[citation needed] Together with the cities of Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen—and surrounding commuter towns,[10] including the neighbouring municipality of Sipoo to the east[11]—Helsinki forms a metropolitan area.

[14] In July 2021, the American magazine Time named Helsinki one of the world's greatest places, a city that "can grow into a burgeoning cultural nest in the future" and is already known as an environmental pioneer.

[30] The Swedes permanently colonised the Helsinki region's coastline in the late 13th century, after the successful crusade to Finland that led to the defeat of the Tavastians.

Kuninkaantie, or the "King's Road", ran through the area and two interesting medieval buildings were built here: Vartiokylä hillfort [fi] in the 1380s and the Church of St. Lawrence in 1455.

The shipping route to the coast, and especially to Reval, meant that by the end of the Middle Ages the Helsinki region had become an important trading centre for wealthy peasants, priests and nobles in Finland, after Vyborg and Pohja.

[30] Helsinki was founded by King Gustav I of Sweden on 12 June 1550 as a trading town called Helsingfors to rival the Hanseatic city of Reval (now Tallinn) on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland.

[39][30] To populate the new town at the mouth of the Vantaa River, the king ordered the bourgeoisie of Porvoo, Raseborg, Rauma and Ulvila to move there.

In 1640, Count Per Brahe the Younger, together with some descendants of the original settlers, moved the centre of the city to the Vironniemi peninsula by the sea, today's Kruununhaka district, where the Senate Square and Helsinki Cathedral are located.

[39] After the Russians captured Helsinki in May 1713 during the Great Northern War, the retreating Swedish administration set fire to parts of the city.

The construction of the naval fortress of Sveaborg (Viapori in Finnish, now also called Suomenlinna) in the 18th century helped to improve Helsinki's status.

This transformation is most evident in the city centre, which was rebuilt in the neoclassical style to resemble St. Petersburg, largely according to a plan by the German-born architect C. L. Engel.

Finland's rapid urbanisation in the 1970s, which occurred late compared to the rest of Europe, tripled the population of the metropolitan area, and the Helsinki Metro subway system was built.

The City of Helsinki has about 11,000 boat moorings and over 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres; 54 square miles) of marine fishing waters adjacent to the capital region.

The Capital Region spreads over a land area of 770 square kilometres (300 sq mi) and has a population density of 1,619 per sg km.

[57] Due to the moderating influence of the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic Current (see also Extratropical cyclone), winter temperatures are higher than the northern location would suggest, with an average of −4 °C (25 °F) in January and February.

[74] Helsinki is also home to numerous Art Nouveau-influenced (Jugend in Finnish) buildings belonging to the Kansallisromantiikka (romantic nationalism) trend, designed in the early 20th century and strongly influenced by Kalevala, which was a common theme of the era.

[75] An important architect of the Finnish Art Nouveau style was Eliel Saarinen, whose architectural masterpiece was the Helsinki Central Station.

[82][83] The city has large amounts of underground areas such as shelters and tunnels, many used daily as swimming pool, church, water management, entertainment etc.

However, some of his works, such as the headquarters of the paper company Stora Enso and the concert venue Finlandia Hall, have been subject to divided opinions from the citizens.

[92] Modern architecture is represented, for example, by the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma,[50] which consists of two straight and curved-walled parts, though this style strongly divided the opinions from the citizens.

[115] As is the case with all Finnish municipalities, Helsinki's city council is the main decision-making organ in local politics, dealing with issues such as urban planning, schools, health care, and public transport.

Acclaimed contemporary composers Kaija Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Einojuhani Rautavaara, among others, were born and raised in Helsinki, and studied at the Sibelius Academy.

The opera singer Martti Wallén, one of the company's long-time soloists, was born and raised in Helsinki, as was mezzo-soprano Monica Groop.

Many widely renowned and acclaimed bands have originated in Helsinki, including Children of Bodom, Hanoi Rocks, HIM, Stratovarius, The 69 Eyes, Finntroll, Ensiferum, Wintersun, The Rasmus, Poets of the Fall, and Apocalyptica.

[citation needed] Sanoma publishes Finland's journal of record, Helsingin Sanomat, the tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, the commerce-oriented Taloussanomat, and the television channel Nelonen.

Helsinki was already known in the 18th century for its abundant number of inns and pubs, where both locals and those who landed in the harbor were offered plenty of alcoholic beverages.

[185] One of the most significant food culture venues in Helsinki is the general public area known as Teurastamo in the Hermanni district, which operated as the city's slaughterhouse between 1933 and 1992, to which the name of the place also refers.

Many important Finnish highways leave Helsinki for various parts of Finland; most of them in the form of motorways, but a few of these exceptions include Vihdintie.

[199] The railway connection to the east branches from the Main Line outside of Helsinki at Kerava, and leads via Lahti to eastern parts of Finland.

[204] As of January 2024[update], the system consists of 14 routes covering the inner part of the city center and one newer light rail style line connecting Keilaniemi in Espoo with Itäkeskus in eastern Helsinki.