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Oulu

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

Oulun kaupunki
(City of Oulu)

City

Oulu (1605)

Administrative Province

Oulu province

Historical Province

Ostrobothnia

Area (2004-01-01)
– Total (excl. sea areas)
– Land
– Inland water

Ranked 244^th
384.99 km²
373.10 km²
11.89 km²

Population
– Total (2004-01-01)
– Density

Ranked 6^th
125,970
337.5/km²

This article is about the Finnish city; for other uses see Oulu (disambiguation).

Oulu (Uleåborg in Swedish) is a city and municipality of about 125,000 inhabitants in the province of Oulu and the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the largest and most important city in Northern Finland and the sixth biggest city in the country. Its population growth rate is almost comparable with that of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

Oulu was founded on August 8 1605 by King Karl IX of Sweden opposite the castle built on the island of Linnansaari. This took place after favourable peace settlements with the Russians, which removed the threat of them attacking the region via the main east-west waterway, the river Oulu (the surrounding areas were populated much earlier). Oulu is situated by the Gulf of Bothnia, at the mouth of Oulu River, which is an ancient trading site. One source for the name Oulu is a word in the Sami language meaning floodwater, but there are other suggestions. 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 municipality of Oulunsalo, is the second busiest in Finland.

The City of Oulu celebrates its 400^th anniversary this year.

An amusing feature of the downtown landscape has been, for years, a certain piece of graffiti. The words "paska kaupunni" have been repeatedly written on a wall on Uusikatu street, between the bars Linnankrouvi and Cuba (formerly Reidar). The graffito has survived countless overpaintings, sometimes appearing with an added N. The most recent variation (as seen on the site paskakaupunni.com) has been cleverly added to, and now reads: "Paraskaikest kaupunni 400!" meaning "best-of-all-city 400!"

Paska kaupunni means "shitty city" with the word city misspelt, and is probably a reference to a song by Oulu-born Finnish rock musician and author Kauko Röyhkä.