Pori

For other uses, see Pori (disambiguation).

Pori (Swedish: Björneborg) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some 15 kilometres (9 mi) from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, which is the largest in Finland. It was established in 1558 by John III (Finnish: Juhana III or Juhana-herttua). Pori is the most important town in the Satakunta region.

The municipality has a population of Template:Infobox Finnish Municipality/population count () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Pori is the Template:Infobox Finnish Municipality/population count sequenceth largest city in Finland, and the 7th largest urban area.

The Neo-Gothic Juselius Mausoleum, located in the Käppärä cemetery in central Pori, was built in 1903 by the wealthy industrialist F.A. Juselius for his daughter Sigrid, who died when she was only 11 years old. The mausoleum was designed by the architect Josef Stenbäck. The mausoleum originally had frescoes painted by artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela, but these decayed after a short time. The frescoes were restored by Akseli's son Jorma Gallen-Kallela using his father's sketches.

Pori is known, among other things, for the sandy beaches of Yyteri and for hosting Pori Jazz, an annual international jazz festival. Performers at the jazz fesival have included Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, The Brand New Heavies and Steely Dan. B.B King is an honorary mayor of the city.

The local newspaper in Pori is the Satakunnan Kansa paper, giving an overview of the recent news. There are also sports and children's articles included.

Name

The name Pori comes from the borg part (meaning "castle") of the original name in Swedish with a Fennicised pronunciation. The Swedish name Björneborg means "bear castle", and the Latin name Arctopolis means "bear city".

History

The river had a key role in the creation of Pori. Sailing in the Kokemäki river had become more and more difficult after the 14th century. The importance of Kokemäki and Ulvila began to decline when ships could no longer navigate the river. In the 16th century, the situation had become so bad that 20-years old John III (Finnish: Juhana III or Juhana-herttua) decided to establish a new harbour and market town closer to the sea. The concept and location were good, but the inhabitants were missing.

The Bourgeois of Rauma and Ulvila had been ordered to move to Helsinki, which had recently been founded, however they did not enjoy living in Helsinki, and after numerous pleas the citizens of Rauma were given permission to return to their previous homes. However, those from Ulvila were ordered to migrate to the newly founded city of Pori. On 8 March 1558 John III gave the charter of Pori, which read: "Because we have seen that it would be best to build a strong market town alongside the sea, and because we cannot find anywhere suitable for fortifying in Ulvila, we have chosen another location at Pori."

At the time Pori had around 300 involuntary residents. However, they soon recognised the advantages of their new location, which offered opportunities for profitable trading, amongst other things. Ship building has been important since the beginning of history of Pori. Shipyard started at the city behind the place where the main church is now situated. The biggest ship probably ever built in Pori "Porin Kraveli" was completed 1583. At the 17th century there were many restrictions for the trade. 1765 started the "golden age" for shipbuilding when the city got its staple rights again. The main shipyard was moved into Reposaari 1826 and ship building was increased so much, that there were several shipyards all along the coast of the region.

The city has burned down and been rebuilt nine times, because the houses were made of wood. First time it was destroyed by fire 1571 and last time was 1852. Only few building, like the Town hall, were saved from fire. The city plan and the shape of the present "Stone-Pori" was formed after that time. Oldest buildings are historically and culturally important (first Finnish speaking theatre) Four esplanades divide the city center in four parts and streets are wider. Main street Yrjönkatu became the first pedestrian zone in Finland 1977.

Pori National Urban Park was established in 2002. The neighboring municipality of Noormarkku was annexed with Pori on 1 January 2010.

• 
  The Juselius Mausoleum, designed by Josef Stenbäck
• 
  Harness racer Ari Kela at the Pori harness racing track

Geography

River and delta

The geological uplift after ice age has been relatively high at the mouth of the Kokemäenjoki river. 1558 when the city was established it was situated on the shore of Pori bay. Because of this uplift the delta of the river begins now on the front of the city. Recreation area of Kirjurinluoto is actually on an island connected with bridges to mainland. Pori National Urban Park preserves the story of the phases of development of the town born at the mouth of the river Kokemäenjoki.

Climate

Climate data for Pori
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−3 (27)	−3 (27)	1 (34)	8 (46)	14 (57)	19 (66)	21 (70)	20 (68)	14 (57)	8 (46)	2 (36)	−1 (30)	8 (47)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−8 (18)	−9 (16)	−5 (23)	−1 (30)	4 (39)	9 (48)	12 (54)	10 (50)	6 (43)	3 (37)	−2 (28)	−5 (23)	1 (34)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	26.6 (1.05)	20.7 (0.81)	24.1 (0.95)	20.6 (0.81)	20.0 (0.79)	36.9 (1.45)	36.2 (1.43)	42.5 (1.67)	35.5 (1.40)	37.4 (1.47)	29.6 (1.17)	30.2 (1.19)	360.3 (14.19)
Source: Foreca

Politics

Pori gives relatively strong support to the Social Democratic Party. In 2008, the party gained 29.8% of the votes, while the second largest party, National Coalition Party, got 26.1%. The mayor of Pori is Aino-Maija Luukkonen, who was elected to run the city in 2004 after the former mayor, Martti Sinisalmi, retired from the post.

Sports

The first sportsclub in Finland BSF (Segelföreningen i Björneborg) was initiated by Gustaf Sohlström in 1856, who got the inspiration while in England in Brighton sailing competition.

Porin Ässät are the ice hockey team that play in highest Finnish level, SM-liiga. They have won the championship twice (1971 and 1978). FC Jazz won the Finnish championship in football in 1993 and 1996.

Porin Narukerä, or just Narukerä, play bandyliiga and have become Finnish champions once. In 2012 they reached the final.

Two Pori athletes, wrestler Kelpo Gröndahl and weightlifter Kaarlo Kangasniemi, have won the Olympic Gold medal.

The Pori Bears play American football in the SAJL. Mike Leach, coach of the Bears in 1989, is currently head coach of the Washington State Cougars of the NCAA.

In 2009 Mikko Salo won the annual CrossFit Games at Armoas, California declaring him "The fittest man on the planet".

Demographics

More than 0% of the population has Finnish as their first language, and about 0% has either Polish, Estonian, German, Russian or Swedish as their first language. There is a small minority of about 0% of Swedish speakers in the city. There is a Swedish School and a Swedish Culture Club that are aimed at serving the Finland-Swedish minority in the Satakunta region.

Population development

The population peaked in the mid-1970s, when it was over 80 000. After that the population declined, and in recent years has remained steady at just over 76 000. The significant population increase in 1950 was the result of annexing nearby areas. After the annex of the neighbouring municipality Noormarkku in 2010 the population rose to the current 83,000.

1910 – 13,482 1910 – 13,981 1920 – 13,928 1930 – 15,966 1940 – 18,230 1950 – 43,306

1960 – 52,542 1970 – 72,983 1974 – 80,443 1978 – 79,815 1980 – 78,405 1984 – 78,933

1988 – 76,789 1990 – 76,357 1994 – 76,561 1998 – 76,375 2000 – 75,994 2004 – 76,152

2005 – 76,144 2006 – 76,181 2007 – 76,234 2008 – 76,436 2010 – 83,029

• Source

Notable people

• Akseli Gallen-Kallela - painter born 1865
• Eija Kantola – Finnish singer born 1966
• Veli-Pekka Ketola – Finnish ice hockey player born 1948, (Winnipeg Jets) 1974-77
• Pekka Rautakallio - ice hockey player, NHL all- stars player 1982, (Calgary Flames) Dinamo Riga head coach
• Antti Sumiala – Finnish footballer born 1974, (FC Jazz, FC Twente)
• Kelpo Gröndahl - Olympic gold medalist, wrestling 1952 and parliament member
• Kaarlo Kangasniemi - Olympic gold medalist, weight lifting 90 kg (198 lb) 1968
• Jyri Kjäll - Olympic silver medalist 1992, boxing
• Joni Nyman - Olympic bronze medalist 1984, boxing
• Jyrki Kangas, Mr. Pori Jazz
• Timo Koivusalo – Finnish actor and film director born 1963
• Olli Lindholm – Finnish singer of the band Yö. Born 1964
• Visa Mäkinen – Finnish film director born 1945
• Pertti Neumann – Finnish singer of the band Dingo in the 80's. Born 1959
• Kai Niemi – Motorcycle speedway rider born 1955
• Rita Niemi - aerobics, European Champion 3 times, WC silver 4 times
• Selim Palmgren – Finnish composer born 1878
• Jukka Rintala – Finnish designer born 1952
• Jukka Syrenius – Finnish blues musician born 1951
• Leo-Pekka Tähti – Finnish paraathletic with two olympic golds. Born 1983
• Kielo Tommila – Finnish actress born 1950
• Jorma Uotinen – Finnish dancer born 1950
• Mikko Salo – Winner of the Men's division of the 2009 CrossFit Games
• Jussi Rynnäs - ice hockey goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and formerly Ässät Pori
• Joel Armia - ice hockey winger drafted by the Buffalo Sabres but currently still playing for Ässät Pori born 1993

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland

Twin towns – Sister cities

Pori is twinned with:

• Bremerhaven, Germany, since 1967
• Eger, Hungary, since 1973
• Kołobrzeg, Poland, since 1975
• Mâcon, France, since 1990
• Porsgrunn, Norway, since 1956
• Riga, Latvia, since 1965
• Stralsund, Germany, since 1968
• Sundsvall, Sweden, since 1940
• Sønderborg, Denmark, since 1952

Trivia

The asteroid 1499 Pori was named after the city by its discoverer, the Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä.

Transmitter facility

There is a broadcasting facility near Pori for medium-wave and short-wave broadcasting managed by Digita. The medium-wave transmitter uses a 185 m (607 ft) guyed mast as an aerial.

Panorama from Kirjurinluoto to Pori.

External links

Media related to Pori at Wikimedia Commons

• City of Pori – Official website