The Turku metropolitan area has a population of about 316,000, making it the third largest region in Finland after Helsinki and Tampere.

The Turku metropolitan area is located on the Baltic Sea coast with its logistical activities.

[5] Turku Airport has logistics industries for sea, air, rail and road freight.

Northeast of the airport, the city region ends and the Finnish interior with its forests and countryside begins.

[8] Most of the water in the Turku region is concentrated in the Archipelago Sea, but there are also several lakes and reservoirs, some of which are located on the islands.

Most of the water is quite shallow, but the main sea routes can be used by the world's largest cruise ships, some of which are built at the Turku shipyard.

The river valleys have always been places of settlement, safe from the open sea and yet close and connected to it.

Outside the city region, the population density drops sharply and urbanisation is more concentrated and surrounded by the countryside.

Small and sprawling neighbourhoods surrounding the city centre were built around the 50s and 60s, along with more modern buildings.

The bus network is the only form of public transport in the Turku city region, although there have been discussions and preliminary decisions about reinstating a light rail system in the 2030s.