The following is a 'list of towns in
Finland'. In the year 1977 the juridical difference between cities, towns and
municipalities were removed. Today only municipalities are recognized, some of which are commonly referred to as
towns (kaupunki in
Finnish, 'stad' in
Swedish). Municipality can decide itself, whether it uses municipality or city / town designation. To date, many decide to use the latter, even though often the places do not even meet the definition of city, made by
EU, which is minimum population of 50 000, and minimum
population density of 500 inhabitants per square kilometer. Also, even the centre or conurbation of the "city" itself may not be so
urban itself. A simple, independent decision in the municipal council is required to change the name of a rural "municipality" (
kunta) into a "city" (
kaupunki). For towns founded before the 1960s the list includes the year the town was
chartered.