Kauhajoki
Template:Infobox Finnish Municipality Kauhajoki (literally “Scoop River”) is a town and municipality of Finland. The city is unilingually Finnish.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Kauhajoki is Template:Infobox Finnish Municipality/population count (Error: Invalid time.)[1] and the municipality covers an area of [convert: invalid number] of which [convert: invalid number] is inland water (Error: Invalid time.).[2] The population density is [convert: invalid number].
History
Permanent settlement in the Kauhajoki area began in the 16th century and in 1584 chapel was built in Kauhajoki.
During the Winter War between 1939–1940, Kauhajoki hosted the Finnish parliament.
2008 vocational college shooting
On 23 September 2008, a school shooting at a vocational college in the city left 11 dead, including the gunman, and another woman wounded. The incident was the second school shooting in less than a year in Finland, the other being the Jokela school shooting in November 2007, in which nine people including the gunman died. Before that, only one other school shooting had taken place in the country's history, in Rauma in 1989, leaving two people dead.[3]
Sports
Some internationally successful Kauhajokian sports figures include:
- Jouko Salomäki, the 1984 Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, was born in Kauhajoki.
- Kaarlo Maaninka, the 1980 Olympic silver and bronze medalist in long distance running, lives in Kauhajoki. He also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu during his career.
- Vesa Hietalahti, the 2003 World Championship silver medalist in biathlon, was born and lives in Kauhajoki. He also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu throughout his career.
- Heli Koivula Kruger, the 2002 European Championship silver medalist in triple jump, was born in Kauhajoki. She also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu throughout her career.
- Jani Haapamäki, the 2009 European Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, was born in Kauhajoki. He also represents the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu.
Kauhajoki is also known about basketball club Kauhajoen Karhu, which plays in the Finnish first-tier league Korisliiga.
References
External links
Media related to Kauhajoki at Wikimedia Commons
- Town of Kauhajoki – official site