Information for a Newcomer in Turku

Turku and the surrounding municipalities form a vibrant growth center in the Baltic Sea region. A diverse economic structure, dynamic businesses, and high-quality education, culture, and services—along with the beautiful archipelago—make Turku a highly attractive combination. The population of Turku is about 195,000 and is growing by approximately 1,000 people per year.

Turku is an officially bilingual city, with about 5% of its residents speaking Swedish as their mother tongue. Turku is also a multicultural and multilingual city. More than 14% of its residents speak a native language other than Finnish, Swedish, or Sami. The largest non-Finnish-language groups, in order, are: Russian, Arabic, Kurdish, Albanian, Somali, Estonian, English, and Farsi.

You can find information and news about the City of Turku's services, decision-making, and events on the turku.fi website. Current information is also published on the City of Turku's social media channels. Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky and YouTube.

Turku is home to numerous religious communities. There are places of worship and prayer rooms for many different religions in the city. You can use the Religions in Finland service to search for information by religious community and location.

Find a religious community here

The City of Turku's new political leadership model and organizational structure came into effect on August 1, 2021. The city's top leadership consists of a mayor and three deputy mayors, who form the Mayoral Board. This board guides and coordinates the city's operations in accordance with the decisions made by the City Council and the City Board.

The City of Turku's highest decision-making power is held by the City Council, which has 67 members. The council members and their alternates are elected every four years in municipal elections.

The City Board is responsible for the city's administration and financial management and implements the council's decisions. The City Board has 13 members chosen by the City Council.

In addition to the City Council and City Board, the city's other political bodies include committees, their sub-committees, and commissions.

On the city's website (turku.fi), you can find information about the City Council, the City Board, committees, and their decisions.

Residents of Turku have the right to receive information about the preparation and decisions of city matters and to be heard easily and in a timely manner. The easiest way to influence the city's decision-making is to vote in the municipal elections. In addition, the city has created several different ways for its residents to influence city affairs. These include:

• Area Forums, which are open discussion events for all city residents.
• Resident's Budget, which is the city's way of implementing participatory budgeting. Residents can propose, develop, and vote on how the city's funds are used.
• "Kerro kantasi" ("State Your Opinion") service, where you can give your opinion on matters that are currently being prepared.
• Municipal Initiative, which allows you to bring up a current issue or problem.
• Feedback Service, where you can provide feedback or suggest improvements for city services.
• Influencer Groups are the Turku Children's Parliament, the Youth Council, and the councils for persons with disabilities, the elderly, and multicultural affairs. These groups influence the planning, preparation, and monitoring of services. You can contact these groups and present them with your ideas.

Administration and decision-making

Participate and influence

The Turku Region Public Transport, Föli, offers easy-to-use and smooth public transportation in the area of six municipalities. Föli covers Turku, Kaarina, Raisio, Lieto, Naantali, and Rusko. You can search for route information for Turku and the surrounding region on the Föli website. The service suggests how you can get from one place to another using local public buses.

You can pay for a bus trip with cash, a travel card, the Föli app, or with a contactless payment on a debit or credit card.

You can buy a Föli travel card at a service point. You can load money onto the travel card on the Föli website or at service points and on buses. You can find more information about sales and top-up points on the Föli website.

Public Transport Service Office contact information: Kauppatorin Monitori Aurakatu 8, KOP-kolmio The service office is open Mon–Fri from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

From Turku, there are good train and bus connections to different parts of Finland, especially to the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Turku is the oldest city in Finland and the country's former capital. The city's history is generally traced back to the year 1229, when Pope Gregory IX moved the bishop's seat to the current area of Turku, which was already a wealthy and relatively densely populated region. Located in the Aura River valley, Turku also served as a center for trade, as indicated by the city's name, which is derived from the Old Russian word tǔrgǔ, meaning "marketplace."

Turku Castle, situated at the mouth of the Aura River, was the most important base for secular power in the Finnish region. Initially, it served as a garrison for the Swedish king's governor and soldiers. Over the centuries, it also functioned as a Renaissance castle during the reign of Duke John III, the official residence of the Governor-General of Finland, and a prison. Today, Turku Castle operates as a museum.

During the period of Swedish rule, Turku was the largest and most important city in the Finnish region. Its status as the eastern center of the Swedish realm was emphasized in the 17th century when numerous educational and administrative institutions were established in the city. For example, the provincial government was founded in Turku in 1617, and Finland's first Court of Appeal was established in 1623.

As the oldest and most significant city, Turku was a pioneer in the development of Finnish society and culture. Religion, education, and many new ideas and inventions passed through Turku to the rest of Finland. For instance, the first Finnish currency, called abo, was minted in Turku, and the first book in the Finnish language, Mikael Agricola's ABC-kiria (ABC book), was published here. The first university in Finland, the Royal Academy of Turku, was founded in the city in 1640. Turku is also a trailblazer in many respects when it comes to industrial history.

In 1809, as a result of the war between Sweden and Russia, Finland came under Russian rule, and the Russian emperor became the ruler of Finland. Initially, Turku remained the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland (autonomous Finland), but Emperor Alexander I moved the capital to Helsinki in 1812.

The City of Turku was almost completely destroyed in the most devastating urban fire in Nordic history in 1827. As a result of the destruction, the last central government bodies and the Royal Academy of Turku were moved to Helsinki. However, the archiepiscopal seat remained in Turku, and the nearly 800-year-old Turku Cathedral is still the nation's national sanctuary.

Turku also suffered severe damage from bombings during World War II. With the reconstruction following the Great Fire of Turku and World War II, as well as subsequent growth and new construction, Turku has developed over two centuries into the city we know today—an old, yet beautiful and vibrant city on both sides of the Aura River.