Valkeakoski

Valkeakoski
Town
Valkeakosken kaupunki

Sääksmäki Church in Valkeakoski

Coat of arms

Location of Valkeakoski in Finland
Coordinates: 61°16′N 024°02′E / 61.267°N 24.033°E / 61.267; 24.033Coordinates: 61°16′N 024°02′E / 61.267°N 24.033°E / 61.267; 24.033
Country Finland
Region Pirkanmaa
Sub-region Southern Pirkanmaa sub-region
Charter 1923
Government
 • Town manager Jukka Varonen
Area (2011-01-01)[1]
 • Total 372.04 km2 (143.65 sq mi)
 • Land 271.98 km2 (105.01 sq mi)
 • Water 100.06 km2 (38.63 sq mi)
Area rank 256th largest in Finland
Population (2016-03-31)[2]
 • Total 21,305
 • Rank 52nd largest in Finland
 • Density 78.33/km2 (202.9/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
 • Finnish 98.1% (official)
 • Swedish 0.2%
 • Others 1.6%
Population by age[4]
 • 0 to 14 16%
 • 15 to 64 64.4%
 • 65 or older 19.6%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5] 18.75%
Website www.valkeakoski.fi

Valkeakoski (lit. white rapids) is a town and municipality in Finland.

Valkeakoski is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Tampere and 150 km (93 mi) north of Helsinki in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of 21,305 (31 March 2016)[2] and covers an area of 372.04 square kilometres (143.65 sq mi) of which 100.06 km2 (38.63 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 78.33 inhabitants per square kilometre (202.9/sq mi).

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Valkeakoski is best known for its paper industry and domestically highly successful football team, FC Haka.

The town and the paper industry have both grown by the Valkeakoski rapids between the lake Mallasvesi in the north and the lake Vanajavesi in the south.

History

The Valkeakoski area is known to have been inhabited since the iron age. More than a thousand years ago, the ridges on the area served as a foundation of the Rapola fort. In the following Middle Ages, the mill town Sääksmäki was the center of the area. However, industrialization towards the end of the 19th century increased the importance of what became the contemporary town of Valkeakoski. The channel of Valkeakoski was opened in 1869, and the first paper mill was completed in 1873, marking the beginning of a continuing tradition of forest industry. The municipality of Sääksmäki, from which the town of Valkeakoski was detached in 1923 was consolidated with Valkeakoski in 1973.[6]

Sports

Valkeakoski is notable for the football team FC Haka and also other Haka sections, especially the cross-country skiing section. The "skiing Haka" is one of the most successful skiing teams in Finland. The other major local sports organization Koskenpojat has also been really successful, winning many national championships in aerobic gymnastics.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Valkeakoski is twinned with:

Notable persons from Valkeakoski

Notable places and events

References

  1. 1 2 "Area by municipality as of 1 January 2011" (PDF) (in Finnish and Swedish). Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Ennakkoväkiluku sukupuolen mukaan alueittain, maaliskuu.2016" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  6. ↑ History of Valkeakoski
  7. ↑ "Nanchang City and Sister Cities Intercommunion". Nanchang Municipal Party Committee of the CPC and Nanchang Municipal Government. Nanchang Economic Information Center. Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2013-11-05.

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