Facts About TurkuThe official languages spoken in Turku are Finnish and Swedish.The Declaration of Christmas Peace has been a tradition in Finland from the Middle Ages every year, except in 1939 due to the Winter War.Turku is the fifth-largest city in Finland.Turku is the oldest city in Finland and founded in 1229 when Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden.The first school in Finland was established in Turku, the old Cathedral school in the 13th century.The first university in Finland, the “The Royal Academy of Turku” was established in the city in 1640, but it has moved to Helsinki and become the University of Helsinki.Turku has co-operation agreements with the following cities: Tallinn, Estonia & Tianjin, China.The Finnish name Turku originates from an Old East Slavic word, tǔrgǔ, meaning “market place”. The word Turku still means “market place” in some Finnish dialects.The Population of Turku is 191,603, as of 2019.Turku has a long history as Finland’s largest city and occasionally as the administrative center of the country, but for the last two hundred years has been surpassed by Helsinki.Turku is twinned with: Constanța, Romania; Varna, Bulgaria; Rostock, Germany; Gdańsk, Poland; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Tartu, Estonia; Florence, Italy; Bratislava, Slovakia; Szeged, Hungary; Cologne, Germany; Bergen, Norway; Aarhus, Denmark & Gothenburg, Sweden.Turku is one of only two cities in Finland to have an established international school (the other city being Helsinki). Turku International School, located in the eastern district of Varissuo, has been operating since 2003.Informative Facts About Turku
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