The VIII District, also known as Port Arthur (or Portsa in colloquial Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

), is one of the central district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

s of Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. It is located on the west side of the river Aura, between Puistokatu and the IX District

IX District, Turku

The IX District, also known as Länsiranta , is one of the central districts of Turku, Finland. As its alias suggests, it is located on the west side of the river Aura, between the Kakola hill in the neighbouring VIII District...

 (Länsiranta). The district consists mostly of wooden houses, separated by narrow streets paved with cobblestone

Cobblestone

Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...

s. It is widely considered one of the most beautiful residential districts in the whole of Finland, and has received an award to that effect in 2001. Port Arthur is one of the most expensive districts in Turku to live in.

The district was originally built in the 1900s as a residential area for workers. It was inadvertently named after the city of Port Arthur (now Lüshunkou

Lüshunkou

Lüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

) that Imperial Russia (which ruled Finland at the time) lost during the Russo-Japanese War

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...

 in 1904. Local children asked the workmen what they were doing; their reply of "rebuilding Port Arthur" caught on among the citizenry

Attempts by the city council to build tenement

Tenement

A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...

s in the area in the 1970s failed due to strong opposition from locals. The area is nowadays protected.

In addition to the residential area of Port Arthur, the district contains the Michael's Church, and the Kakola hill.

The district has a population of 4,760 and an annual population growth rate of -1.55%. 9.26% of the district's population are under 15 years old, while 19.10% are over 65. The district's linguistic

Language

Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...

 makeup is 91.07% Finnish, 7.06% Swedish

Finland-Swedish

Finland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their mother tongue...

, and 1.87% other.