Finland - Finland Proper - Houtskär

A village church in Houtskär.

Sent by Maria, a postcrosser from Finland.

This is from Wikipedia : Houtskär (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈhuːtʃæːr]; Finnish: Houtskari [ˈhoutskɑri]) is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Iniö, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland.

It is located in the Archipelago Sea in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality had a population of 621 (as of 31 December 2008) and covered a land area of 119.93 square kilometres (46.31 sq mi). The population density was 5.18 inhabitants per square kilometre (13.4 /sq mi).

The municipality was bilingual with the majority (88 %) being Swedish and minority Finnish speakers.

In the 2004 municipal elections, the Swedish People's Party got 100% of the votes.

In Houtskär are three stores, a bank and mail, and the church of Santa Maria in Näsby center. At various times throughout the year organized dances, which is an old tradition that is kept alive by both older and younger participants, everyone dance different couplesdances from humppa to schottis, always to live music.

Houtskär consists of a group of bigger islands and a large number of smaller islands in the surrounding sea area. Communications to the mainland is by the ”Archipelago road” through Pargas, Nagu and Korpo, with three ferries considered part of the road network, the trip with the last one from Korpo to Houtskär lasting half an hour. The main islands are connected by bridges or cable ferries, the outer inhabited islands usually have daily connections with ship-like ferries.

Finland - Finland Proper - Turku (2)

Images of Turku.

Sent by Kati, a postcrosser from Finland.

This is from Wikipedia : Turku (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈturku]; Swedish: Åbo [ˈoːbu] is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River.It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland. Turku quickly became the most important city in Finland and retained that status for hundreds of years until Finland became part of the Russian Empire in 1809 and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was transferred to Helsinki in 1812. After that Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland until the end of the 1840s. Today Turku remains a regional capital and is an important location for business and culture.

Because of its long history it has been the site of many important historical events and has extensively influenced Finnish history. For the year 2011, Turku has been designated to be the European Capital of Culture together with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. In 1996 it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.

Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport city with over three million passengers travelling through Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn.

As of 31 January 2011, Turku’s population was 177,430, which makes it the fifth largest city in Finland by population. As of 31 August 2008 there were 303,492 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, which makes it the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify as speaking Swedish as a mother-tongue.

Finland - Finland Proper - Turku (1)

Sent by Tanja of Turku in Finland.

She wrote : "... Turku is the oldest town in Finland, some 860 years old."

This is from Wikipedia : Turku (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈturku] ( listen); Swedish: Åbo [ˈoːbu] ( listen)) is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of Aura River.[6] It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland. Turku was for a long time the most important population center in Finland: it was the first capital city of Finland from 1809 to 1812 and continued to be the largest city by population in Finland until the end of the 1840s. Its significance nationwide is not the same as it used to be, but Turku is still a regional capital and important location for business and culture.