Oulu, Finland

Oulun kaupunki
(City of Oulu)

City	Oulu (1605)
Administrative Province	Oulu province
Historical Province	Ostrobothnia
Area (2004-01-01)  – Total (excl. sea areas)  – Land  – Inland water	Ranked 244th 384.99 km² 373.10 km² 11.89 km²
Population  – Total (2004-01-01)  – Density	Ranked 6th 125,970 337.5/km²

This article is about the Finnish city; for other uses see Oulu (disambiguation).

Oulu (Uleåborg in Swedish) is a city and municipality of about 125,000 inhabitants in the province of Oulu and the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the largest and most important city in Northern Finland and the sixth biggest city in the country. Its population growth rate is almost comparable with that of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

Oulu was founded on August 8, 1605 by King Karl IX of Sweden opposite the castle built on the island of Linnansaari. This took place after favourable peace settlements with the Russians, which removed the threat of them attacking the region 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 Oulu River, which is an ancient trading site. One source for the name Oulu is a word in the Sami language meaning floodwater, but there are other suggestions. Oulu has been the capital of Oulu province since 1776.

From being a town known for wood tar and salmon, Oulu has evolved into a major centre of competence in the field of high technology, particularly IT and wellness technology. Other prominent industries are wood refining, paper and steel industry. The University of Oulu is located 6 km north of the city center. The Oulu Airport, located in neighbouring municipality of Oulunsalo, is the second busiest in Finland.

The City of Oulu celebrates its 400^th anniversary this year.

An amusing feature of the downtown landscape has been, for years, a certain piece of graffiti. The words "paska kaupunni" have been repeatedly written on a wall on Uusikatu street, between the bars Linnankrouvi and Cuba (formerly Reidar). The graffito has survived countless overpaintings, sometimes appearing with an added N. The most recent variation (as seen on the site paskakaupunni.com) has been cleverly added to, and now reads: "Paraskaikest kaupunni 400!" meaning "best-of-all-city 400!"

Paska kaupunni means "shitty city" with the word city misspelt, and is probably a reference to a song by Oulu-born Finnish rock musician and author Kauko Röyhkä.

Location within Finland

Sights

• Tietomaa
• Rotuaari pedestrian
• the salt store houses
• Hupisaaret
• the F. M. Franzen memorial
• the North-Ostrobothnia museum
• the Pateniemi sawmill museum
• the car museum
• the botanical garden of the University
• the Oulu art museum
• the Arctic gallery
• the Technology village

Image of Oulu, March 2004, showing the inlet of Pokkitörmä at the mouth of the Oulu River.

Other points of interest

• the Oulu City Theatre
• the Oulu music centre
• the University of Oulu
• the spa and Eden hotel
• the Oulu hall
• the Nallikari Recreational centre
• the Terva-skiing event
• the Oulu Horse Show
• the American Car Show

Railway station area in Oulu, looking southwest along Hallituskatu.

Distances

• Helsinki 550 km S
• Jyväskylä 333 km S
• Kotka 582 km S
• Kuopio 284 km SSE
• Lahti 505 km S
• Lappeenranta 548 km SSE
• Pori 501 km SSW
• Rovaniemi 207 km NE
• Tampere 476 km SSW
• Tornio 131 km NNW
• Turku 620 km SSW
• Vaasa 290 km SW