Salo (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈsɑlo]) is a city inFinland, located in the southwestern interior of the country. The population of Salo is approximately 51,000, while thesub-region has a population of approximately 59,000. It is the 20th most populousmunicipality in Finland, and the 24th most populousurban area in the country.
Salo is located in theSouthwest Finland. Salo covers an area of 2,168.30 square kilometres (837.19 sq mi) of which 181.78 km2 (70.19 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 25.56/km2 (66.2/sq mi). The municipality is unilinguallyFinnish.
The nameSalo means woodland, backwoods, but also a wooded island in Finnish. It is believed that Salo originally referred to an island located south of the current town over a thousand years ago, which is now a hill due topost-glacial rebound, and not even close to the sea today.[6]
Salo is a small city located between the capitalHelsinki (114 kilometres (71 mi) away) and the provincial capitalTurku (52 kilometres (32 mi) away). The city's proximity to these larger cities has contributed to the growth of Salo's business sector. Additionally, farming plays a significant role in the area. Salo shares borders withKoski Tl,Lohja,Kimitoön,Marttila,Paimio,Raseborg,Sauvo andSomero. Salo is also twinned withSaint Anthony Village inMinnesota.
Salo was previously recognised for its significant consumer electronics and mobile phone industry.Nokia, and brieflyMicrosoft Mobile, operated a manufacturing plant in the town. However, the plant was closed in 2015, resulting in high unemployment rates.
Salo is the birthplace of the former president of FinlandSauli Niinistö.
Salo has existed as a centre of rural commerce since at least the 16th century, emerging in the location where the Great Coastal Road,[7] the important East-West road, crossed River Salo; the river provided the fairway to the sea. In 1887 Salo officially became a market town and, in the beginning of 1891, an independent Municipality.[8] The area of the municipality was initially very small, only 0.65 km2. In 1932 it grew to 18 km2 when areas from neighbouringUskela andHalikko were annexed to Salo. Eventually Salo became a town in 1960. The municipality ofUskela was consolidated with Salo 1967. The municipalities ofHalikko,Kiikala,Kisko,Kuusjoki,Muurla,Perniö,Pertteli,Suomusjärvi andSärkisalo were consolidated with Salo in the beginning of 2009.Salo is also a popular last name in Finland.
The city of Salo has 50,794 inhabitants, making it the 20th most populous municipality inFinland. TheSalo region has a population of 59,217. In Salo, 8.6% of the population has a foreign background, which is slightly below the national average.[11]
Population size of Salo (and merged municipalities) 1990–2020[12]
Salo is a monolingualFinnish-speaking municipality. As of 2024[update], the majority of the population, 45,609 persons (89.7%), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number ofSwedish speakers was 588 persons (1.2%) of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by9.2% of the population.[13] AsEnglish andSwedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 30 different languages are spoken in Salo. The most common foreign languages are Russian (1.8%),Ukrainian (1.7%),Estonian (1.4%) andKurdish (0.7%).[13]
As of 2024[update], there were 4,807 persons with a migrant background living in Salo, or 9% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 4,456, or 9% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Salo was 3,350.[11] Most foreign-born citizens came from the formerSoviet Union,Estonia, Sweden andIraq.[12]
The relative share of immigrants in Salo's population is slightly below the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.
In 2023, theEvangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 70.4% of the population of Salo. Other religious groups accounted for 1.8% of the population. 27.8% of the population had no religious affiliation.[15]
Salo was well known in Finland and around the world for its large mobile phone factory operated byNokia. Nokia first started producing mobile phones in Salo in 1981. A new plant, 15,000 square metres, opened in June 1995. By this time 1,200 people were employed there, and it exported products to 70 countries as of 1995.[16] As of 2008, 5,000 people were employed at the plant.[17]
In 2012 amid heavy financial losses, Nokia laid off a third of Salo's 3,500 workforce and gradually shifted manufacturing to Asia. It had a negative impact on the town with unemployment rising. In 2010 Nokia accounted for 95% of the town'scorporate tax income, amounting to €60 million, but this dropped to just €14 million by 2012.[18] By the end of the year Salo no longer produced hardware and became aresearch and development centre.
After the centre was in the hands ofMicrosoft Mobile, layoffs continued and eventually in June 2015 Microsoft announced the closure of the plant, putting the jobs of the 1,100 employees at risk. By this time Salo's unemployment rate was 15%, and the layoffs could push that further to 20%. Solidarity was expressed by some Finnish politicians after Salo's decline, which also came amid Finland's slow post-2008 crisis economy.[19]
The city is home to the professional basketball teamSalon Vilpas Vikings, which plays in the Finish 1st DivisionKorisliiga. It plays its home games in theSalohalli. The most important orienteering club isAngelniemen Ankkuri, which organizes theHalikkorelay every autumn.
In 2016, the city of Salo signed a letter of intent with Los Angeles-based companyVirgin Hyperloop One to launch a project to build a 50 km longHyperloop tube between Salo and Turku.[20]
In recent years, the town of Salo has become known for the popularKurpitsaviikot ("Pumpkin Weeks"), which are organized inHalikko in every autumn.[21] At the local field, thousands of different sizes pumpkins and carvedjack-o'-lanterns are presented to Tourists.[22][23][24][25] The event celebratingHalloween culture has gathered audiences from all overFinland, fromHanko toIvalo,[26][22][23] and for example, the event organized in 2020 had as many as 100,000 visitors.[27] The event has also been noticed abroad, all the way to North America.[28] The significance of the event has also been emphasized by the fact that the 12th President of Finland,Sauli Niinistö, who was born in Salo, was officially opening the event's Pumpkin Park in October 2025.[29][30]
