Sastamala () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is located in the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme an ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water, making it the largest municipality in the Pirkanmaa region in terms of area. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

is . The municipality is unilingually

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Sastamala was created on January 1, 2009, when the municipalities of

Vammala Vammala is a former town and municipality of southwestern Finland, chartered in 1907. On 1 January 2009, Vammala was consolidated with the municipalities of Mouhijärvi and Äetsä, to form a new city named Sastamala. Geography Vammala was located ...

, Äetsä and Mouhijärvi were consolidated into a single town. Later,

Kiikoinen Kiikoinen ( sv, Kiikoinen, also ) is a former municipality of Finland. It was located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Satakunta region. The municipality had a population of (31 December 2012) and covered an area of of whic ...

also joined Sastamala in 2013. Today, its neighbouring municipalities are

Huittinen Huittinen ( sv, Vittis) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region, southeast of Pori and southwest of Tampere. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population d ...

, Hämeenkyrö,

Ikaalinen Ikaalinen (; sv, Ikalis) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region, located northwest of Tampere. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The munici ...

Kankaanpää Kankaanpää () is a town and municipality of Finland. Kankaanpää was founded in 1865, became a township in 1967 and finally a town in 1972. It is located in the crossroads of Hämeenkangas and Pohjankangas ridges. It belongs to the region of S ...

Kokemäki Kokemäki (; sv, Kumo) is a town and municipality in the Satakunta Region of Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finland is constitutionally bi-lingual with a Swedis ...

, Lavia,

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

Punkalaidun Punkalaidun ( sv, Punkalaidun, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...

Ulvila Ulvila (; sv, Ulvsby) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is one of the six medieval cities of Finland, as well as the third oldest city in the country. Ulvila was granted charter as a town by King Albert of Sweden on 7 February 1365. How ...

Urjala Urjala (; sv, Urjala, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region, near the town of Forssa. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring m ...

and

Vesilahti Vesilahti ( sv, Vesilahti, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually F ...

. The city of

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

is located from Sastamala. Sastamala's

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

is Vammala, which was home to about 10,000 inhabitants in the 2011 population survey. There are two highways through Sastamala: Highway 11 between Pori and Nokia, and Highway 12 between Rauma and

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lappeenranta and northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is ...

Heraldry

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of Sastamala is the former coat of arms of the now defunct municipality of Karkku, originally approved by the Karkku municipal council on November 26, 1962, and approved for use by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

on February 12, 1963. The coat of arms refers to the 14th century St. Mary Church of Sastamala. The explanation of the coat of arms is “in the blue field, a golden consecration cross with a crossed edge”. The coat of arms was designed by Lauri Ahlgrén.

History

The stone grave with its swords, dating to the 4th century in Ristimäki, Vammala, is reminiscent of the prosperous armed burials of the younger

Roman Iron Age The archaeology of Northern Europe studies the prehistory of Scandinavia and the adjacent North European Plain, roughly corresponding to the territories of modern Sweden, Norway, Denmark, northern Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. The regi ...

(200–400 AD) in coastal areas. It is also the only inland tomb corresponding to the coastal burial tradition at that time. During the Vendel Period, cemeteries became more common in the Sastamala area, which contributes to population growth and population density. The parish of Sastamala was the largest parish belonging to the historical province of Satakunta. The name Sastamala first appeared in the form ''Sastamall'' in a letter from King Birger Magnusson from 1300 or 1303.

Geography

Sastamala is located on both sides of the

Kokemäki River Kokemäki (; sv, Kumo) is a town and municipality in the Satakunta Region of Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finland is constitutionally bi-lingual with a Swedis ...

's watershed in the southwest corner of Pirkanmaa. The municipality is divided by Kokemäki River,

Lake Liekovesi A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

, Lake Rautavesi and Lake Kulovesi. Other significant severe waters in the municipality are Lake Houha, Lake Ylinen, Lake Kiikoinen and Lake Mouhijärvi. There are a total of 161

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

s in Sastamala, and two thirds of the municipality's population lives in

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descr ...

s and villages. The villages are organized into more than 40 village associations. The division of the village was created by the Great Partition in the 18th century and thus does not fully correspond to the current situation; for example, Illo and Putaja are located on the lands of other villages and are not listed.

Economy

In 2015, the municipality had 8,426 jobs. Of these, 8,5% were in primary production (

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and fisheries), 63% in services and 27% in processing. The share of the unemployed in the labor force was 12,3%. The largest corporate tax is paid by the building design company Partnos, the manufacturer of

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...

and

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

products Teknikum and the manufacturer of

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...

reed valve Reed valves are a type of check valve which restrict the flow of fluids to a single direction, opening and closing under changing pressure on each face. Modern versions often consist of flexible metal or composite materials (fiberglass or carbon f ...

Culture

Sastamala has a long tradition in

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. One of the biggest themed events is the Old Literature Days (''Vanhan kirjallisuuden päivät'') in the town center during the summer. In July 2011, the Finnish Book Museum Pukstaavi was also opened in Sastamala, which promotes Finnish book culture and reading. Pukstaavi is a national museum that tells the popular story of a Finnish book on cultural history and social significance. At the beginning of 2013, the town of Sastamala was declared the "book capital of Finland".Sastamala julistautui Suomen kirjapääkaupungiksi – Alueviesti
(in Finnish)

Sights and happenings

* Vanhan kirjallisuuden päivät, book festival * Sastamala Gregoriana, early music festival * Skicenter Ellivuori * Pirunvuori ("

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

's Mountain") * St. Olaf's Church * Herra Hakkaraisen talo * Culturehouse Jaatsi * Lakeside Golf Vammala * Sarkia museum * Keikyä museum *

Sports

VaLePa (or ''Vammalan Lentopallo'') is a volleyball club founded in 1978 in

, Sastamala, whose representative team plays in the Finland Volleyball League. The six Finnish championships won by VaLePa will take place in 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. VaLePa has won the Finnish Championship silver in 2011 and 2016 and the Fourth Championship bronze in 1992, 2008, 2013 and 2015.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Sastamala is twinned with: *

Skövde Skövde () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland, Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central Southern Sweden. Skövde is situated some 150 ...

, Sweden *

Ringsted Ringsted is a city located centrally in the Danish island of Zealand. It is the seat of a municipality of the same name. Ringsted is situated approximately 60 km from Copenhagen. Tourism and transport Ringsted is one of Denmark's busies ...

, Denmark * Halden, Norway * Kashin, Russia * Kuressaare, Estonia *

Vásárosnamény Vásárosnamény is a small town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. It also includes Vitka since 1969, and in 1939 Gergelyi and Ugornya formed by uniting Gergelyiugornya. Postal history Pri ...

, Hungary

Sources

Literature

References

External links

Town of Sastamala
– Official website {{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 2009