Urheilun keskusjärjestöjen jäsenmäärissä tapahtuneet maantieteelliset ja historialliset muutokset 1951−1991

A major part of the organized sports in Finland has been done either
in the political leftist worker’s federation Työväen Urheiluliitto (TUL)
or in Suomen Voimistelu- ja Urheiluliitto (SVUL) in the latter part of
the 20th century. Although the difference of the ideology between the
two organizations has been identified, there is a lack of research on
the spatial point of view. Is Finland a homogenous country or not?
In this article, the difference of the memberships by districts of
SVUL and TUL were analyzed. We used the district-wise membership
statistics of these central organizations from 1951 to 1991. We
compared these membership statistics to the population data and to
the electoral statistics.
A major migration towards cities has affected also organized sport.
Between 1961−1971 the amount of memberships in sports clubs rose
faster in rising urbanized areas than in regressing countryside. On
some areas where the support of political left was low also TUL had
low number of members. On the other hand, in areas with higher
amount of manufacturing industry, and thus workers, TUL was
stronger than in areas with lower amount of manufacturing.