Tuusula (Finnish:[ˈtuːsulɑ]; Swedish: Tusby[ˈtʉːsby]) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Tuusula is situated in the centre of the Uusimaa region. The population of Tuusula is approximately 42,000. It is the 27th most populous municipality in Finland and the second most populous municipality without city status (Finnish: kaupunki) after Nurmijärvi. Tuusula is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area, which has approximately 1.6 million inhabitants.
A laurel branch in the coat of arms of Tuusula refers to the local artist community and a wheellock was borrowed from the coat of arms of the Stålhane noble family, which has long been influential in Tuusula. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson in 1953.[6]
Geography
Tuusula, lying on the shores of Tuusulanjärvi lake, is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaaregion. It covers an area of 225.45 square kilometres (87.05 sq mi) of
which 5.95 km2 (2.30 sq mi)
is water.[1] The population density is
191.32 inhabitants per square kilometre (495.5/sq mi).
Tuusula has three population centres. The administrative centre is Hyrylä (about 19,500 residents), other two are Jokela (5,300 residents) and Kellokoski (4,300 residents). The remaining 4,400 residents are distributed to the rural areas outside of municipal centres.[7] The most significant main road connection between Hyrylä and Helsinki is the Tuusulanväylämotorway.
The area in what is now Tuusula was located in the larger municipality of Sipoo. In 1643, it became a separate parish in the municipality, and in 1653, it became a separate municipality. Tuusula's boundaries have not always remained the same: in 1924 the municipality of Kerava split from here; in 1950 the municipality of Korso was split between Tuusula, Kerava, and Sipoo; and in 1951 the municipality of Järvenpää split from here.
During the Crimean War (1853–1856), a Russian garrison was stationed in what is now Hyrylä. The modern parish mostly developed around it.
The area had always been a fairly fertile area, thus encouraging farming. The development of other industries began in 1795, when an ironworks was created in Kellokoski that functioned until the 1980s. The establishment of a railway in Jokela furthered the growth.
Soon after this industrial time another aspect of Tuusulan history was realised. The Tuusulanjärvi lake attracted many artists who wanted to paint the beautiful landscape. Following the footsteps of Aleksis Kivi, the Finnish national poet who spent the last years of his life in a hut on the shores of the lake, Jean Sibelius, Juhani Aho, and Pekka Halonen even established their main residences here. Recently these houses have become tourist sites, especially Sibelius' house Ainola. Also, Tuusula Lake Road on the eastern shore of the lake is an outside museum.
The Jokela rail crash was a rail crash which occurred on 21 April 1996 here.
Due its proximity to the Helsinki, Tuusula is, for the most part, a commuter town. Tuusula itself has around 10,000 jobs. 66% of the jobs are in the service sector, 31% in the workforce, and 1.5% are farmers. The unemployment rate amounted to 3% (2007), far below the national average.
Transportation
From the centre of Tuusula, Hyrylä, there are good bus connections to Helsinki, via the Tuusula motorway. There are also two train stations in the main railway line of Finland, Jokela and Nuppulinna. Nuppulinna, however, was discontinued in 2016.
