Oulu

Oulun kaupunki

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

Oulu (Uleåborg in Swedish) is a municipality in the province of Oulu, in Finland. It is the largest and most important city in Northern Finland.

Founded on 1605-04-08 by King Karl IX of Sweden opposite the castle built on the island of Linnansaari, Oulu is situated by the Gulf of Bothnia, at the mouth of Oulu River, which is an ancient trading site. The name Oulu possibly comes from a word in the Sami language meaning floodwater. 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 municipilaty of Oulunsalo, is the second busiest in Finland.

The City of Oulu will be celebrating its 400^th anniversary in 2005.

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 N
• Tampere 476 km SSW
• Tornio 131 km NNW
• Turku 620 km SSW
• Vaasa 290 km SW

External links

• City of Oulu
  
• Oulu This Week event calendar
  
• University of Oulu
  
• Koskilinjat Oy — local bus timetables