Porvoo
The town of Porvoo has about 48 000 inhabitants and an area of 654 km2. The town is a thriving centre for the economic region of the eastern part of the province of Uusimaa. Porvoo is a bilingual town with about 33% of the inhabitants speaking Swedish as their mother tongue. More than half of the citizens of Porvoo gain their livelihood from trade and services, compared to a third who work in the industrial sector. he traditions and structure of industry and commercial life are based on three vibrant industrial branches in Porvoo - the graphics, electrotechnical and petrochemical industries. The publishing house, Sanoma-WSOY Oyj, has the longest traditions within the graphics industry. The Ensto Group has specialized in the electrotechnical field as well as in automation and electronics. The oil refinery belonging to the national oil company Fortum and the petrochemical production plant of Borealis Polymers Oy are nowadays part of the modern profile of Porvoo. Porvoo originally grew up as a trade centre and it continues to be an attractive focal point as a centre of business and commerce. The volume of retail trade makes Porvoo one of the bigger municipal centres. People from the wide surrounding area come to the town to do their shopping. Porvoo is an attractive tourist destination and the importance of tourism is considerable both for the retail trade and the service sector. The Old Town provides one of its most colourful sights and tourist attractions. Old Porvoo is famous for its narrow lanes and brick-coloured riverside warehouses. In the Empire-style part of the town, the low wooden houses belong to the classical town plan where the streets form squares. It is here that the home of Finland's greatest poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, provides one of Porvoo's most popular tourist attractions. The City of Porvoo and the Rural Municipality of Porvoo were united in 1 January, 1997. The new municipality is called the City of Porvoo. With its combined resources, it is an increasingly attractive place for people and business. In the new Porvoo, the quality of town planning and environmental protection has high priority.
