Vantaa

Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo and Tampere. Its administrative center is the Tikkurila district. Vantaa is bordered by Helsinki, the Finnish capital, to the south; Espoo to the southwest; Nurmijärvi to the northwest; Kerava and Tuusula to the north; and Sipoo to the east. The city encompasses , of which is water.

Vantaa's significant attractions include the Vantaa River (''Vantaanjoki''), which flows through the city and flows into the Gulf of Finland. The largest airport in Finland, and the main airport and airline hub of Greater Helsinki, the Helsinki Airport, is located in Vantaa. Companies with headquarters in Vantaa include Finnair, Finavia, R-kioski, Tikkurila Oyj, Veikkaus Oy, and Metsähallitus. The city also hosts a science center, Heureka.

The city of Vantaa is bilingual, both Finnish and Swedish being official languages. 78.7% of the population are Finnish speakers, while 2.4% speak Swedish as their first language. 18.9% of the population speak a native language other than Finnish or Swedish.

History

Vantaa has a rich history that dates back to the Stone Age. The area was inhabited by Tavastians and Finns proper until the so-called second crusade to Finland and Swedish colonisation of the area.

Ancient history

Remains of an ancient rectangular dwelling dating to 6700 to 6500 BCE have been discovered in Brunaberg in Vantaa. At the time, the dwelling was located at the seashore near the mouth of the Keravanjoki river. The dwelling had been used for decades, apparently mostly in wintertime.. A graveyard-like dwelling dating to the Mesolithic has been discovered in Jönsas, which was located at the mouth of a seaside bay at the time. In the Stone Age, people in Vantaa sought their food mostly from the sea. Seals were an important quarry, but remains of harbour porpoises have also been found at the numerous Neolithic dwelling sites at Jokiniemi. Remains of permanent dwellings found from Stenkulla in Hakkila date from the same period.

There are considerably many findings from the Comb Ceramic culture in Vantaa. Many ancient clay figures representing humans have been found in Jokiniemi in Vantaa. They have been estimated to be of various ages from 5300 to 5500 years old. During the typical Comb Ceramic time, large amounts of flint were brought to Finland from the south and southeast, which was made into blades and points, as well as amber. The Comb Ceramic era humans also knew how to use bows and arrows as weapons.

Iron Age history in Vantaa is not very well known, but the entire Uusimaa area was still a sparsely-populated backland of Tavastia at the end of the Iron Age. The most researched Iron Age dwelling in Vantaa is located at the same site as the earlier Stone Age dwellings of Jönsas and Palmu. Remains of Morby ceramics have been discovered at these sites, and iron slag has also been discovered in Jönsas. Remains of fireplaces dating to the Iron Age have also been researched in Jönsas.Leskinen, Sirpa; Pesonen, Petro: ''Vantaan esihistoria'', city of Vantaa 2008. . Remains of dwellings dating to the 10th century have been discovered in Gubbacka in Länsisalmi as well as remains of smithies from the 12th and 13th centuries.

Information about ancient villages located in the Vantaa area can be found from concentration of soil visible in palynological analysis as well as retroactive reasoning based on nomenclature and historical documents. According to historian Saulo Kepsu, Finnish population has spread from Tavastia to the Helsinki and Vantaa area in the 11th to 14th centuries, possibly even earlier. The Tavastians had fishing places and other pleasure grounds in the area.

Swedish rule

Prior to the name ''Vantaa'' being taken into use in 1974, the area was known as ''Helsingin pitäjä'' ( sv, Helsinge; " Socken of Helsinki"). The rapids of river Vantaa were known as ''Helsingfors'', from which the current Swedish name of Helsinki derives. Early settlement in Vantaa was centered around the river, in Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä ("Helsinki Parish Village"), and from it the city's current coat of arms derived its imagery.

The Swedish colonisation in Vantaa started in connection with the colonisation in the rest of Uusimaa in the late 13th century after the Second Swedish Crusade. The Swedes called the area '' Ny land'' ("new land"). There was permanent settlement in the area of the branching point of the rivers in the 14th century.

The history of ''Helsingin pitäjä'' stretches at least to the 14th century. For a long time it was thought that the earliest record of the area was as ''Helsinge'' in 1351 when king Magnus IV of Sweden granted salmon fishing rights on the river ''Helsingaa'' (now known as the river Vantaa) to the Estonian Padise Abbey. However, according to current knowledge, the first mention of Vantaa was in a document given by king Magnus IV in Västerås on 14 September 1331, describing episcopal tithes, requiring a pound of butter for the bishop from every citizen of age 7 years or older.

Since the 14th century, the road between Turku and Vyborg, King's Road, has run through Vantaa. The road brought significant attention to the city, and its location on the salmon rich river led to a permanent population.

The river ''Helsingaa'' soon gave its name to the entire area, and also inspired the coat of arms of Vantaa. The Helsinki socken was born from the 1370s to the 1390s, and the Church of St. Lawrence was built there in 1460. The church was located in a transport hub near the rivers of Vantaa and Kerava. Many roads also ran through the clerical centre: the King's Road from Turku to Vyborg and the Häme road to the Häme Castle and to the coast in the south. The first vicar in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was mentioned in 1395. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' is seen as have established itself as a clerical and administrative parish in the 15th century, and the first mention of a church dedicated to Saint Lawrence in the area is from 1401. A local ''frälse'' family donated a land worth one ''skattmark'' from Rekola to the church of St. Lawrence. The name ''Helsinge'' was first mentioned in 1428. In the same year, fishing rights in the area were moved over to the Archdiocese of Turku, which helped the construction of a stone church to replace the old wooden one.

Justice in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was the responsibility of its own district court. It is known that the parish had its own district court in the 16th century. The court could be held by deputies hired by high-ranking judges, so-called lawreaders. The use of lawreaders was common from the late 16th century to the 1680s.Kuisma, Markku: ''Kuisma, Markku: Helsingin pitäjän historia II. Vanhan Helsingin synnystä isoonvihaan 1150-1713'', city of Vantaa 1990. .

Because of its poor location, Porvoo could not compete with the Hanseatic merchants in Tallinn, so in 1550 king Gustav Vasa decided to found the city of Helsinki at the site of ''Helsingin pitäjä'' at the mouth of the Helsingaa river. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had already developed into a significant centre of marine trade in Uusimaa in the 1530s. However, the Vanhakaupunki area in Helsinki never became the city centre Gustav Vasa wanted during his lifetime.

In 1570, the 25-year Russian war also affected life in ''Helsingin pitäjä''. Increased stress, additional military tax and enemy attacks had their toll on the population and often led to farmsteads being deserted. In 1577 there were 51 farmsteads burned and raided by the enemy. Serving food to and accommodating the military departments was the responsibility of police chief Olof Mårtensson, who lived at the Malmi horsestead. The largest department served by the police chief consisted of 40 horsemen from the Uppland unit in January 1576. As well as the Malmi horsestead, ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was also home to the horsesteads of Pukinmäki, Herttoniemi, Haltiala, Kirkonkylä, Meilby, Kulosaari and Heickby.

After the Treaty of Stolbovo, the Diet of Helsinki granted the rights of a staple town to Helsinki for foreign trade in 1617. The wars against Poland and Germany in the 1620s led to many large manors for the nobility being built in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' to support the cavalry, including Westerkulla and Hakunila. In autumn 1640, it was decided to move Helsinki from the Vanhakaupunki area to its current location at Vironniemi. The village of Töölö was annexed from ''Helsingin pitäjä'' to Helsinki proper in 1644, and in 1652 the parish congregation lost its independent status, and in order to support the economy of the Helsinki congregation, the entire church parish of Helsinki was annexed to the city congregation of Helsinki.Vantaan historiaa
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 9 September 2020.

The Great Famine of 1695–1697 also had its toll on ''Helsingin pitäjä''. Successive years of crop loss caused famine and mortality was high. As well as the peasants, the famine also affected servants of the crown, both the noble and the common estates, and the bourgeoisie.

During the Great Wrath Russian troops invaded ''Helsingin pitäjä'' in 1713. Some of the inhabitants fled to the mother country of Sweden or into nearby forests, some fought back against the invaders. As the invasion grew long, circumstances slowly settled and the Treaty of Nystad was made in autumn 1721. A second, shorter invasion, known as the Lesser Wrath, happened from 1742 to 1743.

Circumstances in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' started improving in the 1720s, as it became one of the most important centres of early industry in Finland. Water-powered sawmills were built in the area, forming a significant concentration of export industry at the time. This export was directed both to central Europe and also far way to the Mediterranean Sea in the late 18th century. A significant export target for ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was located just near its coast: the construction of the Sveaborg fortress, started in 1748, required large amounts of workforce and agricultural and industrial products such as foodstuffs, wood, brick and lime.

''Helsingin pitäjä'' was a Swedish-speaking area. From the middle 18th century to the early 19th century, only about a tenth of the population of the parish spoke Finnish.

Russian rule

Ore deposits in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had been discovered in the 1700s, but weren't utilized until Finland transferred to Russian control in the early 1800s. Ore extraction and processing lead to rapid industrialization in the area, with communities forming around locations like Tikkurila and Kerava. The industrial community in Tikkurila included an expeller pressing plant, which currently operates in the area as the paint manufacturer Tikkurila Oyj.

The capital of autonomous Finland was moved from Turku to Helsinki in the early 1800s and ''Helsingin pitäjä'' fell behind the growing population development of Helsinki proper. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' gained municipality rights in 1865 because of the first municipal law enacted in Finland, after which it was named ''Helsingin maalaiskunta/Helsinge kommun'' ("Rural Municipality of Helsinki"). In 1805 ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had 4840 inhabitants, Sveaborg had 4606 and Helsinki had 4337. After six decades ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had about 7000 inhabitants while Helsinki already had 23,000.

The parish assembly meeting in 1823 established the general order, which specified crimes and punishments they resulted in. One of the reasons the general order was made was the increase of rootless vagabonds in the society. The parish assembly meeting and participation of citizens in keeping up the order was needed, because the state officials failed to keep the poor-mannered part of the people under control. Crimes not resulting in a court session were handled in the parish assembly meeting by announcement from the fief holder.

Interest towards a people's education increased in the early 19th century, when basic education still mostly depended on home tuition. By a suggestion from vicar Erik Crohns, a school was founded in Kirkonkylä in 1825 and a school master was hired.Litzén, Aulikki; Vuori, Jukka: ''Helsingin maalaiskunnan historia 1865-1945''. City of Vantaa 1997. .

The year 1865 is considered a significant year in the history of Vantaa, as municipal rule in Finland was established in that year and ''Helsingin pitäjä'' became ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'', the rural municipality of Helsinki. This also led to the congregation regaining its position as an independent vicar area. The railway centre of Malmi became the administrative centre of the rural municipality.

In 1862, the railway between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna was constructed, and one of its seven stations was built in Tikkurila, on its intersection with King's Road. The Swedish architect Carl Albert Edelfelt designed a Renaissance Revival styled station building, which is the oldest extant station building in Finland and (as of 1978) has been adapted into the Vantaa City Museum. The old station building in Tikkurila is the only brick station building in Finland preserved in its original state. The building was designed by the provincial architect of the Häme Province, Carl Albert Edelfelt (1818-1869). The railway brought industry and induced population growth.

The Finnish famine of 1866–1868 decreased the population of Vantaa by 1300 people, and population growth was very slow for a whole decade. Only in the late 1870s Vantaa regained its population from 1865. The elementary school in Kirkonkylä was founded on 15 September 1869, four years later than originally planned. There were two teachers, one for boys and one for girls.

Four important roads passed through ''Helsingin pitäjä'' in the late 19th century: Hämeentie, the King's Road, Nurmijärventie and Porvoontie. To the north of Kirkonkylä, Hämeentie leading north crossed the King's Road. The King's Road connected Turku with Vyborg and Saint Petersburg. The King's Road, leading northwest, started from Helsinki as an extension of Läntinen Viertotie (now known as Mannerheimintie). Porvoontie conneted Hämeentie and the King's Road separating from Hämeentie between Viikki and Malminkylä and connecting to the King's Road in eastern Hakkila.

The largest industrial facility in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' in the late 19th century was the Arabia porcelain factory. Its production value was greater than that of all the other factories in the municipality put together. The factory was active in the village of Koskela, to the north of Helsinki, and was named after the villa Arabia previously located at the site of the factory.

The growing city of Helsinki needed large amounts of building materials, brought from Uusimaa and Tavastia. Brick factories in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' were located in Tikkurila, Lauttasaari and Kulosaari.

A brewery founded by J. K. Kröckell was active in Pitäjänmäki, producing several styles of beer, sparkling wine, lemon-flavoured mead and a type of alcohol-free juice called Sorbus. The brewery horses carried malt products both to Helsinki and to the nearby railway station, continuing all the way to Tampere. The Pitäjänmäki brewery remained in action until 1914.

In 1899, an edict about tightly populated communities came into force in Finland. During the next couple of decades, almost twenty tightly populated communities were founded in the area of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta''. Of these, Huopalahti separated into its own municipality in 1920, Oulunkylä in 1921 and Kulosaari in 1922. With the exception of Tikkurila, all these communities were discontinued in early 1946 as they were annexed to the city of Helsinki. The tightly populated community of Tikkurila was discontinued together with the rest of the tightly populated communities in Finland in early 1956.

20th century to today

Electricity started replacing steam as an industrial power source in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' before World War I. The power station ''Oy Malmin Sähkölaitos Ab'' was founded in 1910, and another power station was founded in Oulunkylä in the following year. Malmin sähkölaitos, which had reached a central position, bought a lot from Tapanila for its new power plant. Construction of the power plant and distribution grid, led by Gottfried Strömberg, was finished by the end of the year 1910.

The Helsinki-Malmi Airport was built at Tattarinsuo in the Malmi area of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' in 1936. The soil in the area was very watery and converting it to an airfield was difficult. The airport was taken into use in December 1936. Before this, air traffic in Helsinki had been served by the Santahamina Airport in Santahamina, which was also part of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' at the time.

During the great annexation of 1946 the municipalities of Huopalahti, Oulunkylä and Kulosaari as well as about a third of the area of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' were annexed to the city of Hesinki. The rural municipality losft two thirds of its population, including Malmi and Pitäjänmäki. In 1954 some of the areas of Korso in Tuusula and Kerava were annexed to the rural municipality of Helsinki, as well as a small part of Tuusula in 1959. Vuosaari was annexed to Helsinki in 1966.

The population development of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' grew rapidly after World War II. Tikkurila became the new municipal centre in the 1950s. New residential areas consisting mainly of detached houses developed among the main roads and new suburban centres developed along the railways running through the area, such as Rekola, Korso and Koivukylä.

In 1952, the new international airport of Helsinki opened in ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' for the 1952 Summer Olympics, leading to the rural municipality becoming an important transport hub. The new airport split the municipality in half and brought large amounts of traffic and industry to its surroundings. The airport has become a significant part of the cityscape of Vantaa, and even today Vantaa is known abroad as an aviation city.

Because of World War II, many new urban areas had been born in Vantaa already in the 1940s, populated mainly by evacuees from Finnish Karelia and frontline soldiers, as well as Helsinkians seeking a less densely populated area to live in. The first apartment building groups were built in Tikkurila, Satomäki and Vaarala in the 1950s, after which rural flight sped up construction of apartment buildings. In the record year 1970, the population of Vantaa grew by ten thousand people.

The Keimola Motor Stadium was built in 1966 along Finnish National Road 3, opposite the residential area of Kivistö, and remained in operation until 1978. Construction of the new Keimolanmäki residential area in place of the former race track started in the 2010s.

In the early 20th century, the majority of the population of ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' was Swedish-speaking. Afterwards, the rapid increase in the population has brought much more primarily Finnish-speaking population to the city, and today only 3.1 percent of the population in Vantaa are Swedish-speaking.

The roads in Finland were widened in the 1960s and 1970s, and the Ring III beltway was built to connect five national roads with each other. Myyrmäki became a second centre in the area after the construction of the Martinlaakso railway, which also sped up development in southwestern Vantaa. New residential suburbs were born along the main railway in the 1960s to 1980s, sped up by rural flight. Areas left outside the main traffic connections, such as Seutula in the west and Sotunki in the east, were left mainly unbuilt and rural-oriented.

In 1972, the municipality was renamed ''Vantaa'' ( sv, Vanda) and promoted to a köping (market town) (i.e. ''Vantaan kauppala/Vanda köping''). In 1974, the town got full city rights as ''Vantaan kaupunki/Vanda stad'' or "City of Vantaa". The name "Vantaa" comes from the river Vantaa running through the city, along which settlement in the Vantaa area was originally centred. The 650th anniversary of Vantaa was celebrated in 2001.

The city grew rapidly starting from 1960s and a railway line was built to the western side of the city in 1970s.

Since the days of the rural municipality, Vantaa has rapidly developed to its current form because of rural flight and good traffic connections. Like the neighbouring city of Espoo, Vantaa has many suburban commuter towns and lacks a specific city centre. The Helsinki Airport, the busiest airport in Finland by far, is located in central Vantaa.

In 2015, an extension to the existing railway line, the Ring Rail Line opened, providing service to the airport and new residential and working districts. Along the ring road, new residential were constructed. The largest of these developments is the Kivistö suburb followed by the residential districts of Leinelä and Aviapolis. The Ring Rail Line connects the Vantaankoski railway to the Finnish Main Line via the Helsinki Airport at Hiekkaharju.

The annual Beer floating summer event started in Vantaa in 1997. On 11 October 2002, an explosion took place in the Myyrmanni shopping centre in Myyrmäki. Negotiations to resolve the Aceh conflict, led by former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, were held in the Köningstedt Manor in Vantaa in early 2005.

To connect the municipality on the west–east, a new tramway is planned to open in 2030. This tramway will run from the Helsinki-Vantaa airport through districts of Pakkala, Aviapolis and Koivuhaka to the administrative centre of Tikkurila and further onward to Hakkila and Länsimäki in the east. The tram will also provide a link to the Helsinki metro at Mellunmäki station. This tramline will be the first tram in Vantaa.

History and etymology of nomenclature

Colonists arriving from Sweden in the 14th century settled in the area what is now Vantaa and named the river in the area as ''Helsingå'' or ''Helsingaa''. The etymology of this name is not known for sure, but according to an old tradition it probably comes from colonists who originally arrived at the Hälsingland area in Sweden.Granlund, Åke
Keskiaikaisia nimiä Helsingissä
nomenclature bureau of the city of Helsinki, 1970, pp. 13-15, 28-29. .

The same river has also been known as the river Vantaa (''Vanda å'' in Swedish). Unlike the name ''Helsingaa'', the name Vantaa comes from the Finnish-speaking Tavastian inhabitants upstream of the river. There is a village named Vantaa near the source of the river, at the area which now belongs to the city of Riihimäki. According to a theory, the name comes from the Finnish words ''vanan taka'', where ''vana'' means a riverbed and so Vantaa (possibly originally spelled "Vanantaa") means a place behind a riverbed. Only later did the name also came to use also downstream and replace the old name ''Helsingaa''.

The Vanhankaupunginkoski rapids at the mouth of the river Vantaa were originally known as ''Helsinge fors'' ("Helsinki rapids"), which also gave the name ''Helsingfors'' to the city founded along the rapids.

The Vantaa blast furnace founded at the shore of the Vantaankoski rapids in 1837 gave the name "Vantaa" to its entire environment.

By the new municipal law in 1865 the Finnish name of the municipality became ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' ("the rural municipality of Helsinki"), when the concept of sockens in Finland was discontinued. The Swedish name remained as ''Helsinge'', in contrast to ''Helsingfors'', the Swedish name for Helsinki proper. When ''Helsingin maalaiskunta'' became a market town in 1972, proposed new names included ''Helsingin kauppala'', ''Helsinginjoen kauppala'' and ''Vantaanjoen kauppala''. The accepted name was ''Vantaan kauppala'' after the river Vantaa. Two years later Vantaa received city rights.

Geography

Location

Vantaa is located in southern Finland, in the region of Uusimaa and the Helsinki sub-region. It is separated from the Gulf of Finland by Helsinki. Prior to the abolition of Finnish provinces in 2009, Vantaa was a part of the Southern Finland Province.

The city borders Helsinki, the Finnish capital, which is to the south and southwest. Other neighbouring municipalities are Espoo to the west; Nurmijärvi, Kerava, and Tuusula to the north; and Sipoo to the east. Vantaa is a part of the Finnish Capital Region, which is the inner core of the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area.

Subdivision

Vantaa is divided into seven major regions ( fi, suuralueet, sv, storområden): Tikkurila ''(Dickursby)'', Hakunila ''(Håkansböle)'', Koivukylä ''(Björkby)'', Korso, Aviapolis, Myyrmäki ''(Myrbacka)'', and Kivistö. These major regions are then divided into a total of 60 city districts, the most populated of which are Myyrmäki, Martinlaakso, Hakunila, and Pakkala.

Features

Vantaa consists mostly of lowlands cut up by rivers. According to a survey done by the National Land Survey of Finland on 1 January 2022, Vantaa encompasses , of which is water. The city is mostly suburban and urban area with some rural landscape, notably in the districts of Sotunki and Seutula. Average population density is , which rises above in concentrated urban districts like Myyrmäki and Tikkurila.

The river Vantaa runs through western Vantaa, and its tributary Keravanjoki runs through eastern Vantaa. In 1966, the rural municipality of Helsinki (now known as Vantaa) lost the district of Vuosaari to Helsinki proper, cutting it almost completely off from the sea. Up to 2008, Vantaa still reached the seashore at its southeastern corner at the Porvarinlahti bay, until the " Västerkulla wedge" with its seashore was annexed into Helsinki together with part of Sipoo in 2009. Thus Vantaa formally became the second largest inland city in the Nordic countries after Tampere.

For its area, Vantaa has relatively few lakes. The city encompasses two natural lakes: ''Kuusijärvi'' in Kuninkaanmäki and ''Lammaslampi'' Pähkinärinne, Hämeenkylä. In addition to these, there is an artificial lake, ''Silvolan tekojärvi''. Vantaa shares two lakes with Espoo: ''Odilampi'' and ''Pitkäjärvi''. Of the lakes in the Sipoonkorpi National Park, Bisajärvi and most of Gumböle träsk are located in Vantaa. Ponds formed in sand pits include Vetokannas, renovated into a swimming beach and the Vaaralanlammet ponds in Vaarala.kartta.vantaa.fi
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 28 May 2016.

The easternmost districts of Vantaa, Rajakylä and Länsimäki, are located right next to the border to Helsinki and are connected to the Helsinki districts of Vesala and Mellunmäki. Part of the turnstile of the Mellunmäki metro station is located in Vantaa.

Vantaa exhibits frequent exposed granite bedrock ground, which is common in Finland. Resulting from erosion in the last glacial period (about 10,000 years ago), elevated surfaces often lack soil ( superficial deposits), revealing bare stone unsuitable for most plant life. Other geological impacts of the last Ice Age include a series of eskers running through central Vantaa, which is one of the best sources of groundwater in the city. After the glacial period, most of the area of the current city of Vantaa was underwater except for the highest hills. As the land rose, bays stretching far inland were left behind, along with the river Vantaa, which changed its discharge from Mätäoja to Keravanjoki about two millennia ago. The bays flushed against the hills leaving shore formations still visibile today. They also formed flat deposits of clay at the bottom, which now form valleys especially along the rivers.

Flora

Vantaa belongs to the taiga zone and its flora represents the southern parts of the zone. Vantaa is located at the border between the southern boreal zone characteristic of inland southern Finland and the hemiboreal subzone characteristic of southwestern Finland.

The hemiboreal subzone is a transition subzone between coniferous and deciduous forests, and deciduous trees growing naturally in the subzone include oaks and elms. The river valleys running through Vantaa have previously been full of lush groves, but today most of them are farmed land. However, at some places they are connected to lush mixed forests, transitioning into shadowy spruce forests at some places.

There are prominent alder meadows along the river Mätäoja, which are home to various rare insect and plant species. The most common type of forest in Vantaa is a blueberry conifer forest with spruce and birch trees, whereas dry forests are only located at bare cliff areas.

The second most common forest type in Vantaa is the more lush grove-like forest. Its undergrowth includes blueberry, wood sorrel, herb Paris and lady fern, as well as wood anemone at some places.

There are lush groves growing mosaically among the forests, containing common southern grove plants such as the liverwort. The groves in Vantaa vary greatly, ranging from moist and shady spruce groves growing ostrich fern to dry groves growing liverwort and common hazel and hardwood groves. In springtime during the first weeks of May the wood anemone flowers very noticeably in almost all groves and grove-like forests, which is characteristic to the forest growth in southwestern and southern Finland.

There is a centuries-old oak forest in the district of Tammisto, which is considered to be the only natural oak forest in the Finnish capital area. The forest has been protected under the nature preservation law in 1946.

Although Vantaa is a very urbanised area, a great deal of its surface area still remains as rural fields or forest. The city of Vantaa contains 12.41 square kilometres of nature preserved area (about 5% of the surface area of the city). The first nature preserve area in Vantaa was founded in 1946 in Tammisto. There are two especially protected species in the nature preserve areas in Vantaa, the beetle species '' Hylochares cruentatus'' and the orchid species ''Malaxis monophyllos''.

Climate

Vantaa has a humid continental climate ( Köppen: Dfb), slightly above the threshold for subarctic classification. Although the city no longer (since 2009) has a coastline along the Baltic Sea, it is close enough to experience the mitigating influence of the sea and the Gulf Stream. The record low temperature in Vantaa is and the record high is .

The coldest month of the year is in February, when the average temperature based on measurements from 1981 to 2010 was -5.8 degrees Celsius.Lämpötila- ja sadetilastoja vuodesta 1961: Vantaa, Helmikuu
Finnish Meteorological Institute. Accessed on 22 May 2019. After this, the temperatures rise rapidly. The average temperature in April for the same period is +4.0 degrees and the one in May is +10.5 degrees. The warmest month of the year is in July, when the average temperature is +17.7 degrees. The second warmest month is in August with an average temperature of +15.7 degrees and the third warmest is June with an average temperature of +14.7 degrees. The average number of hot weather days in Vantaa is 17, of which over half occur in July on average. In sporadic years hot weather can extend to September. The summer thunderstorm period in Vantaa is very short and varying: it typically starts around Midsummer and ends in middle August, peaking at the end of July.

The temperatures lower in autumn slower than they rise in spring. The average day temperature in November is +0.3 degrees and the one in December is -3.3 degrees. In autumn and early winter low pressure storm fronts move eastwards from the Atlantic Ocean passing over Vantaa. Vantaa's location in Fennoscandia warmed by the Gulf Stream near the coast of the Gulf of Finland makes Vantaa a clearly more temperate area than the average based on its latitude. For example the southern tip of Greenland is located south of Vantaa, as are the tundra areas of the Labrador Peninsula. The period when Vantaa is normally covered in snow is typically from late December to early April, after which the snow rapidly melts away.

Spring in Vantaa experiences significantly less rain than autumn. The average monthly rainfall in February through May is only about 30 to 40 millimetres. In summer the weather becomes rainier, and the average monthly rainfall in July through November is 60 to 80 millimetres. The rainfall varies greatly throughout the year: in the late months of the year there are monthly rainfalls of less than 20 millimetres, as well as over 200 millimetres. Respectively, the weather becomes drier in the early months of the year. The total average rainfall in Vantaa in a year is 682.9 millimetres.

Demographics

The city is bilingual, both Finnish and Swedish being official languages.Government Decree on the Official Languages in Administrative Districts for 2003–2012 (in Finnish)


(the same in Swedish). Retrieved on 7 July 2012 A majority (78.7%) of the population are Finnish speakers while 2.4% speak Swedish as their first language. Vantaa's residents that speak a native language other than Finnish or Swedish stand at 18.9% of the population. Vantaa is home to a significant Estonian population.

In 2011, 199,236 of the municipality's 203,001 residents lived in officially recognized Urban areas in Finland, urban areas ( fi, taajama; sv, tätort). The remaining population lives in the few rural sections of Vantaa, such as those in Sotunki and Seutula.

In 2018, 56.1% of the population were members of the Lutheran Church of Finland.

Population

Of the population in Vantaa, about half were born in the Helsinki capital region. In 2000, 26.4% of the population in Vantaa were born in Vantaa, whereas the proportion in 2015 was 27.5%. The proportion of people born in Helsinki had fallen to 19.6% and the proportion of people born in Espoo was only a few percent. The proportion of people born outside Finland has tripled in the 21st century from 4.2% (in 2000) to 12.8% (in 2015).Vantaan väestö 2014/2015
city of Vantaa. Accessed on 28 May 2016. The proportion of foreign language speakers in Vantaa is higher than in any other municipality in Finland. In late 2021, 23% of the people in Vantaa spoke a different language than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi.

In 2021, there were 56,027 people with a foreign background residing in Vantaa. Most immigrants come from Russia.

The number of foreign speakers is projected to grow to 95,556 by 2035, which would be 34.3% of Vantaa's population in 2035.

In 2017, 69% of the people aged 15 or older in Vantaa had completed further education. Thus 31% of the population had completed primary education at the most. 38% had completed secondary education. Of the population who had completed tertiary education (31%), 9% had the lowest degree, 12% had a lower degree and 9% had a higher degree.

The average income in Vantaa is lower than elsewhere in the Helsinki capital region, but still higher than in the rest of Finland. On the other hand, apartments in Vantaa are cheaper in average than in Helsinki and Espoo.

Income levels in Vantaa vary greatly because of the differences between suburbs and detached house areas. Women in Vantaa earn about 71% in average of the income of men, which is slightly higher than the average in Finland (69%).

Many families with children live in Vantaa, amounting to about 55% of all households. 50.2% of the population in Vantaa are women.

Languages

Vantaa has been a primarily Finnish-speaking municipality since the early 20th century. The number of Swedish speakers has mostly remained the same throughout the decades, but because of the immigration to the municipality, the proportion of Swedish speakers has constantly decreased. In 1960 about ten percent of the population in Vantaa spoke Swedish, while the proportion in 1980 was about five percent. In 2018 the proportion of Swedish speakers in Vantaa was 2.4%. In comparison, the proportion of Swedish speakers in Helsinki was 5.6% and the one in Espoo was 7.1%. Vantaa still remains officially bilingual, as the Finnish language law states that a municipality must be declared as bilingual if the amount of minority language speakers (Finnish or Swedish) is at least 8% of the population or 3000 people. In regard to the total population, the proportion of Swedish speakers in Vantaa is the lowest in all bilingual municipalities in Finland. In 2019, of the districts in Vantaa, the proportion of Swedish speakers was the highest in Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä (19.0%), Sotunki (16.6%) and Luhtaanmäki (11.5%).

In early 2015 there were 112 languages spoken in Vantaa in addition to Finnish, Swedish and Sámi. In the 2000s, the most common languages spoken in Vantaa after Finnish and Swedish were Russian, Estonian and Somali. According to the language statistics from 2014 to 2015, the proportions of Russian and Estonian speakers have surpassed that of Swedish speakers, making Swedish the fourth most spoken language in Vantaa. In 2020 there were 51,160 people living in Vantaa not speaking any of the three official languages in Finland. The total proportion of foreign language speakers in Vantaa (21.6%) was the highest in Finland, even though the proportion of foreign language speakers was also high in Helsinki (16.6%) and Espoo (19.0%).

Religion

In late 2019 54.5% of the people in Vantaa belonged to the Lutheran church, 1.2% to the Eastern Orthodox Church of Finland and 2.9% to other religious communities. 41.4% of the people did not belong to any religious community. The proportion of members of the Lutheran church has steadily decreased in the 21st century while the proportion of people not belonging to religious communities has steadily increased.Vantaan väestö 2019/2029
, city of Vantaa. Accessed on 24 September 2020. In late 2015, 70.5% of the Finnish-speaking people in Vantaa belonged to the Lutheran church.

Lutheran congregations

According to the 2018 division of Vantaa, the following congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland are located in Vantaa:
* Congregation of Hakunila
* Congregation of Hämeenkylä
* Congregation of Korso
* Congregation of Rekola
* Congregation of Tikkurila (formerly known as the Finnish-speaking congregation of Helsingin pitäjä)
* Congregation of Vantaankoski (formerly known as the congregation of Vantaa)
* Vanda svenska församling (formerly known as Helsinge svenska församling)

Together these congregations form the Union of congregations in Vantaa (Finnish: ''Vantaan seurakuntayhtymä'', Swedish: ''Vanda kyrkliga samfällighet'').

Since 2016 Vantaa has been home to the Lutheran congregation of the Holy Trinity belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland.

Other congregations

Of the congregations of the Orthodox Church of Finland, the Orthodox congregation of Helsinki is active in Vantaa. The Tikkurila Orthodox Church is located near the Tikkurila sports park in Viertola

Of the member congregations of the Pentecostal Church of Finland, the Myyrmäki Pentecostal congregation, Vantaan Kotikirkko and Vantaan Minttukirkko are active in Vantaa. Independent Pentecostal

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