Kauniainen (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑuniˌɑinen]; Swedish:Grankulla) is a small town and a municipality of 9,395 inhabitants (31 March 2016) in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. It is surrounded by the City of Espoo, in Greater Helsinki. Kauniainen was founded by a corporation in 1906, AB Grankulla, that parcelled land and created a suburb for villas; Kauniainen received the status of a market town in 1920, the Finnish name in 1949, and the title of kaupunki ("city, town") in 1972.