Helsinki

Capital of Finland: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.

Overview

Helsinki is the capital of Finland, in Uusimaa. About 658,864 people live in the city proper, making it the 1st largest city of Finland in our atlas.

It lies at 60.17° N, 24.94° E, about 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Europe/Helsinki time zone. At this high latitude, summer days are very long and winter days very short.

Location

Red dot: Helsinki. Green dots: other major cities of Finland. Map data: Natural Earth.

Climate

Helsinki has a continental (warm summer) climate (Köppen Dfb). The warmest month is usually Jul, with average highs near 20°C (67°F); the coolest nights come in Feb at about -6°C (22°F). Around 712 mm (28 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, spread fairly evenly through the year.

-1°-4°Jan56-2°-6°Feb450°-3°Mar425°1°Apr4011°6°May4816°11°Jun6620°16°Jul5919°16°Aug7115°12°Sep639°6°Oct805°2°Nov751°-2°Dec67mm

Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.

Landmarks and places to see

Helsinki Olympic Stadium
Helsinki Olympic StadiumStadium in Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki Central Railway Station
Helsinki Central Railway StationRailway station in Helsinki, Finland
Ateneum
AteneumArt museum in Helsinki, Finland
Senate Square
Senate SquareSquare in Helsinki, Finland
Havis Amanda
Havis AmandaBronze sculpture in Helsinki, created 1906 by Ville Vallgren
National Museum of Finland
National Museum of FinlandMuseum in Helsinki, Finland
Linnanmäki
LinnanmäkiAmusement park in Helsinki, Finland
Esplanadi park
Esplanadi parkPark in Helsinki, Finland

Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.

What to eat in FinlandNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.

Nearby major cities

← FinlandAll cities

Sources

Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.

Photo credits
  • Olympiastadion 2 2020-08-12: Joneikifi, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Helsinki Central railway station in Finland, 2021 July: Anne Pietarinen, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Art museum Ateneum in Kluuvi, Helsinki, Finland, 2014: Finnish National Gallery, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Senaatintori joulukuisena aamuna 2004: Photographed by Jonik., CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • "Havis Amanda", la statue de la fontaine de Vallgren (Helsinki) (2744386193): Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • FinlandNationalMuseum: No machine-readable author provided. Thermos assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 2.5 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Linnanmäki ilmasta 27.5.2017: Simbe, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Statue of Johan Ludvig Runeberg in Helsinki - DSC03903: Daderot, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)