Hirvensalo in the context of Districts of Turku

The Islands of Turku consist of islands belonging to the Finnish city of Turku. The greater Turku archipelago consists of more than 20,000 islands. There are dozens of islands and skerries, of which four have significant amounts of permanent inhabitants:

• Ruissalo/Runsala, accessible by bus from the city centre
• Hirvensalo
• Kakskerta
• Satava

Ruissalo (Finnish: [ˈrui̯sˌsɑlo]; Swedish: Runsala) is an island in the Archipelago Sea and a district of the city of Turku, Finland. The island is located to the south-west of the city, between Hirvensalo and Pansio in the mainland. It is rather sparsely populated, having a population of only 126 (as of 2004), with an annual growth rate of 3.97%. The villas on the island are considered culturally and historically valuable in Finland. Some are used as guesthouses; some are owned and run by foundations, labor unions, sports teams, and private enterprises in the area; some can be rented freely for days for private parties such as weddings; some have cafeterias in them. Private ownership exists – a couple villas even have renters with very selective occupancy. Some villas have deteriorated because of the high maintenance costs due to the historical building methods that must be used here.

One of the largest old oak forests in Finland is situated on the island and many parts of it are included in nature conservation programs. According to Karhu et al., “the total area of the oak-dominated woodland is 170 hectares, representing approximately the half of all oak-forests of Finland.”

Satava is a large island in the Archipelago Sea, on the southwest coast of Finland. Satava island is a part of the district of Turku, the oldest city in Finland. Satava is located between the islands, Hirvensalo and Kakskerta. As with many Finnish islands, Satava hosts many summer residences and Ekvalla beach is a popular tourist destination spot on the island. The Turku district also contains neighbouring islands, such as Kulho and Järvistensaari.

The current (as of 2005) population of the Satava island district is 781, and it is increasing at an annual rate of 2.22%. 18.43% of the population are under 15 years old, while 15.75% are over 65. The district's linguistic makeup is 94.49% Finnish, 4.61% Swedish, and 0.90% other.