News 23 Mar 2015

Number of veteran vehicles has doubled in ten years

According to the cultural heritage statistics compiled by Statistics Finland, there were as many as over 41,000 vehicles registered as veteran vehicles in Finland at the end of 2014 while ten years earlier they amounted to good 20,000. There are most vehicles registered as veteran vehicles in areas with the highest vehicle stock and the densest population: one-half of the vehicles are located in Uusimaa, Varsinais-Suomi and Pirkanmaa.

Vehicles registered as veteran vehicles by region, 31 December 2014

The continued growth in the vehicle stock has affected the rapid increase in veteran vehicles, as there are more and more vehicles that are at least 30 years old and still roadworthy, which are the criteria for accepting a vehicle into the veteran vehicle register. The appreciation of old vehicles has also increased.

Ancient relics and sites most frequent in Åland

At the beginning of 2015, there were nearly 31,000 ancient relics and sites in Finland. The number has grown by nearly 10,000 since 2007. There are most ancient relics and sites in Lapland, Uusimaa and Varsinais-Suomi. These regions have more than one-third of all ancient relics and sites in Finland.

Relative to the area, the number of ancient relics and sites is by far most frequent in Åland, where you can find, on average, 108 ancient relics and sites per 100 square kilometres. In Uusimaa, the number of ancient relics and sites is around 40 while the average for the entire country is ten ancient relics and sites per 100 square kilometres. The regional division of ancient relics and sites is explained in particular by a long settlement history.

Ancient relics and sites per 100 square kilometres by region in 2015

Other cultural heritage sites included in the statistics are cultural heritage sites of national significance, scenic areas of nation-wide importance, building sites protected under law, church buildings, heritage ships, museum roads, railway stations, and museum trains.

Number of protected buildings has increased

The number of building sites protected under law has grown by over 70 since 2000 and now amount to 286. Good 800 state-owned buildings are protected under the Decree on the Protection of Buildings and 563 church buildings are protected under the Church Act.

The selection criteria for cultural heritage sites of national significance were renewed in 2009, which resulted in a drop of over 500 to the current number of good 1,200. One-third of these sites are located in Uusimaa and Varsinais-Suomi.

Heritage ships are ships that are included in the heritage ship register of the National Board of Antiquities, and that are significant in shipping history and still seaworthy. There are currently 92 heritage ships, the number has grown by 30 ships in the past ten years. Over one-half of the heritage ships in Finland are located in Etelä-Savo and Uusimaa.

At the beginning of 2015 there were 55 museum roads and bridges. There were 118 protected railway station areas and altogether 889 buildings in these station areas. There were 12 associations, companies and museums that arranged museum railway traffic.

The statistical data describing cultural heritage are extracts from an electronic table package on cultural statistics compiled by Statistics Finland. The free electronic table package replaces the printed Cultural Statistics publication starting from 2015. The table package is updated four times per year.

Further information: Jukka Ekholm +358 29 551 3370, firstname.lastname@stat.fi