Oulu
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Oulu
(ō`lo͞o), Swed. Uleåborg, city (1998 pop. 115,493), capital of Oulu prov., W central Finland, at the mouth of the Oulu River on the Gulf of Bothnia. It is a seaport and has metal shops, leather plants, and wood-processing and other industries. The city grew around a castle founded in 1590, was chartered in 1610, and became (19th cent.) an important commercial center. It was destroyed by fire in 1882 and rebuilt. The Univ. of Oulu was founded in 1959. It is also the site, since 1889, of the world's oldest cross-country ski race.Oulu
a province (lääni) in northern Finland, on the Gulf of Bothnia; its capital is the city of Oulu. Area, without inland waters, 56,700 sq km. Population, 401,200 (1972).
Oulu Province is a predominantly hilly plain, with a shallow cover of friable ancient glacial deposits. It has northern taiga forests and a dense network of rivers and lakes.
Logging is extensive, and the rivers are used for floating timber. There are hydroelectric power-plant cataracts on the Oulu River and its tributaries. The province has the paper and pulp, sawmilling, wood chemistry, leather, and food industries; a ferrous metallurgical combine is located in the town of Raahe. Dairy livestock are raised, and barley and rye are cultivated; there is salmon and herring fishing in the coastal waters.
Oulu
a city in northern Finland, at the mouth of the Oulu River, on the Gulf of Bothnia; capital of Oulu Province (lääni). Population, 85,000 (1971).
A seaport, Oulu is a junction for railroads and air routes; it has an international airport. There are food, sawmilling, and wood chemistry industries, in addition to a chemical industry producing nitrogen fertilizers and chlorine. The manufacture of leather and leather goods is a traditional industry. Oulu has a university.
Oulu
(Finnish, Oulujoki), a river in Finland. It is 107 km long and, together with the drainage system of Lake Oulu, drains an area of 22,900 sq km. The river originates in Lake Oulu and empties into the Gulf of Bothnia of the Baltic Sea. The mean flow rate is approximately 250 cu m per sec, with the maximum flow in June. The river, which has numerous rapids and a hydroelectric power-plant cataract, is frozen between November and May. Timber is floated on the Oulu, which in some sections is navigable. The seaport of Oulu is situated at the mouth.