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Helsinki ( HEL-sink-ee or hel-SINK-ee; Finnish: [ˈhelsiŋki] ; Swedish: Helsingfors, Finland Swedish: [helsiŋˈforːs] ) is the capital, largest and most populous city in Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the Uusimaa region in southern Finland and has a population of 673,011. The city's urban area has a population of 1,360,075, making it by far the most populous urban area in Finland and the country's most important centre for politics, education, finance, culture and research. Helsinki is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 km (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 km (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical links with these three cities. Together with the cities of Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen – and surrounding commuter towns, including the neighbouring municipality of Sipoo to the east – Helsinki forms the Greater Helsinki Metropolitan Area. It has a population of 1,641,329. Often considered Finland's only metropolis, it is the world's northernmost metropolitan area with over one million inhabitants and the northernmost capital of an EU member state. Helsinki is the third largest municipality in the Nordic countries after Stockholm and Oslo, and its urban area is the second largest in the Nordic countries after Stockholm. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish. The city is served by Helsinki Airport, located in the neighbouring city of Vantaa, with frequent flights to many destinations in Europe, North America and Asia. Helsinki hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics, the first CSCE/OSCE Summit in 1975, the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2007 and it was the 2012 World Design Capital.Helsinki has one of the highest standards of urban living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki as the world's most liveable city in its liveable cities index. In the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 liveability survey, Helsinki ranked ninth out of 140 cities. In July 2021, the American magazine Time named Helsinki as one of the world's greatest places in 2021, as a city that "can grow into a burgeoning cultural nest in the future" and that is already known as an environmental pioneer in the world. In an international Cities of Choice survey conducted in 2021 by the Boston Consulting Group and the BCG Henderson Institute, Helsinki was ranked the third best city in the world to live in, with London and New York City coming in first and second. In the Condé Nast Traveler magazine's 2023 Readers' Choice Awards, Helsinki was ranked 4th as the friendliest cities in Europe. Helsinki, along with Rovaniemi in Lapland, is also one of Finland's most important tourist cities. Due to the large number of sea passengers per year, Helsinki is classified as a major port city. Source: Wikipedia (en)

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