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

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Southern Finland, and is a neighborhood of city of

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 ...

, and it was a part of the

Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso ( sv, Kymmenedalen; " Kymi/Kymmene Valley") is a region in Finland. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Päijät-Häme, South Savo and South Karelia and Russia (Leningrad Oblast). Its name means literally ''The Valley of River Kym ...

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 municipality had a population of 11,238 (2003) and covered an area of 1,004.40 km² of which 143.47 km² was water. 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 ...

was 13.1 inhabitants per km². In the Valkeala region there is the lake ''Vekaranjärvi'' near which the Karelia Brigade is located. Valkeala is famous for Repovesi National Park. The municipality was 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 ...

. As of 2009, the six municipalities –

Kuusankoski Kuusankoski is a neighbourhood of city of Kouvola, former industrial town and municipality of Finland, located in the region of Kymenlaakso in the province of Southern Finland. The population of Kuusankoski was 20,392 (2003) and the total are ...

, Elimäki, Anjalankoski, Valkeala and

Jaala Jaala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 1,906 (2003) and covered an area of 563.06 km² of which 129.89 km ...

– were consolidated, accounting for the new municipality of Kouvola with a population of over 80,000, being the 10th largest city in Finland.

People born in Valkeala

* Anton Suurkonka (1886 – 1964) * Paavo Karjalainen (1904 – 1978) *

Arvo Askola Arvo Askola (2 December 1909, Valkeala – 23 November 1975) was a Finnish long-distance runner. He won silver medals in the 10,000 m event at the 1936 Olympics 1936 Olympics may refer to: *The 1936 Winter Olympics, which were held in Garmisc ...

(1909 – 1975) * Kauko Andersson (1913 – 1979) * Heikki Hykkäälä (1914 – 1995) *

Sulo Suorttanen Sulo Elias Suorttanen (13 February 1921, Valkeala - 24 September 2005) was a Finnish lawyer, civil servant and politician. He served as Minister of Defence and at the same time Deputy Minister of the Interior from 27 May 1966 to 14 May 1970. He ...

(1921 – 2005) * Markku Laukkanen (1950 – ) * Sari Palm (1966 – ) *

Tuomas Kansikas Tuomas Kansikas (born 15 May 1981) is a Finnish former footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, ...

(1981 – ) * Visa Hongisto (1987 – ) * Vili Sopanen (1987 — ) * Sami Tamminen (1997 — ) Populated places disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in Finland Former municipalities of Finland Kouvola {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub