Editing Turku (section)

===Administrative subdivisions===
{{Main|Wards of Turku}}
[[File:Stålarminkatu-Mestarinkatu.jpg|thumb|right|[[IV District, Turku|IV District]], or Martti, is one of the smallest but most densely populated districts of Turku]]
The city is divided into 78 districts and nine [[Ward (country subdivision)|wards]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.turku.fi/asuminen-ja-ymparisto/asuminen/kaupunginosat |title=Kaupunginosat |work=City of Turku |date=5 May 2015 |access-date=22 October 2023 |language=fi }}{{Dead link|date=March 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> These do not operate as units of local government. However, some social programmes are district-based, especially in the eastern part of the city, where unemployment is high in some areas. The largest populated districts are [[Varissuo]] and [[Runosmäki]]. By area, [[Kakskerta]] and [[Paattinen]] are the largest districts.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

As many of the small neighbouring [[municipalities of Finland|municipalities]] from the north and south of the city were annexed during the mid-20th century, Turku is today shaped like an elongated pear. The city centre and most of the suburban areas lie in the middle, separated from the less densely populated northern rural areas by the Turku [[Bypass (road)|bypass]], that forms part of [[European route E18]]. Islands such as [[Ruissalo]], [[Hirvensalo]] and [[Kakskerta]], forming the southern part of the city, are also sparsely populated and mostly contain summer residences, with the exception of some districts in Hirvensalo which are currently growing into [[upper middle class|upper-middle-class]] suburbs.