Raisio

Raisio (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the Southwest Finland region. It lies north of the regional capital, Turku. The population of Raisio is approximately , while the sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the third largest municipality in the Southwest Finland region after Turku ja Kaarina.

The town of Raisio has a land area of , and has about of coastline to the Bay of Raisio at its southern tip.

The coat of arms of Raisio is inspired by Martin of Tours, the patron saint of the medieval stone church of Raisio parish. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson and approved for use on 23 April 1954.

History

The oldest known written record of Raisio is from 1292, and there is strong evidence of Stone Age settlement in the area, but Raisio did not become a town until 1974. It was an agricultural area until the late 20th century. The success of the Raisio Group company transformed the town into an industrial centre and triggered a huge increase in population - during the 20th century the population of Raisio increased elevenfold. The town's existence was threatened by Turku city's plans to merge with Raisio. This changed after the Raisio Group became a successful company.

Name

The name ''Raisio'' was originally given to the river Raisionjoki. The earliest form of the river's name is ''Raisajoki'', which means "marsh/bog river", and etymological evidence for this can be found in the Estonian word ''raisnik'', which means "mire". Another theory about the etymology of the name ''Raisio'' is that it comes from the word ''raiskio'', meaning a forest damaged by poor forest management, as the Raisio landscape was altered by siltation and post-glacial uplift after the Ice Age.

Politics

Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Raisio:

*Social Democratic Party 23.9%
*True Finns 22.5%
*National Coalition Party 19.2%
* Left Alliance 13.2%
*Green League 7.2%
* Centre Party 6.7%
* Christian Democrats 2.1%
* Movement Now 1.8%
* Swedish People's Party 1.8%

Economy

The town's location, with good transport links and close to the regional capital, has contributed greatly to its growth. Its main industries are services, food and chemical production. The largest employer in the town is the Raisio Group, a manufacturer of food, animal feed and health products.

Raisio is also home to the Mylly shopping centre, one of the largest in Scandinavia.

The town also has the third IKEA of Finland.

The biggest employers in Raisio:

Points of interest

The town of Raisio has many cultural facilities, such as the Friisilä Handicraft Centre, which offers visitors an insight into traditional Finnish handicrafts. The Harkko Cultural Centre in the town centre includes an art museum, an archaeological museum and a theatre. The town library and the Ulpukka swimming centre are also worth a visit. Raisio is also home to Finland's largest secondary school, Vaisaaren yläkoulu.

Raisio railway station, located on the Turku-Uusikaupunki railway line, has been declared a built cultural environment of national significance by the Finnish Heritage Agency.

Demographics

Population

The city of Raisio has inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The city of Raisio is part of the Turku region, which is the third largest urban area in Finland with inhabitants.

Languages

Raisio is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. , the majority of the population, persons (), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number of Swedish speakers was persons () of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by of the population. As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.

At least 30 different languages are spoken in Raisio. The most common foreign languages are Ukrainian (2.2%), Russian (2.2%), Albanian (1.3%) and Bosnian (0.9%).

Immigration

, there were 3,557 persons with a foreign background living in Raisio, or 14% of the population. The number of residents who were born abroad was 3,171, or 12% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Raisio was 2,296. Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, Ukraine and Estonia.

The relative share of immigrants in Raisio's population is above the national average. Moreover, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.

Religion

In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 62.1% of the population of Raisio. Other religious groups accounted for 2.9% of the population. 35.0% of the population had no religious affiliation.

Notable residents

* Nils-Eric Fougstedt (1910–1961), conductor and composer
* Heikki Haavisto (1935–2022), politician and lobbyist
* Silja Kosonen (born 2002), hammer thrower
* Kalervo Kummola (born 1945), ice hockey executive, businessman, and politician
* Yrjö Nurmio (1901–1983), professor and director of the National Archives of Finland

Twin towns – sister cities

Raisio is twinned with:
* Kingisepp, Russia
* Sigtuna, Sweden
* Csongrád, Hungary
* Elmshorn, Germany

Notes

References

External links

Town of Raisio
– Official website
Mylly shopping center

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Turku metropolitan area
Cities and towns in Finland
Populated coastal places in Finland
Populated places established in the 13th century
Municipalities of Southwest Finland