Turku founded

1229 CE.

Shown on the map at 60.452°, 22.267°.

Turku ( TOOR-koo; Finnish: [ˈturku] ; Swedish: Åbo, Finland Swedish: [ˈoːbu] ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately 210,000, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 320,000. It is the 6th–most populous municipality in Finland, and the third–most populous urban area in the country after Helsinki and Tampere. Turku is Finland's oldest city. It is not known when Turku was granted city status. Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town of Aboa in his Bulla in 1229, and this year is now used as the founding year of the city. Turku was the most important city in Finland under Swedish rule. After the Finnish War, Finland became an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809, and Turku became the capital of the Grand Duchy. However, Turku lost its status as capital only three years later in 1812, when Emperor Alexander I of Russia decided to move the capital to Helsinki.

Text from the Wikipedia article Turku, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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