Valkeakoski

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 Markku Auvinen
Area(2011-01-01)
 - Total 372.04 km2 (143.6 sq mi)
 - Land 271.98 km2 (105 sq mi)
 - Water 100.06 km2 (38.6 sq mi)
Area rank 256th largest in Finland
Population (2011-01-31)
 - Total 20,833
 - Rank 52nd largest in Finland
 - Density 76.6/km2 (198.4/sq mi)
Population by native language
 - Finnish 98.1% (official)
 - Swedish 0.2%
 - Others 1.6%
Population by age
 - 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 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 20,833 (31 January 2011) and covers an area of 372.04 square kilometres (143.65 sq mi) of which 100.06 km2 (38.63 sq mi) is water. The population density is 76.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (198 /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.

Contents

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.

Notable persons from Valkeakoski

  • Veikko Hakulinen
  • Mika Kallio
  • Pentti Linkola
  • Iris Sihvonen
  • Emil Wikström

Gallery


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