Kerava (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkerɑʋɑ]; Swedish: Kervo) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Kerava is situated in the centre of the Uusimaa region. The population of Kerava is approximately 39,000. It is the 30th most populous municipality in Finland. Kerava is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, which has approximately 1.62 million inhabitants.
Kerava's neighbouring municipalities are Vantaa, Sipoo and Tuusula.
Mäntsälä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmæntsælæ]) is a municipality in the province of Southern Finland, and is part of the Uusimaa region. It has a population of 20,966(30 June 2025) and covers an area of 596.11 square kilometres (230.16 sq mi) ofwhich 15.26 km (5.89 sq mi)is water. The population density is36.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (93/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Mäntsälä is one of three municipalities in the Uusimaa region that do not have a Swedish name; the others are Nurmijärvi and Askola.
Mäntsälä lies about 60 kilometres (40 mi) north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. During the last few years, the population of Mäntsälä has been one of the most rapidly increasing in Finland. A new railway, the Kerava–Lahti railway line, was built between Kerava and Lahti with passenger traffic starting on 4 September 2006 from Mäntsälä railway station. Helsinki is about 40 minutes away, and Lahti even closer. Highway 4 (E75) connecting both cities passes through Mäntsälä.
Järvenpää (Finnish: [ˈjærʋemˌpæː]; Swedish: Träskända, Finland Swedish: [ˈtreskenˌda]; lit. 'lake's end') is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Järvenpää is situated in the centre of the Uusimaa region in the immediate vicinity of Lake Tuusula. The population of Järvenpää is approximately 47,000. It is the 24th most populous municipality in Finland. Järvenpää is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, which has approximately 1.62 million inhabitants.
Järvenpää is located on the Helsinki-Riihimäki railway line in the Uusimaa region, about 37 kilometres (23 mi) north of Helsinki. Neighbouring municipalities are Tuusula, Sipoo and Mäntsälä. People also refer to Kerava as Järvenpää's neighbour, although technically they do not share a border due to the one kilometre-wide strip of land that belongs to Tuusula.
The Helsinki capital region (Finnish: pääkaupunkiseutu, Swedish: huvudstadsregion) is the area formed by the cities of Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen and Vantaa in Finland. The area is limited around Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The area is located in the southern part of Finland on the shores of the Gulf of Finland and is an important growth centre with a population of 1.3 million.
The municipalities of the capital region have a legal obligation to cooperate in the areas of waste management and public transport, with HSL being responsible for public transport and HSY for waste management and water supply. Municipalities other than the four capital region municipalities may also be members of the association of municipalities. HSL has Kirkkonummi, Kerava, Tuusula, Sipoo from the Helsinki metropolitan area and Siuntio from outside the area, and Kirkkonummi for the waste management of HSY.
Vantaa (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈʋɑntɑː]; Swedish: Vanda, Finland Swedish: [ˈvɑnːdɑ]) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately 253,000. It is the 4th most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, which has approximately 1.6 million inhabitants.
The administrative centre of Vantaa is located in the Tikkurila district. Vantaa lies in Southern Finland and shares borders with Helsinki, the Finnish capital, to the south, Espoo to the southwest, Nurmijärvi to the northwest, Kerava and Tuusula to the north, and Sipoo to the east. The city covers a total area of 240.35 square kilometres (92.80 sq mi), of which 1.97 km (0.76 sq mi) is water.
Suomen Tivoli (lit. 'Carnival of Finland') is the largest traveling carnival in Finland. As of 2023, it contains 27 rides and is visited by some 300,000 visitors yearly.
The carnival's history dates back to 1888, when Johan Grönroos set up a carnival in Kerava. Grönroos expanded the business into a circus in 1898, and purchased what was likely the first movie projector in Finland in 1899. The family name was changed to Sariola by Johan's son, J. A. F. Grönroos in 1918. Sariola's carnival soon grew into four different traveling sections, of which Suomen Tivoli and Tivoli Sariola are the only ones remaining active.
The Kerava–Lahti railway line or Lahden oikorata (Lahti direct line) is a railway line in southern Finland between the towns of Kerava and Lahti, which opened on 3 September 2006.
Although Finland has no dedicated high-speed rail lines, sections of its rail network are capable of running speeds of up to 220 km/h (137 mph). The Finnish national railway company VR operates tilting Alstom Pendolino trains. The trains reach their maximum speed of 220 km/h (137 mph) in regular operation on a 75.7 km (47.0 mi) route between Kerava and Lahti. This portion of track was opened in 2006. The trains can run at 200 km/h (125 mph) on a longer route between Helsinki and Seinäjoki and peak at that speed between Helsinki and Turku. The main railway line between Helsinki and Oulu has been upgraded between Seinäjoki and Oulu to allow for trains to run at speeds between 160 km/h (100 mph) and 200 km/h (125 mph). Other parts of the Finnish railway network are limited to lower speed.
A new service called Allegro started between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg, Russia, in December 2010 with a journey time of 3½ hours. It utilized four trains, with a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph) which were a Pendolino model, supporting both Finnish and Russian standards. However the service was discontinued in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Helsinki urban area (Finnish: Helsingin keskustaajama, Swedish: Helsingfors centraltätort) is the largest urban area (Finnish: taajama) in Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region in Finland and has about 1.36 million inhabitants as of 2023, making it the second largest urban area in the Nordic countries.
The urban area includes, among other areas, the city of Helsinki as well as the cities of Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and it is also connected to the towns of Kerava and Järvenpää, which form their own urban areas.