Helsinki City

Helsinki spreads around a number of bays and peninsulas and over a number of islands. The inner city area occupies a southern peninsula, which is rarely referred to by its actual name Vironnemi. Population density in certain parts of Helsinki's inner city area is very high, reaching 16,494 inhabitants per square kilometer (42,719/sq mi) in the district of Kallio, but as a whole Helsinki's population density of 3,050 inhabitants per square kilometer (7,899/sq mi) ranks it as quite sparsely populated in comparison to other European capital cities. Much of Helsinki outside the inner city area consists of postwar suburbs separated from each other by patches of forests. A narrow, ten kilometer (6.2 mi) long Helsinki Central Park that stretches from the inner city to the northern border of Helsinki is an important recreational area for the residents.

Some notable islands in Helsinki include Seusaari, Lautasaari and Korkeasaari – which is also the country's biggest zoo – as well as the fortress island of Suomeliina (Sveaborg) and the military island of Santahamina.

he city has a temperate continental climate. Owing to the mitigating influence of the Baltic sea and Gulf stream, temperatures in winter are much higher than the northern location might suggest, with the average in January and February around -6 °C. Temperatures below -20 °C occur normally only for a week or two in a year. However, because of the latitude, days lasts less than six hours in the winter solstice, and the very cloudy weather accentuates the darkness. Conversely, Helsinki enjoys long days in summer, eighteen hours at the summer solstice. The temperature June through August is around 18-25 °C.

Climate in 2007 in Helsinki city center (summer temperatures are not very hot and winter temperatures not very cold because of its location near the sea):