Kokkola

Kokkola Kokkola – Karleby
—  City  —
Kokkolan kaupunki Karleby stad
Kokkola town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Kokkola in Finland
Coordinates: 63°50.2′N 023°08′E
Country	Finland
Region	Central Ostrobothnia
Sub-region	Kokkola sub-region
Charter	1620
Government
• City manager	Antti Isotalus
Area(2011-01-01)
• Total	2,730.81 km2 (1,054.37 sq mi)
• Land	1,444.20 km2 (557.61 sq mi)
• Water	1,286.61 km2 (496.76 sq mi)
Area rank	25th largest in Finland
Population (2012-01-31)
• Total	46,602
• Rank	22nd largest in Finland
• Density	32.27/km2 (83.6/sq mi)
Population by native language
• Finnish	84.2% (official)
• Swedish	13.9% (official)
• Others	1.9%
Population by age
• 0 to 14	18.8%
• 15 to 64	65%
• 65 or older	16.2%
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate	19.75%
Website	www.kokkola.fi

Kokkola (Swedish: Karleby) is a town and municipality of Finland. The town is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 46,602 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 2,730.81 square kilometres (1,054.37 sq mi) of which 1,286.61 km² (496.76 sq mi) is water. The population density is 32.27 inhabitants per square kilometre (83.6 /sq mi). The municipality is bilingual with 84.2% being Finnish and 13.9% Swedish speakers.

Name

The bilingual sign at the train station.

The Finnish name Kokkola means "place of bonfire" or "place of eagle" because the Finnish root word kokko means both bonfire and white-tailed eagle (the suffix -la denotes location). The town was known in Swedish by the name Gamlakarleby until January 1, 1977 when the surrounding land municipality of Kaarlela (Swedish: Karleby) was consolidated with Kokkola, and the town took over the Swedish name of Karleby. The word gamla means "old", karl means "man" or "peasant" and by means "village", in tearn literally meaning '"old village of peasants" or Anglicised as "Old Peasantville". The Latin name was Carolina Vetus.

Politics

Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in Kokkola:

• Centre Party 24.3%
• Social Democratic Party 20.7%
• True Finns 17.0%
• Christian Democrats 10.0%
• Swedish People's Party 9.9%
• National Coalition Party 9.8%
• Left Alliance 5.0%
• Green League 2.3%

Transportation

Kokkola is located on the coast of Gulf of Bothnia, and the coastal European route E8 (Finnish highway 8) goes through, connecting Oulu and Turku via Vaasa. Finnish highway 28 begins from Kokkola and runs to Kajaani. Finnish highway 13 begins from Kokkola and runs through Finland into the Nuijamaa border crossing via Jyväskylä and Mikkeli. The scenic '7 Bridges Archipelago Road' (road 749) runs along the coast between Kokkola and Jakobstad.

Kokkola-Pietarsaari Airport is situated 22 kilometres (14 mi) from Kokkola in Kronoby (Finnish: Kruunupyy). The Kokkola railway station is a stop along Line 7, with service between Helsinki and Kemijärvi via Tampere and Seinäjoki, where the fast Pendolino bullet train operates. There is no passenger ferry traffic from Kokkola.

History

Kaarlela church Kokkola market place

The town of Kokkola was chartered in 1620 by king Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, when Finland was a part of the Swedish Empire. Kokkola was founded as a shipping port for the tar trade. It also became an important shipbuilding centre in Finland. As a result of tar trade and shipbuilding industry Kokkola was for a time the richest town in Finland.^{[citation needed]}

An interesting historical affair, known as the Skirmish of Halkokari, occurred at the town of Kokkola in June 1854 during the Crimean War. Royal Marines from HMS Vulture and HMS Odin tried to come ashore to ransack the town, but were repelled by local defenders, of which many were civilians armed with hunting rifles. One of the 9 smaller British craft (a gunboat) fell into the hands of the defenders. As such, this boat was the only Royal Navy vessel still in foreign possession in 1914. The boat is still today a museum-object and can be seen in Kokkola's English Park. The town council has refused to return the boat despite several requests by the United Kingdom, most recently by John Stuttard, the Lord Mayor of London. The British Treasury annually pays a small sum for the maintenance of nine graves of nine Royal Marines killed in action during the skirmish to the local church congregation.

The city had a Swedish-speaking majority until 1933.

In 1977, the surrounding municipality of Kaarlela (Swedish: Karleby) was consolidated into Kokkola (Swedish until then: Gamlakarleby). In 2009, the municipalities of Lohtaja, Kälviä and Ullava were consolidated with Kokkola.

Economy

Kokkola is the capital and only city in the region of Central Ostrobothnia. The chemical industry is a major employer. An industrial area and a port is located in Ykspihlaja. OMG has a cobalt plant and Boliden has a zinc plant in there. Kemira, a chemical conglomerate, built an industrial park that is now divided between several corporations. The area has Kemira's own sulfuric acid plant, a Kemira GrowHow site, KemFine's fine chemicals plant, Tetra Chemicals calcium chloride plant and a Nordkalk plant. In addition, industries represented in the town include metalworking, casting, textiles, plastics, food and carpentry. Largest employers are as follows:

• The city of Kokkola approx. 2,080
• Regional Central Hospital 1,140
• Boliden Kokkola (zinc) 640
• Health care centre 450
• OMG (cobalt) 375
• KPO group (retail) 355
• Halpa-Halli (retail) 300
• KemFine (fine chemicals) 170

The port of Kokkola is located in Ykspihlaja, approximately 5 km (3 mi) from the city center, and it is one of the busiest ports in Finland. Oil, ore and limestone are imported, refined products and timber are exported, and iron ore is transited.

See also

• Kokkolan Palloveikot
• Gamlakarleby Bollklubb
• Älvkarleby (Sweden)
• Nykarleby

External links

• City of Kokkola – Official site