Place:Oulu, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa, Oulu, Finland

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Oulu is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants^[1] in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere and Vantaa, and the fourth largest urban area in the country after Helsinki, Tampere and Turku. Oulu's neighbouring municipalities are: Hailuoto, Ii, Kempele, Liminka, Lumijoki, Muhos, Pudasjärvi, Tyrnävä and Utajärvi.

Due to its large population and geopolitically economic and cultural-historical location, Oulu has been called the "capital of Northern Finland". Oulu is also considered one of Europe's "living labs", where residents experiment with new technology (such as NFC tags and ubi-screens) on a community-wide scale. Despite not even making part of the top 250 universities for information technology, the University of Oulu is regionally known in the field of information technology. Oulu has also been very successful in recent urban image surveys; in a study published by the Finnish Economic Survey in 2008, it received the best ranking of large cities in image ratings across the country, including ratings from respondents in all provinces.

Once known for wood tar and salmon, Oulu has evolved into a major high-tech centre, particularly in IT and wellness technology. Other prominent industries include wood refining, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, paper, and steel.

Oulu is chosen as the European Capital of Culture in 2026.

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