Rauma (Finnish:[ˈrɑu̯mɑ];Swedish:Raumo) is atown inFinland, on the western coast of the country. Rauma is in theSatakunta region, by theGulf of Bothnia. The population of Rauma is approximately 39,000, while thesub-region has a population of approximately 65,000. It is the 29th most populousmunicipality in Finland.
Rauma lies 92 kilometres (57 mi) north ofTurku and 50 kilometres (31 mi) south ofPori. Its neighbouring municipalities areEura,Eurajoki,Laitila andPyhäranta. Granted town privileges on 17 April 1442 (then under the rule ofSweden), Rauma is known for itspaper and maritime industry, high qualitylace (since the 18th century) and the old woodenarchitecture of the city centre (Old Rauma, Vanha Rauma), which is aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site.[6]
In the 14th century, before it was declared a town, Rauma had aFranciscanmonastery and aCatholic church. In 1550, the townsmen of Rauma wereordered to relocate toHelsinki, but this was unsuccessful and Rauma continued to grow.
Practically the whole wooden part of the town of Rauma was devastated in the fires of 1640 and 1682. The city centre, which mostly comprised the entire town until 1809, has approximately 600 wooden buildings. TheNeo-Renaissance style of many of the houses is a result of prosperity brought on by seafaring. In 1897 Rauma had the largest fleet of sailing ships in Finland, totalling 57 vessels. Goods were mainly exported toGermany,Stockholm and theBaltic states. As theCrimean War broke out in 1853, Rauma was attacked byFrench andBritish navy in 1855 during theÅland War. In the 1890s, Rauma got a teacher's college (a 'seminar'), which was later annexed to theUniversity of Turku. A part of the department of education still exists in Rauma.
The nameRauma comes from theGermanic wordstrauma, meaning "stream".[7]
Rauma has a humid continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. The marine affect from the Gulf of Bothnia brings both warmth in the winter and cooler temperatures in the summer. And similar to other coastal cities of Finland in the south, the average annual temperature in Rauma is about 6 °C (42.8 °F). On February 3 1966, the lowest ever recorded temperature in central Rauma hit -33.6 °C (-28.5 °F), and the highest temperature record being around 33 °C (91.4 °F) with no clear data, due to the weather station's data having been taken into use only in late 2010's.
AfterWorld War II, Rauma developed into an industrial city, the main industries beingshipbuilding,paper andpulp mills, and metal industry. Rauma is also the fifth largestport in Finland with almost six million tonnes of shipping per year.Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant is located next to Rauma, inEurajoki. Near Rauma, there is the static-inverter plant ofFenno-Skan.
Rauma is a monolingualFinnish-speaking municipality. As of 2024[update], the majority of the population, 35,169 persons (90.3%), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number ofSwedish speakers was 118 persons (0.3%) of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by9.4% of the population.[10] 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 Rauma. The most common foreign languages areRussian (0.9%),Polish (0.9%),Ukrainian (0.8%) andEstonian (0.6%).[10]
As of 2024[update], there were 3,725 persons with a foreign background living in Rauma, or 9% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 3,668, or 9% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Rauma was 3,182.[10]
The relative share of immigrants in Rauma's population is 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.
Rauma is located between Turku and Pori by the national road 8 (E8).Finnish national road 12 starts from Rauma and it was extended to thePort of Rauma in 2008.
A railway connection from Kokemäki is in active freight use, as there is a straight connection to the heavy industry areas and to the port of Rauma. The rail passenger traffic ended in 1988.
Satakunnan Liikenne Oy runs the local bus traffic and it has 3 lines in Rauma.[12] The hub for the local buses is located in Savila while the Long distance buses operate from Rauma bus station. The long distance buses take passengers directly toPori andTurku and toTampere andHelsinki with one transfer atHuittinen.[13]
The nearestairport is located inPori. The port of Rauma serves only freight ships on frequent basis.
Rauma has its owndialect ofFinnish, "Rauman giäl". The dialect inherits words from languages such asSwedish,English andGerman due to the seafaring past. The dialect has been diluted into mainstream Finnish in day-to-day use, but it is fairly well studied (mainly byHj. Nortamo) and practised as a hobby.
The town also is the birthplace ofRaumism, the non-idealist view of the constructed language Esperanto as a vehicle for culture, rather than as an international auxiliary language.
Annual Lace Week has been arranged in Rauma since year 1971. During the Lace week local craftspeople arrange small exhibitions in theOld Rauma area. The Lace week culminates to the Black Lace Night, when the small boutiques are open late night, various shows and concerts are held and people dress in black lace.
Rauman Lukko is the local ice hockey team. Founded in 1936, Lukko plays inSM-liiga, the top professional league in Finland. Lukko has won the Finnish championship twice, in 1963 and 2021. Their home arena isÄijänsuo Arena. Localfootball teams arePallo-Iirot andFC Rauma. These two teams share the same home field at Äijänsuo sports centre.
Rauma also has an own orienteering club, Rasti-Lukko, two basketball teams known as Kaaron Roima and Rauma Basket, arinkball team called UKP and afloorball team named SalBa.
One popular saying goes that every family in Rauma owns a boat – this is not true, though the city has room for ca. 2,800[15] boats at its docks. People can use their own boats or water buses to get to theKylmäpihlaja Lighthouse that doubles as a hotel and recreation site. Water buses take people to Reksaari island and former garrison island ofKuuskajaskari. Both islands are in recreational use.
Rauma and the surrounding municipality ofRauman maalaiskunta ("rural municipality of Rauma") were consolidated in 1993, continued in 2007 with the consolidation of municipality ofKodisjoki. The municipality ofLappi was consolidated to Rauma in 2009.
