Twin City Pori
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The City of Pori was founded on the mouth of the river Kokemäenjoki in 1558 by John Duke of Finland and son of the Swedish king Gustav Wasa. It was a major trading port for whitefish, salmon and other products from the local cove for the rest of Europe. Exotic luxury goods such as spices, fine wines and fabrics were transported to Pori. After a lively history, Pori evolved in the 1840’s into Finland’s leading shipping port, until a disaster ended this status suddenly in 1852. On a single day, almost the entire town burned down to its foundations. After the big fire, the town was rebuilt more spaciously, with broad boulevards and beautiful brick houses along the river banks. Since Finland’s declaration of independence in 1917, Pori has become a major and rapidly growing port and centre of heavy industry. It has also entered the new millennium as a city of students. Pori is currently preparing for its 450th anniversary. Its inhabitants look back with pride over the long history of their town.

The industrial upheaval that began in the 70’s of the last century was drastic, and the regeneration process is still not complete. Similar to Bremerhaven, Pori had to cope with significant economic changes. The formerly strong shipbuilding industry has all but disappeared and the other economic focus – fishing - has also declined dramatically. Now, economic activity in Pori is more varied than before.

The current economic structure is composed as follows:

Industry and construction approx. 30 %,

Business, transport and services approx. 67 %

Agriculture, forestry and fishing approx. 1 %           

The unemployment rate in the Pori and Satakunta region is 15.9%.

There are many similarities between Pori and Bremerhaven. They have been twinned since May 1969. Efforts to promote understanding between the countries of Europe after World War II were also an important factor behind this partnership.

Pori is Finland’s tenth-largest town and is approx. 1,178km from Bremerhaven. The town covers an area of some 1,053m².

Pori has 76,000 inhabitants and Satakunta province, which surrounds the town, is home to a further 240,000 people.

Further sister cities of Pori are

Sundsvall in Sweden www.sundsvall.se
Sønderborg in Denmark www.sonderborg.dk
Porsgrunn in Norway www.porsgrunn.no
Riga in Latvia www.riga.lv
Stralsund in germany www.stralsund.de
Eger in Hungary www.eger.hu
Kolobrzeg in Poland www.kolobrzeg.pl
Mâcon in France www.macon.fr

Contact language: English

Address

City of Pori
Business Development Office
Post Office Box P.O. Box 121
FI-28101 Pori
Finnland
City Hall, Hallituskatu 12
FI-28101 Pori

Contact

Ms. Ulla Keskinen
Liaison Manager
 +35 8 44 701 1015
 ulla.keskinen@pori.fi

Website

www.pori.fi