Following the conclusion of the Finnish War, the decision to make Helsinki the new capital of the Russian-controlled Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812 had a significant positive impact on the municipality's growth and development.

After World War II, Espoo underwent swift urbanization and significant demographic shifts, with Finnish becoming the majority language around 1950, replacing Swedish.

[15][16] Aalto University is situated in Otaniemi, Espoo, alongside a thriving scientific community that comprises startups and associations such as VTT – the Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Espoo is home to leading enterprises like Nokia, HMD Global, Tieto, KONE, Neste, Fortum, Orion Corporation, Outokumpu, and Foreca, in addition to game developers Rovio and Remedy Entertainment.

Some artefacts found in Espoo have also been traced to ancient Savo-Karelian Finnish costumes, and the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval women in the area have had similar jewellery as in the region around present-day Mikkeli.

The administrative centre Espoon keskus has grown around the church and the Espoo railway station, but the municipality has retained a network-like structure to the modern day.

[27] When the city of Helsinki became the capital of the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, it brought novel developments to the neighbouring parish of Espoo.

The Glims farmstead in Karvasmäki has been preserved as a museum to present rural life in Espoo during this period when industrial development was still minute in Finland.

Some brickyards had already been built in the 18th century on the grounds of Espoonkartano manor, located in the western part of the present-day city, but it was not until the economic reforms of Emperor Alexander II that the Industrial Revolution started to gain momentum in Finland.

[31] The Russian military feared that Germany would use southern Finland to attack Petrograd, so Russia started building a fortification chain of over 20 kilometres (12 mi) surrounding Helsinki to protect it.

Two days ago we received an order that the house, the large woodshed and the sauna have to be empty by noon on the next day.The Russian Revolution in 1917 stopped work at the fortification.

[32]: 45 By order from the Finnish People's Delegation, a revolutionary court was founded in Espoo, with the Kauklahti-based worker Aleksi Aronen serving as its judge.

Shortly after the end of the Continuation War, the population of Espoo grew by four thousand as frontline soldiers and evacuees from ceded territories (including the Porkkalanniemi peninsula, leased to the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1956) were settled in the city.

Different parts of Espoo included the wealthy garden city district of Tapiola, large areas that still remained as countryside, and new suburbs such as Haukilahti, Karakallio and Soukka.

The building was constructed of quartz sand bricks, travertine tiles, glass and mosaic concrete, and its cost rose to about 130 million Finnish markka.

In terms of natural geography, the coastal waters of Espoo are divided into four different sea areas, consisting counting from the west of Espoonlahti, Suvisaaristo-Lauttasaari and Seurasaari.

[57]: 55 Because the sweet water pools to the south of the Salpausselkä ridges formed when the ancient bays separated from the sea into lakes because of upthrust, only very few islands developed in them.

[61] The city is home to 73 vulnerable or endangered species,[62] including the Siberian flying squirrel, whose Finnish populations have experienced a steep decline for many decades due to logging.

However, the flying squirrel is also present in some southern areas, including the Central Park, Soukka, Espoon keskus, Tapiola, Laajalahti, Hannusmetsä and Matinkylä.

Espoo is among the northernmost places to have nautical dusk even at summer solstice, meaning the sun is at least six degrees below the horizon at the darkest hour of the night.

[111]: 17 The transition from a medieval rural parish into an integral part of the Helsinki metropolitan area has dropped the proportion of farming and forestry jobs to about a fifth of a percent.

[112] The head offices of Nokia, Valmet, Remedy Entertainment, Fortum, Neste, Huhtamäki, Metsä Group, Orion Corporation, Oriola, Outotec and LähiTapiola are located in Espoo.

The most important is Espoon kartano (Swedish: Esbo gård, Espoo Manor), first mentioned in maps in 1495, and belonging to the noble Ramsay family since 1756.

The rural landscapes in Espoo started gradually changing in the late 19th century as new villas were founded on the coast because of regular steamship traffic.

The first suburban areas also appeared along the railway: tuberculosis was a common cause of death among the Finns in the early 20th century, and the dry and bright hills in Espoo along with the pines growing on them were seen as suitable to prevent and treat the disease.

The Espoo United women's hockey team played at the highest level, Naisten Liiga, and won silver in the 2017 league championships.

In August 2017, in what was described as an effort to stabilize the club's tenuous financial situation, Espoo United abandoned its women's teams in both ice hockey and basketball.

[138] The Finnish Ice Hockey Association chose to intervene in September 2017 and created an organization that would allow the team to play under the name Espoo Blues until a better structure could be identified.

[142] Espoo is the birthplace of 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, former Dallas Stars forward Jere Lehtinen (three time NHL Selke Trophy winner), former Formula One driver JJ Lehto, professional downhill mountain biker Matti Lehikoinen, professional ten-pin bowling star Osku Palermaa and 2009 European Figure Skating Champion Laura Lepistö.

[160] Bus lines in southern Espoo travel to the Matinkylä metro station and at times of heavy traffic, directly to the Kamppi Center in Helsinki.