General Information about Lahti Region

The Lahti region forms part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Lahti occupies an ideal logistic location in the centre of Southern Finland, with good traffic connections to other parts of Finland. Lahti is only an hour's drive away from the greater Helsinki region and Helsinki-Vantaa international airport. With the new Helsinki-Lahti railway the traintrip to Helsinki takes only 48 minutes.

Lahti region in brief

• Number of inhabitants 198,434
• Inhabitants/km2 39
• Number of households 94,491
• Number of businesses 9,739
• Area 6,258 km2
• Area of water 1,125 km2
• Number of lakes and ponds approx. 1,000
• Coastline approx. 5,500 km

The Lahti region is Finland's fifth largest urban region. With its versatile range of services the city of Lahti forms the centre of an economic region with 200,000 inhabitants, as well as a thriving business city. The surrounding ridge and lake landscapes provide a natural living environment. Lahti is also the gateway to the Finnish Lake District. The waterway stretching from Lake Vesijärvi via the Vääksy Canal to Lake Päijänne allows you to reach as far as Central Finland by water.

The city of Lahti is a hundred years old, but its history dates back far beyond that. Lahti is home to the oldest Finnish residential area known today - the Ristola area in the suburb of Renkomäki was already populated over 9,000 years ago! Furthermore, the village of Lahti is mentioned in official documents for the first time in 1445, as a village in Hollola parish. Read more about Lahti's history.

The Lahti region has a long tradition in trade and entrepreneurship. Good traffic connections gave rise to a boom in business. The most significant branches were the joinery and textile industries, which centred on craftsmanship. Based on these traditions, the city of Lahti is known as the city of carpenters and is still the most significant centre of woodworking and furniture design and manufacture in Finland.

Strong industries in the Lahti region include the plastics and mechatronics industries, as well as the food and beverage industries, which are largely based on grain cultivation. Together with the woodworking and furniture industries they account for a significant proportion of the GNP in the province. The environmental business sector is a rapidly growing speciality sector in the region.

 

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