Vantaa

Vantaa (IPA: [ˈʋɑntɑː]; Vanda in Swedish) is a city and municipality in Finland. It borders Helsinki, the Finnish capital, to the north and northeast. Other neighbouring municipalities are Espoo to the west, Nurmijärvi, Kerava and Tuusula to the north and Sipoo to the east. Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen make up the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The most significant areas of the city are Tikkurila, Myyrmäki, Martinlaakso, Hakunila, Koivukylä and Korso. Its seat is in Tikkurila (or Dickursby in Swedish).

The Helsinki-Vantaa international airport is located in Vantaa, and Vantaa is known as an airport city.

Vantaa with its population of 185,429 (as of 2004-12-31) is the fourth biggest city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is located there. It also hosts a science centre, Heureka.

Vantaa encompasses 243 km², of which 1.90 km² is water. Population density is 769.93/km².

The name Vantaa was taken into use in 1972 when the municipality gained Market town rights. The first record of the area is as Helsinge in 1351 when king Magnus II of Sweden granted Salmon fishing rights to river Vantaa to Estonian Padise Monastery.

On October 11, 2002, the city was shocked by the explosion of a Bomb in the local Myyrmanni Shopping mall, killing 7, including the bomber, a 19 year old Chemistry student from Espoo-Vantaa Institute of Technology. For more information on this issue see Myyrmanni bombing.