Hangö

Hangö, a port and sea-bathing resort situated on the promontory of Hangöudd, to the extreme south-west of Finland. Hangö owes its commercial importance to the fact that it is practically the only winter ice-free port in Finland, and is thus of value both to the Finnish and the Russian sea-borne trade. When incorporated in 1874 it had only a few hundred inhabitants; in 1900 it had 2501 and it has now over six thousand (5986 in 1904). It is connected by railway with Helsingfors and Tammerfors, and is the centre of the Finnish butter export, which now amounts to over £1,000,000 yearly. There is a considerable import of coal, cotton, iron and breadstuffs, the chief exports being butter, fish, timber and wood pulp. During the period of emigration, owing to political troubles with Russia, over 12,000 Finns sailed from Hangö in a single year (1901), mostly for the United States and Canada. Hangö now takes front rank as a fashionable watering-place, especially for wealthy Russians, having a dry climate and a fine strand.