Tuusula

Summary

Tuusula (Finnish: [ˈtuːsulɑ]; Swedish: Tusby [ˈtʉːsby]) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Tuusula is situated in the centre of the Uusimaa region. The population of Tuusula is approximately 41,000. It is the 27th most populous municipality in Finland and the second most populous municipality without city status (Finnish: kaupunki) after Nurmijärvi. Tuusula is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area, which has approximately 1.58 million inhabitants.

Tuusula
Tusby
Municipality
Tuusulan kunta
Tusby kommun
The wooden church of Tuusula
The wooden church of Tuusula
Coat of arms of Tuusula
Location of Tuusula in Finland
Location of Tuusula in Finland
Coordinates: 60°24′N 025°02′E / 60.400°N 25.033°E / 60.400; 25.033
Country Finland
RegionUusimaa
Sub-regionHelsinki sub-region
Metropolitan areaGreater Helsinki
Founded2009
SeatHyrylä
VillagesJokela, Kellokoski
Government
 • Municipal managerHannu Joensivu
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total225.45 km2 (87.05 sq mi)
 • Land219.53 km2 (84.76 sq mi)
 • Water5.95 km2 (2.30 sq mi)
 • Rank254th largest in Finland
Elevation
63 m (207 ft)
Population
 (2023-12-31)[2]
 • Total41,334
 • Rank27th largest in Finland
 • Density188.28/km2 (487.6/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish91.4% (official)
 • Swedish1.4%
 • Others7.2%
Population by age
 • 0 to 1418.1%
 • 15 to 6463.3%
 • 65 or older18.6%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code
04301
ClimateDfb
Websitewww.tuusula.fi

A laurel branch in the coat of arms of Tuusula refers to the local artist community and a wheellock was borrowed from the coat of arms of the Stålhane noble family, which has long been influential in Tuusula. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson in 1953.[6]

Geography edit

Tuusula, lying on the shores of Tuusulanjärvi lake, is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. It covers an area of 225.45 square kilometres (87.05 sq mi) of which 5.95 km2 (2.30 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 188.28 inhabitants per square kilometre (487.6/sq mi).

Tuusula has three population centres. The administrative centre is Hyrylä (about 19,500 residents), other two are Jokela (5,300 residents) and Kellokoski (4,300 residents). The remaining 4,400 residents are distributed to the rural areas outside of municipal centres.[7] The most significant main road connection between Hyrylä and Helsinki is the Tuusulanväylä motorway.

The neighbouring communes are Vantaa to the south, Nurmijärvi to the west, Hyvinkää to the north, Mäntsälä and Järvenpää to the north east, and Sipoo and Kerava to the east.

Villages edit

 
Apartment buildings along the Asemanraitti street in Jokela

Huikko, Hyrylä, Jokela, Jäniksenlinna, Kellokoski, Lahela, Myllykylä, Nahkela, Paijala, Riihikallio, Ruotsinkylä, Ruskela, Rusutjärvi, Savikulma, Siippoo, Vanhakylä

History edit

The area in what is now Tuusula was located in the larger municipality of Sipoo. In 1643, it became a separate parish in the municipality, and in 1653, it became a separate municipality. Tuusula's boundaries have not always remained the same: in 1924 the municipality of Kerava split from here; in 1950 the municipality of Korso was split between Tuusula, Kerava, and Sipoo; and in 1951 the municipality of Järvenpää split from here.

During the Crimean War (1853–1856), a Russian garrison was stationed in what is now Hyrylä. The modern parish mostly developed around it.

The area had always been a fairly fertile area, thus encouraging farming. The development of other industries began in 1795, when an ironworks was created in Kellokoski that functioned until the 1980s. The establishment of a railway in Jokela furthered the growth.

Soon after this industrial time another aspect of Tuusulan history was realised. The Tuusulanjärvi lake attracted many artists who wanted to paint the beautiful landscape. Following the footsteps of Aleksis Kivi, the Finnish national poet who spent the last years of his life in a hut on the shores of the lake, Jean Sibelius, Juhani Aho, and Pekka Halonen even established their main residences here. Recently these houses have become tourist sites, especially Sibelius' house Ainola. Also, Tuusula Lake Road on the eastern shore of the lake is an outside museum.

The Jokela rail crash was a rail crash which occurred on 21 April 1996 here.

Jokela High School was the site of the Jokela school shooting, a school shooting which occurred on 7 November 2007, leaving 9 dead (including the 18-year-old perpetrator, Pekka-Eric Auvinen).[8][9]

Notable people edit

Demographics edit

Tuusula, in the Helsinki suburbs, has been in a positive balance of population, with it more than doubling in size since 1970.

The municipality is officially Finnish. Swedish was the second official language until 1943. Today only 2% are Swedish-speaking.

Population in:

  • 1970 – 17.235
  • 1980 – 22.151
  • 1987 – 26.234
  • 1990 – 27.328
  • 1997 – 29.957
  • 2000 – 31.957
  • 2007 – 34.890

Politics edit

Parliamentary elections edit

Results[10] of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Tuusula:

Municipal Council edit

Composition of the Municipal Council (2005–2008) [11]
Party Percent of the council Seats
National Coalition Party 26.2% 14
Tuusulan Puolesta (Eng. "For Tuusula") 25.2% 14
Social Democratic Party of Finland 25.1% 13
Centre Party 11.6% 5
Christian Democrats 3.2% 2
Left Alliance 3.5% 1
Green League 3.5% 1
Swedish People's Party 1.1% 1

Twin towns – Sister cities edit

Tuusula is twinned with:

Economy and Infrastructure edit

Economy edit

Due its proximity to the Helsinki, Tuusula is, for the most part, a commuter town. Tuusula itself has around 10,000 jobs. 66% of the jobs are in the service sector, 31% in the workforce, and 1.5% are farmers. The unemployment rate amounted to 3% (2007), far below the national average.

Transportation edit

From the centre of Tuusula, Hyrylä, there are good bus connections to Helsinki, via the Tuusula motorway. There are also two train stations in the main railway line of Finland, Jokela and Nuppulinna. Nuppulinna, however, was discontinued in 2016.

Education edit

Tuusula's network of schools include:

  • 18 primary schools
  • 4 secondary schools
  • 3 high schools
  • 1 hospital school

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  6. ^ Suomen kunnallisvaakunat (in Finnish). Suomen Kunnallisliitto. 1982. p. 164. ISBN 951-773-085-3.
  7. ^ Tuusulassa on kolme keskusta ja niitä ympäröivät maaseutualueet Archived 2007-11-07 at the Wayback Machine (in Finnish)
  8. ^ "Teen gunman dead from critical injuries who opened fire on Finnish classmates". CNN. 2007-11-07. Archived from the original on 2007-11-09. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  9. ^ "Fatal shooting at Finnish school". BBC News. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-11-07.
  10. ^ "Tulospalvelu: Eduskuntavaalit 2019 - Tuusula". Keski-Uuusimaa. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  11. ^ 2004 election results

External links edit

  • Municipality of Tuusula – official site