulf of Bothnia, at the mouth of river Oulujoki, which is an ancient trading site. Oulu was the capital of the Province of Oulu from 1776 to 2009.

Drawing of central Oulu from the 19th Century.

In 1822, a major fire destroyed much of the city. The architect Carl Ludvig Engel, chiefly known for the neoclassical (empire style) buildings around Helsinki Senate Square, was enlisted to provide the plan for the rebuilding of the city. With minor changes, this plan remains the basis for the layout of Oulu's town center. The Oulu Cathedral was built in 1832 to his designs, with the spire being finished in 1844.

Once known for wood tar and salmon, Oulu has evolved into a major high-tech centre, particularly in IT and wellness technology. Other prominent industries include wood refining, paper, and steel. The University of Oulu is located six kilometres north of the city center. The Oulu Airport is the second busiest in Finland.

The municipality of Ylikiiminki was merged with the city of Oulu on January 1, 2009. Oulu and the municipalities of Haukipudas, Kiiminki, Oulunsalo, and Yli-Ii were merged on January 1, 2013.^[8]

Name [edit]

The city is named after the river Oulujoki, which originates in the lake Oulujärvi. There have been a number of theories for the origin of the name Oulu. One possible source for the name Oulu is a word in the Sami language meaning 'flood water', but there are other suggestions. At minimum, the structure of the word requires that if originally given by speakers of a Uralic language, the name must be a derivative. In all likelihood it also predates Finnish settlement and is thus a loanword from one of the now-extinct Saami languages once spoken in the area.

The most probable theory is that the name derives from the Finnish dialectal word oulu, meaning "floodwater", which is related to e.g. Southern Saami åulo, meaning "melted snow", åulot meaning "thaw" (of unknown ultimate origin). Two other word families have also been speculated to be related. The first is seen in the Northern Savo dialectal word uula and its Saami counterpart oalli, both meaning "river channel". The second is the Uralic root reconstructed as *uwa, meaning "river bed" (reflected as vuo in modern Finnish, also in derivatives such as vuolas "heavy-flowing"). To either of these roots, some Saami variety would have to be assumed having added further derivational suffixes.^[9]

Geography [edit]

Climate [edit]

Oulu has a subarctic climate with cold, snowy winters and short, warm summers. Average annual temperature is 2 °C (36 °F). The average annual precipitation is 433 mm (17.05 in) falling 98 days per year, mostly in late summer and fall.

A satellite image showing the Oulu region in 2007.

Culture [edit]

Air Guitar World Championships 2012, Annual event held in Oulu since 1996

The best known cultural exports of the city of Oulu are Air Guitar World Championships, Mieskuoro Huutajat (also known as Screaming Men), and the now defunct metal band Sentenced.

Many artists, writers, and musicians live in the city. A variety of concerts—rock, classical, and jazz—as well as other cultural events take place each year. Examples include the Oulu Music Video Festival, the Air Guitar World Championships, and the Musixine Music Film Competition, all in August. In July is the annual rock festival Qstock. The Oulu Music Festival is held in winter and the Oulunsalo Music Festival in summer. The Irish Festival of Oulu takes place each October and the International Children's Film Festival each November.

Kalmah is a melodic death metal-band from Oulu that formed in 1998.

Notable people from Oulu [edit]

• Leevi Madetoja, composer
• Frans Michael Franzén, poet
• V.A. Koskenniemi, poet
• Three former Presidents of the country, Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Kyösti Kallio and Martti Ahtisaari
• Sara Wacklin, teacher and writer
• Aaro Hellaakoski, poet
• Lars Gallenius, 17th century painter
• Leena Peltonen-Palotie, geneticist
• Black metal band Impaled Nazarene.
• Hard rock band Sentenced.
• Indie pop band Satellite Stories.
• Kauko Röyhkä, author and rock musician
• Mika Ronkainen, filmmaker
• Peter Von Bagh, film historian and director
• Matti Hautamäki, ski jumper
• Hockey players, Pekka Rinne, Kari Jalonen, Mikael Granlund, Joni Pitkänen and Reijo Ruotsalainen.
• Football players, Antti Niemi and Mika Nurmela.

Sights [edit]

• Tietomaa, a science center with over 150 exhibits
• Ainola Park, formerly a university botanical garden before the university was moved to Linnanmaa
• The Rapids Center, the area in the estuary of the Oulu river consisting of small islands connected with bridges and fountains in the middle of the river, and including a housing area of building blocks planned by Alvar Aalto
• The Market Square with the City Library, the City Theatre and old salt and tar storehouses
• Hupisaaret, a large park area located in the estuary of the Oulu river
• The F. M. Franzen memorial
• The Northern Ostrobothnia museum
• The Pateniemi Sawmill Museum
• The Vehicle Museum
• The University of Oulu Botanical Gardens (situated in Linnanmaa)
• The Arctic Gallery
• Technopolis, the technology village
• Turkansaari (historical open-air museum)

Other points of interest [edit]

• Oulu Music Video Festival
• Air Guitar World Championships
• Qstock Rock Festival (website)
• Jalometalli Metal Music Festival
• Jalometalli Winterfest
• Madetoja Hall, housing the Oulu Music Centre (website) the residence of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra
• Oulu Hall (a large indoor sports facility consisting of a low dome, which looks somewhat like a landed flying saucer)
• Terwa Marathon & Run event in late May (since 1989)
• The Terva-skiing event in early March (since 1889)
• The Winter Swimming World Championship
• Maracon weekend-long gaming event (officially since 2001)

Education [edit]

University of Oulu main building.

The University of Oulu and Oulu University of Applied Sciences (formerly Oulu Polytechnic) are located in Oulu.

Oulu is home to the most northerly architecture school in the world. The school is best known for its strong regionalistic ideas for developing architecture. This movement is named "the Oulu school" ("Oulun koulu") of architecture.^{[citation needed]}

Oulu Vocational College has over 13 000 students. It houses several different study subjects in different units which are spread over Oulu and neighboring municipalities. Oulu Vocational College School of Business Studies is one of the few vocational schools which has game programming in it´s curriculum.

Transport [edit]

Oulu is served by Oulu Airport, the second largest airport in Finland by passenger volume. It is located 15 kilometres (9 mi) south-west of the city centre.

The Port of Oulu is one of the busiest harbours on the Bothnian Bay. It includes four separate harbour areas: Vihreäsaari oil and bulk docks, Nuottasaari docks, Oritkari docks, and the Toppila docks.

The shortest travel time from Oulu railway station to Helsinki Central railway station is 5 h 44 mins, operated by VR. Other destinations include, for instance, Kolari, Rovaniemi, Seinäjoki and Tampere.

The most important road in Oulu is Highway 4 (E8/E75) that runs from Helsinki to Utsjoki via Lahti, Jyväskylä, Oulu, Kemi and Rovaniemi. Other highways running to and from Oulu are Highway 20 to Kuusamo and Highway 22 to Kajaani.^[11]

Employment [edit]

Stora Enso has an important paper manufacturing plant in Oulu.

Nokia premises in Peltola.

Technopolis Linnanmaa is home to nearly 200 corporations.

As of December 31, 2008, the active working population was employed as follows:^[12]

In 2011, the most important employers were:^[12]

Sports [edit]

Kärpät wins the Finnish championship in 2005 after beating Jokerit.

Ice hockey is the most popular spectator sport in Oulu. The local club Kärpät have won the SM-liiga championship title five times (1981, 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008). They have also been the runner-up in the IIHF European Champions Cup twice, in 2005 and 2006.

In football AC Oulu and OPS are playing in Ykkönen, the second tier of Finnish league system. Up to date only OPS have claimed Finnish football championship by winning Mestaruussarja twice in 1979 and 1980.

Oulu has two well known bandy clubs. OLS which has become Finnish champions 14 times, and OPS with their 7 championships. Currently only OLS is playing in Bandyliiga, the top level in Finnish bandy. In 2001 the city was the main venue for the Bandy World Championships.

Oulu is also home to several other sports clubs such as Oulu Northern Lights (American football), Oulun NMKY (Basketball), Oulun Lippo (Pesäpallo), OYUS (Rugby union) and Etta (Volleyball).

Terwa Marathon & Run is an annual event run in late May (since 1989).

International relations [edit]

Twin towns — Sister cities [edit]

Oulu is twinned with:^[13]

Friendship cities [edit]

• Sendai, Japan (since 2005)

International municipal projects [edit]

The educational department takes part in Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 in Finland.

See also [edit]

• Toppila Power Station

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oulu (category)

• City of Oulu – Official website
• Oulu travel guide from Wikivoyage
• 65 Degrees North: Oulu's English Language Newspaper
• Oulu This Week event calendar
• Photos from Oulu

v t e Municipalities of Northern Ostrobothnia Municipalities Alavieska Haapajärvi Haapavesi Hailuoto Ii Kalajoki Kempele Kuusamo Kärsämäki Liminka Lumijoki Merijärvi Muhos Nivala Oulainen Oulu Pudasjärvi Pyhäjoki Pyhäjärvi Pyhäntä Raahe Reisjärvi Sievi Siikajoki Siikalatva Taivalkoski Tyrnävä Utajärvi Ylivieska Former municipalities Haukipudas Kestilä Kiiminki Kuivaniemi Oulujoki Oulunsalo Paavola Pattijoki Piippola Pulkkila Rantsila Rautio Revonlahti Ruukki Saloinen Temmes Vihanti Yli-Ii Ylikiiminki Northern Ostrobothnia Finland

v t e 50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries  Denmark  Finland  Iceland  Norway  Sweden 1.  Stockholm 1,372,565 2.  Copenhagen 1,199,224 3.  Helsinki 1,061,798 4.  Oslo 907,288 5.  Gothenburg 549,839 6.  Malmö 280,415 7.  Turku 253,332 8.  Aarhus 252,107 9.  Bergen 234,800 10.  Stavanger 221,616 11.  Tampere 215,337 12.  Reykjavík 195,000 13.  Odense 167,615 14.  Trondheim 160,072 15.  Oulu 144,114 16.  Uppsala 140,454 17.  Jyväskylä 132,115 18.  Fredrikstad 126,971 19.  Aalborg 124,921 20.  Västerås 110,877 21.  Örebro 107,038 22.  Linköping 104,232 23.  Lahti 102,383 24.  Drammen 100,023 25.  Kuopio 97,610 26.  Helsingborg 97,122 27.  Jönköping 89,396 28.  Kouvola 87,548 29.  Norrköping 87,247 30.  Skien 86,923 31.  Pori 83,156 32.  Lund 82,800 33.  Umeå 79,594 34.  Joensuu 73,807 35.  Lappeenranta 72,156 36.  Esbjerg 71,576 37.  Gävle 71,033 38.  Kristiansand 67,547 39.  Hämeenlinna 67,293 40.  Tromsø 66,669 41.  Borås 66,273 42.  Eskilstuna 64,679 43.  Södertälje 64,619 44.  Karlstad 61,685 45.  Täby 61,272 46.  Rovaniemi 60,699 47.  Randers 60,656 48.  Vaasa 60,491 49.  Seinäjoki 58,836 50.  Halmstad 58,577