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The city of Oulu was founded by the order of King Carl IX of Sweden at the mouth of the Oulu River in 1605. Oulu, which is located on the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia, has been the province's capital since 1776.
Oulu has the sixth largest population amongst Finnish towns. In January 2003 the city had 124 588 inhabitants. The area of Oulu is 411,1 square kilometres.
Coordinates: 65.01° N, 25.48° E
Elevation: 0 meters (0 feet)
Region: Oulu, Finland
Time Zone: East European Daylight Time (GMT + 2:00)
Oulu is led by a city board and council which are elected and which have representation from 7 political parties. The mayor of Oulu is Mr. Kari Nenonen. The chairman of the city council is Mr. Jorma Yypänaho and the chairman of the city board is Mr. Matti Pikkarainen.
Administrative organization of the City of Oulu
Oulu is considered northern Europe's most significant centre of competence. A significant amount of high technology ability has been concentrated in the area.
The city, which is the largest employer in the region, employs over 8,000 people. The inhabitants are provided with high level health and children's day care services. Oulu has also almost 100 different teaching establishments. The most significant of these is Oulu University which was founded in 1958.
The history of the internationalisation of the city of Oulu began as early as 1605 with the founding of the city. After the trading embargo in the Gulf of Bothnia was removed, trade became free and the sailing fleet of Oulu grew in the 1860's to be the largest in Finland.
Back then the most important exports from Oulu were furs, salmon and later also tar which was used throughout the world to protect wooden ships. Today the basic idea behind the city's international activities is to develop Oulu into the leading centre of competence for the entire northern Europe. The "tar" of the city of Oulu today, is internationally competitive high level know-how and ability.
Oulu has Finland's second largest university and many public and private research institutes. The region is well known for its rapidly growing high technology industry which sells its products throughout the world. The city is thus also an international growth centre.
Oulu is located on the Northern part of the Baltic Sea with good communication links to the largest European centres and its airport is the second busiest in Finland. In conclusion, the city is a natural gateway to the Euroarctic Barents region. The strong and well developed infrastructure of Oulu offers flexible links both to Europe and to the Northern regions of North-West Russia.
Finland's decision to become a member of the European Union in 1994 was significant, both for Finland and for Oulu. To some extent membership has meant adaptation to supranational decision making and to common markets which offer Finnish industry growing production and export possibilities. Over the centuries, the operating environment in Oulu has changed but the basic situation has changed only slightly. The city has always been, and remains, a gateway to the North between East and West.
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