Raisio

Raisio (Finnish: [ˈrɑi̯sio]; Swedish: Reso) is a town and municipality in southwestern Finland and an important junction of major roads. The town has a population of 25,276 (19 September 2023)[2] and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, adjacent to the region's capital, Turku. The town of Raisio has a land area of 48.76 km2 (18.83 sq mi),[1] and has about 5 kilometres (3 mi) of coastline to the Bay of Raisio at its southern tip.

This article is about the town in Finland. For the company, see Raisio Group.
Raisio
Reso
Town
Raision kaupunki
Reso stad
Market place in Raisio
Market place in Raisio
Flag of Raisio
Flag
Coat of arms of Raisio
Coat of arms
Location of Raisio in Finland
Location of Raisio in Finland
Coordinates: 60°29′09″N 22°10′09″E
Country Finland
RegionSouthwest Finland
Sub-regionTurku sub-region
First records1292
City rights1974
Government
 • Town managerAri Korhonen
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total50.06 km2 (19.33 sq mi)
 • Land48.76 km2 (18.83 sq mi)
 • Water1.3 km2 (0.5 sq mi)
 • Rank306th largest in Finland
Population
 (2023-09-19)[2]
 • Total25,276
 • Rank41st largest in Finland
 • Density518.38/km2 (1,342.6/sq mi)
Population by native language
[3]
 • Finnish87.9% (official)
 • Swedish1.4%
 • Others10.6%
Population by age
[4]
 • 0 to 1415.6%
 • 15 to 6461.2%
 • 65 or older23.3%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
ClimateDfb
Websitewww.raisio.fi

The coat of arms of Raisio is inspired by Martin of Tours, the patron saint of the medieval stone church of Raisio parish. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson and approved for use on 23 April 1954.[5]

History

The oldest known written record of Raisio is from 1292, and there is strong evidence of Stone Age settlement in the area, but Raisio did not become a town until 1974. It was an agricultural area until the late 20th century. The success of the Raisio Group company transformed the town into an industrial centre and triggered a huge increase in population - during the 20th century the population of Raisio increased elevenfold. The town's existence was threatened by Turku city's plans to merge with Raisio. This changed after the Raisio Group became a successful company.

Name

The name Raisio was originally given to the river Raisionjoki. The earliest form of the river's name is Raisajoki, which means "marsh/bog river", and etymological evidence for this can be found in the Estonian word raisnik, which means "mire". Another theory about the etymology of the name Raisio is that it comes from the word raiskio, meaning a forest damaged by poor forest management, as the Raisio landscape was altered by siltation and post-glacial uplift after the Ice Age.[6]

Politics

Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Raisio:[7]

Economy

The town's location, with good transport links and close to the regional capital, has contributed greatly to its growth. Its main industries are services, food and chemical production. The largest employer in the town is the Raisio Group, a manufacturer of food, animal feed and health products.

Raisio is also home to the Mylly shopping centre, one of the largest in Scandinavia.

The town also has the third IKEA of Finland.

The biggest employers in Raisio:[8]

Employer Emplyees
Raision kaupunki (2023) 800
Raisiokeskus in total (2020) 500
Raisio Oyj (2020) 330
Ikea Raisio (2020) 190
Inhan Tehtaat Oy Ab (2021) 171
HIAB, Raisio (2020) 170
TYKS/Raisio hospital (2020) 150
Konepaja Häkkinen Oy (2021) 133
Kaukora Oy (2021) 127
Veho Oy ja Veho Group Oy (2020) 122
Bauhaus (2020) 100
TRP Group (2021) 99
Bunge Finland Oy (2021) 90
Tuulilasivarikko Oy (2021) 79
Varsinais-Suomen Auto-Center (2021) 74
Oy Martinex Ab (2021) 61
Raision Sähkö-insto Oy (2021) 60

Points of interest

The town of Raisio has many cultural facilities, such as the Friisilä Handicraft Centre, which offers visitors an insight into traditional Finnish handicrafts. The Harkko Cultural Centre in the town centre includes an art museum, an archaeological museum and a theatre. The town library and the Ulpukka swimming centre are also worth a visit. Raisio is also home to Finland's largest secondary school, Vaisaaren yläkoulu.

Raisio railway station, located on the Turku-Uusikaupunki railway line, has been declared a built cultural environment of national significance by the Finnish Heritage Agency.[9]

Demographics

Population

The city of Raisio has 25,276 inhabitants, making it the 41st most populous municipality in Finland. The city of Raisio is part of the Turku region, which is the third largest urban area in Finland with 344,350 inhabitants. In Raisio, 10.8% of the population has a foreign background, which is above the national average.[10]

Population size of Raisio 1990–2020[10]
Year Population
1990
21,120
1995
22,268
2000
23,149
2005
23,799
2010
24,427
2015
24,290
2020
24,407

Languages

Population by mother tongue (2022)[10]

  Finnish (87.9%)
  Russian (1.6%)
  Swedish (1.4%)
  Albanian (1.2%)
  Bosnian (0.9%)
  Estonian (0.8%)
  Kurdish (0.6%)
  Other (5.6%)

Raisio is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. The majority of the population - 21,936 people or 87.9% - speak Finnish as their first language. In Raisio, 354 people, or 1.4% of the population, speak Swedish.[10] 12.5% of the population of Raisio have a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish.[10] As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.

At least 30 different languages are spoken in Raisio. The most common foreign languages are Russian (1.6%), Albanian (1.2%), Bosnian (0.9%) and Estonian (0.8%).[10]

Immigration
Population by country of birth (2022)[10]
NationalityPopulation %
 Finland22,58590.6
 Soviet Union3311.3
 Yugoslavia2971.2
 Estonia2110.8
 Iraq1300.5
 Sweden1250.5
 Iran910.4
 Poland670.3
 Romania670.3
 Somalia610.2
 Ukraine600.2
Other7733.1

In 2022, there were 2,685 persons with a migrant background living in Raisio, or 10.8% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 2,357, or 9.4% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Raisio was 2,357.[12] Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union, the former Yugoslavia, Estonia and Iraq.[10]

The relative share of immigrants in Raisio's population is above the national average. Moreover, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.

Religion

In 2022, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 64.1% of the population of Raisio. Other religious groups accounted for 2.9% of the population. 33.0% of the population had no religious affiliation.[10]

Notable residents

Twin towns – sister cities

Raisio is twinned with:

Notes
  1. Statistics Finland classifies a person as having a "foreign background" if both parents or the only known parent were born abroad.[11]

References
  1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,587,841 at the end of August 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  3. "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. Suomen kunnallisvaakunat (in Finnish). Suomen Kunnallisliitto. 1982. p. 124. ISBN 951-773-085-3.
  6. "Raision kaupunki - Raisio-nimen etymologia". www.raisio.fi. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  7. "Result service - Raisio - Varsinais-Suomen vaalipiiri - Parliamentary Elections 2019". Yle.fi. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  8. "Suurimmat työnantajat Raisiossa | Raisio". www.raisio.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  9. "Raision rautatieasema". RKY.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Heritage Agency. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  10. "Number of foreign-language speakers grew by nearly 38,000 persons". Statistics Finland. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  11. "Persons with foreign background". Statistics Finland. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  12. "Population structure 2000-2022, urban-rural classification". Statistics Finland. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  13. "Kalervo Kummola" (in Finnish and Swedish). Parliament of Finland. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  14. "Ice Hockey Lions: Kummola, Kalervo". Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame (in Finnish). 1996. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
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