Sipoo (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈsipoː]; Swedish: Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of 22,590 (31 December 2023)[3] and covers an area of 698.60 square kilometres (269.73 sq mi) of which 358.97 km2 (138.60 sq mi) is water.[2] The population density is 66.51 inhabitants per square kilometre (172.3/sq mi). The administrative center of the municipality is Nikkilä (Swedish: Nickby),[1] which is located 34 kilometres (21 mi) northeast of the center of Helsinki. Another significant urban area is Söderkulla, located in the southern part of the municipality.

Sipoo
SipooSibbo
Municipality
Sipoon kunta
Sibbo kommun
Sipoo Old Church
Sipoo Old Church
Coat of arms of Sipoo
Location of Sipoo in Finland
Location of Sipoo in Finland
Coordinates: 60°22.5′N 025°16′E / 60.3750°N 25.267°E / 60.3750; 25.267
Country Finland
RegionUusimaa
Sub-regionHelsinki sub-region
Metropolitan areaGreater Helsinki
Charter1425
SeatNikkilä[1]
Government
 • Chairman of the municipal boardEero Seppänen
 • Chairman of the municipal assemblyChristel Liljeström
 • Municipal managerMikael Grannas
Area
 (2018-01-01)[2]
 • Total698.60 km2 (269.73 sq mi)
 • Land339.66 km2 (131.14 sq mi)
 • Water358.97 km2 (138.60 sq mi)
 • Rank225th largest in Finland
Population
 (2023-12-31)[3]
 • Total22,590
 • Rank46th largest in Finland
 • Density66.51/km2 (172.3/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish64.8% (official)
 • Swedish28.8% (official)
 • Others6.4%
Population by age
 • 0 to 1418%
 • 15 to 6464.2%
 • 65 or older17.8%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
ClimateDfb
Websitewww.sipoo.fi

Sipoo is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 65% Finnish speakers, 29% Swedish speakers, and 6% speakers of other languages.

The coat of arms of the municipality refers to the origin story of the settlement, according to which the ancestors of Sipoo are said to have arrived in the region on a viking ship, the bow of which was decorated with a head of wolf; accordingly, locals have even been called the “wolves of Sipoo”. The wave lined fess of the coat of arms refers to the Sipoo River.[7][8]

Geography edit

 
On the hills of the Sipoonkorpi National Park in Sipoo

It is the eastern neighbour of Helsinki and western neighbour of Porvoo, located in the Uusimaa region. Other neighboring municipalities are Vantaa, Kerava, Tuusula, Järvenpää, Mäntsälä and Pornainen. There are two important road connections in the direction of Helsinki from Sipoo: Highway 7, known as the Porvoo Highway (part of E18), and Road 170, which is known as the Itäväylä on the Helsinki side.

The once almost completely Swedish-speaking municipality is bilingual since 1953, a majority being Finnish speakers, due to migration from other parts of Finland since 2003. Today the Finnish-speaking majority stands at 65% and the Swedish-speaking minority comprises about 29% of the population.[4]

On June 26, 2006, the Sipoo town council decided on a strategy to triple the municipality's population over the next 25 years. The decision was made after Helsinki announced plans to annex a part of the municipality in order to continue to build high-end urbanizations by the coastline (and thus high-tax revenue producing). The Finnish Council of State voted in favor of the annexation on June 28, 2007, with an 8 to 4 vote.[9] Sipoo appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court, but the court upheld the decision of the Council of State[10] and the annexation took place on January 1, 2009. As Helsinki did not directly border Sipoo at any point, the city of Vantaa ceded the area lain between Helsinki and Sipoo to Helsinki in the process.

Politics edit

Results[11] of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Sipoo:

Notable people edit

In media edit

Sipoo is featured in Elisa Viihde network's black comedy television series Duke of Sipoo (Finnish: Sipoon herttua), starring a corrupted Sipolian businessman Pasi Kovalainen, played by Kari Hietalahti.[12][13]

Twin towns edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Uusi Nikkilä – Uusi Kaupunki (in Finnish)
  2. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  7. ^ Suomen kunnallisvaakunat (in Finnish). Suomen Kunnallisliitto. 1982. p. 159. ISBN 951-773-085-3.
  8. ^ "Sisäasiainministeriön vahvistamat kaupunkien, kauppaloiden ja kuntien vaakunat I:13 Sipoo". Kansallisarkiston digitaaliarkisto (in Finnish).[dead link]
  9. ^ "Hallitus hyväksyi Sipoo-liitoksen". YLE Uutiset (in Finnish). Helsinki: Yleisradio Oy. 2007-06-28. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
  10. ^ Supreme Administrative Court Precedent KHO:2008:1, ruled on January 15, 2008 (in Finnish)
  11. ^ "Tulospalvelu: Eduskuntavaalit 2019 - Sipoo". Sipoon sanomat. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  12. ^ Elisa Viihde – SIPOON HERTTUA (in Finnish)
  13. ^ IMDb – Sipoon Herttua: Duke of Sipoo

External links edit

  Media related to Sipoo at Wikimedia Commons   Sipoo travel guide from Wikivoyage