Port of Helsinki

Answer 1

The Port of Helsinki is Finland's main seaport and industrial city. It is also the nation's capital. The Port of Helsinki lies on the shores of the Gulf of Finland off the Baltic Sea about 160 nautical miles west of St. Petersburg in Russia, about 42 nautical miles north-northeast of the Port of Tallinn in Estonia, and about 56 kilometers east of Finland's Port of Inkoo. The northernmost capital in continental Europe, the Port of Helsinki handles over half of Finland's imports. In 2005, almost 560 thousand people lived in the Port of Helsinki, and more than a million lived in the urban area. The Port of Helsinki is for the most part a service-based economy, but industry still employs many people. The major industries in the Port of Helsinki include textiles, printing, and processing of metals and chemicals. Manufacturers produce electrical equipment and the world-famous Arabia porcelain. Shipbuilding is a major source of jobs in the Port of Helsinki. Most of Finland's major companies headquarter there, and many international companies have regional headquarters in the Port of Helsinki. Sweden's King Gustav I Vasa founded the Port of Helsinki in 1550, calling it Helsingfors, as a rival to Estonia's Tallinn. The new settlement suffered disease, poverty, and many wars. In 1710, the Black Death arrived to kill all but a third of the Port of Helsinki's residents. For many years, it was a small coastal village lost in the shadows of more prosperous Baltic trade centers. Its fortunes improved just a little when the Suomenlinna naval fortress was built, yet Swedish power over Finland suppressed the Port of Helsinki's growth. In the early 19th Century, Russia's Czar Alexander I sought to break Sweden's hold on Finland. In 1809, the Finnish War ended in Finland's annexation into Russia as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, making Helsinki the capital. The Port of Helsinki finally began to grow into a modern city, even though it was devastated by a terrible fire in 1813. In the decades following, the Port of Helsinki grew rapidly, developing a neo-classical downtown reminiscent of St. Petersburg and gaining modern railroads and industries. With just four thousand residents in 1810, the Port of Helsinki grew to a city of 60 thousand by 1890. By 1900, it was home to more than one hundred thousand people. In 1917, Finland declared its independence from Russia, and civil war soon followed. In 1918, during the Finnish Civil War, the Port of Helsinki was taken by the Red Guard on the first day of the war, and Red forces soon controlled all of southern Finland. Aided by German troops, the Finnish White Guard retook the capital and imprisoned Red soldiers and sympathizers. Some 13 thousand prisoners were held in the Port of Helsinki's old naval fortress on Suomenlinna Island. Though scarred, the standard of living soon recovered. In 1919, the parliament in the Port of Helsinki elected the country's first president. The Port of Helsinki was attacked by Soviet bombers in the Winter War and the Continuation War of the early 1940s. Unlike other European countries, Finland was not occupied by foreign powers during World War II. In 1944, two thousand planes from the USSR dropped around 16 thousand bombs on the city, yet it was spared extensive destruction by an effective air defense. Just a few years after the end of World War II, the Port of Helsinki hosted the 1952 Olympic Games. After the war, suburbs began to grow around the Port of Helsinki through the 1960s.The Port of Helsinki continued to grow despite the turbulence of the early 20th Century. During the 1970s, its population tripled when urbanization took hold. In the 1990s, the Port of Helsinki was one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the European Union. The Port of Helsinki has been a popular venue for international conferences and meetings since the middle of the 20th Century. In 1995, Finland joined the European Union, beginning a new era for the Port of Helsinki, which was named one of nine European Capitals of Culture in 2000. Still, it is the second most sparsely populated capital in the European Union today. Port Commerce The Port of Helsinki is Finland's major seaport for imports and tourism. The Port of Helsinki Authority is deeply involved in the metropolitan area's development and business life, operating under five basic principles: customer service, profitability, reliability, constant improvement, and environmental stewardship. The Port of Helsinki's major trading partners are Germany, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia. In 2008, the Port of Helsinki handled some 10.5 thousand vessel calls and over 11.8 million tons of cargo, including 999 thousand tons of bulk cargo and almost 10.9 million tons of unitized cargoes. Almost all of that cargo represented foreign trade. The Port of Helsinki handled 5.5 million tons of imports and 5.4 million tons of exports of unitized cargoes, including 420 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo and 518 thousand trucks and trailers. Almost nine million passengers passed through the Port of Helsinki in 2008, including 360 thousand cruise passengers. Services in the Port of Helsinki are provided by private companies, although the Port of Helsinki manages passenger traffic. Operating from the city center, port facilities in Vousaari are important to the Port of Helsinki, serving container and roll-on/roll-off cargo traffic. Passenger traffic is focused in the South and West Harbors of the Port of Helsinki. Much of the cargo traffic in the Port of Helsinki consists of foreign imports and exports. Containers make up the core of cargo traffic. Cargo throughput in the Port of Helsinki accounts for about a third of all Finnish foreign trade and about two-fifths of the country's seaborne foreign trade. Cargo imports handled by the Port of Helsinki include consumer goods, foodstuffs, raw materials, and semi-finished industrial products. Exports include forestry products, metals, foodstuffs, textiles, and glassware. Container traffic in the Port of Helsinki moves through Vuosaari Harbour, some 15 kilometers east of the main port. In addition to handling cargo, the Port of Helsinki's container terminals offer storage and inspection services. The Port of Helsinki's Vuosaari Harbour Center covers about 122 hectares of open yards and some four hectares of heated stores. The terminal includes space for dangerous goods, over 340 coupling points for free containers, and 48 reefer points. The Finnsteve terminal container yard has capacity for five thousand TEUs and some 180 reefer plugs inside a one-hectare heated warehouse. Container freight station services for exports include a 1.8 hectare warehouse with container-stuffing services handling 24 containers at one time. A second 2.2 hectare warehouse stores both containers and packaged timber. Steveco's Vuosaari container terminal has capacity to handle some 400 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo and as many as 150 thousand trailers. Offering space for temperature-controlled containers, the terminal loads/unloads vessels, stores containers, and stuffs and strips containers. Also in Vuosaari, Multi-Link Terminals Limited has a 5.7 hectare facility with capacity for 4138 TEUs. The terminal offers vessel loading/unloading services, container yard operations, and storage for containers that includes reefer connections for at least 87 containers. In the Port of Helsinki's South Harbour, Viking Line ABP handles truck and trailer traffic for their ships in the Stockholm and Tallinn service. In the West Harbour, the Eckero Line AB OY and Tallink Silja OY shipping companies employ their passenger ships to handle cargo as well. The Port of Helsinki is the busiest passenger port in Finland, offering connections to Tallinn, Stockholm, Rostock, Travemunde, and Gdynia. In the summer season, some 17 vessels leave for Tallinn on a daily basis, and the Port of Helsinki welcomes nearly 300 cruise ship calls carrying more than 360 thousand passengers to the Port of Helsinki. Cruising and Travel The City of Helsinki is the most cosmopolitan of all of Finland's cities. While it's not like New York or London, it has a diverse population where Finnish and Swedish are the most frequently-spoken languages. Almost everyone in the Port of Helsinki speaks English, and many residents know several languages. At its best in the summer, the Port of Helsinki is surrounded by the sea. Located on a large archipelago in the Gulf of Finland, the Port of Helsinki enjoys a wonderful natural setting. For information on the many attractions and events in the Port of Helsinki, please refer to the city's tourism website. Located on the sea, the Port of Helsinki enjoys a temperate continental climate with milder winters and warmer summers than many other places in Finland. Due to its northern location, winter days can be a short as six hours, and clouds emphasize the long darkness. In the summer, however, days can last over 18 hours at the summer solstice. Temperatures range from a high of 21 °C (70 °F) in July to a low of -7.7 °C (18 °F) in January. Rainfall is relatively even throughout the year, although it is rainiest from July until November. Visitors to the Port of Helsinki should not miss a trip to Suomenlinna, the "Gibraltar of the North." Once the strongest sea fortress on the Baltic, it was built by the Swedes in the middle 18th Century to protect their eastern borders. Today, the island is home to less Sweden's King Gustav I Vasa founded the Port of Helsinki in 1550, calling it Helsingfors, as a rival to Estonia's Tallinn. The new settlement suffered disease, poverty, and many wars. In 1710, the Black Death arrived to kill all but a third of the Port of Helsinki's residents. For many years, it was a small coastal village lost in the shadows of more prosperous Baltic trade centers. Its fortunes improved just a little when the Suomenlinna naval fortress was built, yet Swedish power over Finland suppressed the Port of Helsinki's growth. In the early 19th Century, Russia's Czar Alexander I sought to break Sweden's hold on Finland. In 1809, the Finnish War ended in Finland's annexation into Russia as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, making Helsinki the capital. The Port of Helsinki finally began to grow into a modern city, even though it was devastated by a terrible fire in 1813. In the decades following, the Port of Helsinki grew rapidly, developing a neo-classical downtown reminiscent of St. Petersburg and gaining modern railroads and industries. With just four thousand residents in 1810, the Port of Helsinki grew to a city of 60 thousand by 1890. By 1900, it was home to more than one hundred thousand people. In 1917, Finland declared its independence from Russia, and civil war soon followed. In 1918, during the Finnish Civil War, the Port of Helsinki was taken by the Red Guard on the first day of the war, and Red forces soon controlled all of southern Finland. Aided by German troops, the Finnish White Guard retook the capital and imprisoned Red soldiers and sympathizers. Some 13 thousand prisoners were held in the Port of Helsinki's old naval fortress on Suomenlinna Island. Though scarred, the standard of living soon recovered. In 1919, the parliament in the Port of Helsinki elected the country's first president. The Port of Helsinki was attacked by Soviet bombers in the Winter War and the Continuation War of the early 1940s. Unlike other European countries, Finland was not occupied by foreign powers during World War II. In 1944, two thousand planes from the USSR dropped around 16 thousand bombs on the city, yet it was spared extensive destruction by an effective air defense. Just a few years after the end of World War II, the Port of Helsinki hosted the 1952 Olympic Games. After the war, suburbs began to grow around the Port of Helsinki through the 1960s.The Port of Helsinki continued to grow despite the turbulence of the early 20th Century. During the 1970s, its population tripled when urbanization took hold. In the 1990s, the Port of Helsinki was one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the European Union. The Port of Helsinki has been a popular venue for international conferences and meetings since the middle of the 20th Century. In 1995, Finland joined the European Union, beginning a new era for the Port of Helsinki, which was named one of nine European Capitals of Culture in 2000. Still, it is the second most sparsely populated capital in the European Union today. Port Commerce The Port of Helsinki is Finland's major seaport for imports and tourism. The Port of Helsinki Authority is deeply involved in the metropolitan area's development and business life, operating under five basic principles: customer service, profitability, reliability, constant improvement, and environmental stewardship. The Port of Helsinki's major trading partners are Germany, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia. In 2008, the Port of Helsinki handled some 10.5 thousand vessel calls and over 11.8 million tons of cargo, including 999 thousand tons of bulk cargo and almost 10.9 million tons of unitized cargoes. Almost all of that cargo represented foreign trade. The Port of Helsinki handled 5.5 million tons of imports and 5.4 million tons of exports of unitized cargoes, including 420 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo and 518 thousand trucks and trailers. Almost nine million passengers passed through the Port of Helsinki in 2008, including 360 thousand cruise passengers. Services in the Port of Helsinki are provided by private companies, although the Port of Helsinki manages passenger traffic. Operating from the city center, port facilities in Vousaari are important to the Port of Helsinki, serving container and roll-on/roll-off cargo traffic. Passenger traffic is focused in the South and West Harbors of the Port of Helsinki. Much of the cargo traffic in the Port of Helsinki consists of foreign imports and exports. Containers make up the core of cargo traffic. Cargo throughput in the Port of Helsinki accounts for about a third of all Finnish foreign trade and about two-fifths of the country's seaborne foreign trade. Cargo imports handled by the Port of Helsinki include consumer goods, foodstuffs, raw materials, and semi-finished industrial products. Exports include forestry products, metals, foodstuffs, textiles, and glassware. Container traffic in the Port of Helsinki moves through Vuosaari Harbour, some 15 kilometers east of the main port. In addition to handling cargo, the Port of Helsinki's container terminals offer storage and inspection services. The Port of Helsinki's Vuosaari Harbour Center covers about 122 hectares of open yards and some four hectares of heated stores. The terminal includes space for dangerous goods, over 340 coupling points for free containers, and 48 reefer points. The Finnsteve terminal container yard has capacity for five thousand TEUs and some 180 reefer plugs inside a one-hectare heated warehouse. Container freight station services for exports include a 1.8 hectare warehouse with container-stuffing services handling 24 containers at one time. A second 2.2 hectare warehouse stores both containers and packaged timber. Steveco's Vuosaari container terminal has capacity to handle some 400 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo and as many as 150 thousand trailers. Offering space for temperature-controlled containers, the terminal loads/unloads vessels, stores containers, and stuffs and strips containers. Also in Vuosaari, Multi-Link Terminals Limited has a 5.7 hectare facility with capacity for 4138 TEUs. The terminal offers vessel loading/unloading services, container yard operations, and storage for containers that includes reefer connections for at least 87 containers. In the Port of Helsinki's South Harbour, Viking Line ABP handles truck and trailer traffic for their ships in the Stockholm and Tallinn service. In the West Harbour, the Eckero Line AB OY and Tallink Silja OY shipping companies employ their passenger ships to handle cargo as well. The Port of Helsinki is the busiest passenger port in Finland, offering connections to Tallinn, Stockholm, Rostock, Travemunde, and Gdynia. In the summer season, some 17 vessels leave for Tallinn on a daily basis, and the Port of Helsinki welcomes nearly 300 cruise ship calls carrying more than 360 thousand passengers to the Port of Helsinki. Cruising and Travel The City of Helsinki is the most cosmopolitan of all of Finland's cities. While it's not like New York or London, it has a diverse population where Finnish and Swedish are the most frequently-spoken languages. Almost everyone in the Port of Helsinki speaks English, and many residents know several languages. At its best in the summer, the Port of Helsinki is surrounded by the sea. Located on a large archipelago in the Gulf of Finland, the Port of Helsinki enjoys a wonderful natural setting. For information on the many attractions and events in the Port of Helsinki, please refer to the city's tourism website. Located on the sea, the Port of Helsinki enjoys a temperate continental climate with milder winters and warmer summers than many other places in Finland. Due to its northern location, winter days can be a short as six hours, and clouds emphasize the long darkness. In the summer, however, days can last over 18 hours at the summer solstice. Temperatures range from a high of 21 °C (70 °F) in July to a low of -7.7 °C (18 °F) in January. Rainfall is relatively even throughout the year, although it is rainiest from July until November. Visitors to the Port of Helsinki should not miss a trip to Suomenlinna, the "Gibraltar of the North." Once the strongest sea fortress on the Baltic, it was built by the Swedes in the middle 18th Century to protect their eastern borders. Today, the island is home to less than one thousand residents, and it still holds 18th Century buildings and few automobiles. Visitors will find many old fortifications, catacombs, and cannons on the island as well as many restaurants, museums, theaters, and cafes. Listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1991, the island is a popular tourist destination and picnic spot for residents of the Port of Helsinki. than one thousand residents, and it still holds 18th Century buildings and few automobiles. Visitors will find many old fortifications, catacombs, and cannons on the island as well as many restaurants, museums, theaters, and cafes. Listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1991, the island is a popular tourist destination and picnic spot for residents of the Port of Helsinki.