This is Helsinki [antikvár]

THE TOWN ON A PROMONTORYHelsinki, the capital of Finland since 1812, lies on a promontory. Its geographical situation, almost encircled by water, with the waves swelling freely to the south, has given to the town its special features, and its special problems. The closeness of the sea is felt in the fresh winds that blow along the streets and esplanades of the town, between the lindens of Kai-vopuisto and the stalls of the Market Square, in the long rows of small boats bobbing up and down, in the seething bustle of the sea harbour to the southwest. A reminder that this is a harbour and shipping town is given by the stately ranks of the cranes, in the clatter of the winches, in the lorries that dart between ships and ware-houses. Moreover, the situation on a promontory provides opportuni-ties for expansion in one direction only, forming a fan penetrating the hinterland, with ali the traffic problems that result.With a population of about 505,000, Helsinki is a relatively large town for Nordic circums-tances (Stockholm has 745,000 inhabitans, Copenhagen 804,000, Oslo 480,000, and Gothenburg 452,000). The previous rapid expansion within present limits (18,178 hectares of land, and 26,632 hectares of water) beganto slow down during the early seventies, to be transformed into a direct decline in population. As opposed to this, the Helsinki région taken as a whole is still undergoing a process of relatively fast expansion, for the most part restricted to the outlying parts: signs of a slow-down are also becoming apparent in the more densely populated région of the capital (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen). At the turn of the year 197475, this région had a population of 878,000 inhabitants, and it is estimated that this figure will rise to 900,000 by 1980. The Helsinki région continues to be a population magnet, whose power of attraction is felt far away in northern and eastern Finland. Helsinki was founded as the resuit of a decree by the authorities on June 12, 1550. The founder was King Gustavus, Vasa of Sweden, Gőte and Vende, and also of Finland, who wished to create a com-petitor to flourishing Reval on the other side of the Gulf of Finland, and thereby check the shipping and trade directed towards that town. Gustavus Vasa had the nature of a dictator, and believed in the power of orders and prohibitions. The citizens of the small towns of Rauma, Ulvila, Tammi-saari and Porvoo were to be in-duced, or at need to be induced by compulsion, to move to the new town located by the estuary