Varissuo (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

; ''Kråkkärret'' in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

and the largest

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

, in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is located seven kilometres to the east of the city centre, and is the easternmost major suburb of Turku, bordering on the neighbouring city of

Kaarina Kaarina (; sv, S:t Karins, i.e. " Saint Catherine's") is a small town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region and is a neighbouring town of Turku, which is the capital of Southwest Finland, therefore Kaarina ...

. Varissuo has 9,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom are foreign

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

s. It is thus the second largest district of Turku, after Runosmäki. The name consists of the words , meaning '

crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

' and , meaning '

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

'. 15.72% of Varissuo's population are under 15 years old, while 12.56% are over 65. Around 60% of the population speaks an immigrant language, reflecting the suburb's wide cultural variety. 90% of students at Varissuo school speak a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish. The suburb was constructed from scratch on an area of previously uninhabited

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

( in

) starting in the mid-1970s as

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

from

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

areas to the city increased heavily in volume. Varissuo has several schools, a library, an underground ice arena, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church, a health centre, a post office and a social security ( KELA) office. In addition, the

Itäkeskus Itäkeskus ( sv, Östra centrum, literal translation ''East center'') is a ''quarter'' in the neighbourhood of Vartiokylä (as of the 1980s) in Helsinki, Finland. The district's main attraction is the largest covered-in shopping mall in the Nordic ...

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

is located in Varissuo, as well as a

University of Turku sv, Åbo universitet , latin_name = Universitas Aboensis , image_name = University of Turku.svg , motto = ''Vapaan kansan lahja vapaalle tieteelle'' , established = 1920 , type ...

teacher training school ( Turun normaalikoulu) and Turku International School. As many other parts of Turku, Varissuo has many

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

connections, with frequent bus links to the city centre as well as other nearby districts and cities. Varissuo has a very high percentage of immigrants who lack proficiency in the Finnish language; many speak a form of Finnish known as with simplified grammar and a limited vocabulary.

References

{{coord, 60.448, N, 22.356, E, region:FI_source:enwiki-uniquenames, display=title Districts of Turku