Imatra is a

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

and

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

in southeastern Finland. Imatra is dominated by Lake

Saimaa Saimaa ( , ; sv, Saimen) is a lake located in the Finnish Lakeland area in southeastern Finland. At approximately , it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth largest natural freshwater lake in Europe. The name Saimaa likely comes from ...

, the

Vuoksi River The Vuoksi (russian: Вуокса, historically: "Uzerva"; fi, Vuoksi; sv, Vuoksen) is a river running through the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The r ...

and the border with Russia. On the other side of the border, away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of

Svetogorsk Svetogorsk (russian: Светого́рск) is an industrial town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus, on the Vuoksi River. It is located from the Finnish–Russian border, from the Finnish town ...

. St Petersburg is situated to the southeast, Finland's capital

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

is away and

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, an ...

, the nearest Finnish town, is away. Imatra belongs to the administrative province of

Southern Finland Southern Finland ( fi, Etelä-Suomen lääni, sv, Södra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History O ...

and the region of

South Karelia South Karelia ( fi, Etelä-Karjala; sv, Södra Karelen) is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Kymenlaakso, South Savo and North Karelia, as well as Russia (Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast). Historical province ''For his ...

. The main employers are pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso Oyj, the Town of Imatra, engineering steel manufacturer

Ovako Ovako AB is a European manufacturer of engineering steel for customers e.g. in the bearing, transportation and manufacturing industries. Since 2018, Ovako has been owned by Nippon Steel Corporation. The production is based on recycled scrap and ...

Bar Oy Ab, and the

Finnish Border Guard The Finnish Border Guard (; ) is the agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders. It is a military organisation, subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior in administrative issues and to the President of Finland in iss ...

. , the total number of employees was 12,423. , 1,868 employees were employed by the Town of Imatra. The town manager of Imatra is Ari Lindeman. The town's nicknames include Imis, Ibiza and Nahkalippis City (Leather Baseball Cap City). Because of the location near the border, Russian

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

are a common sight in the town, and Russian tourism greatly benefits the local business life. Most people shop at Imatra, and Imatra's tax-free sales are the third largest among Finnish cities (only Helsinki and Lappeenranta are ahead). The name of Imatra is believed to have originated from a

Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate refers to substratum loanwords from unidentified non-Indo-European and non-Uralic languages that are found in various Finno-Ugric languages, most notably Sami. The presence of Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate in Sami languages ...

language. The

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

symbols on Imatra's

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 it ...

refer to the

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

s that were started to be built in the early 1920s in both Tainionskoski and

Imatrankoski Imatrankoski (The Imatra Rapids) are rapids on the Vuoksi in Imatra, Finland. It has been a famous tourist attraction since the late 1700s. Imatrankoski is also one of the National landscapes of Finland. Since 1929, the rapids has been blocked b ...

rapids. The coat of arms was designed by , and the Imatra town council approved it on August 9, 1950. 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 ...

approved the coat of arms for use on October 25 of the same year.

History

An Art Nouveau or Jugend style castle, currently known as Imatran Valtionhotelli (''Imatra State Hotel''), was built near the rapids in 1903 as a hotel for tourists from the Russian Imperial capital

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. During the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrie ...

, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim met with Adolf Hitler in secrecy near the town for the former's 75th birthday. Imatra was founded in 1948 on the territory of three municipalities – Jääski,

Ruokolahti Ruokolahti (; sv, Ruokolax; literally translated the " Reed Bay") is a municipality of Finland, situated in south-eastern Finland, in the region of South Karelia. Neighbouring municipalities are Imatra, Lappeenranta, Taipalsaari, Puumala, Sulkava, ...

and

Joutseno Joutseno () is a former town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the South Karelia region. The municipality was unilingually Finnish. Joutseno was consolidated with Lappeenranta on 1 Ja ...

. Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union after the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

. Jääski lost 85% of its territory and it was decided that a new municipality, Imatra, should be established on the remaining 15% of Jääski and some areas of Ruokolahti and Joutseno. This is why the Imatra coat of arms has three flashes – in honour of those previous municipalities that granted areas to it. It gained its municipal charter in 1971.

Sport

PaSa Bandy is a

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

club in Imatra. Imatra is the birthplace of

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

players

Jussi Markkanen Jussi Markkanen (born May 8, 1975) is a Finnish professional ice hockey executive and former goaltender. He is currently serving as general manager of SaiPa. Markkanen played extensively in various European professional leagues as well as the Nat ...

and

Petteri Nokelainen Petteri Antti Nokelainen (born January 16, 1986) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played over 200 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He concluded his professional career in returning to his original club, SaiPa of ...

. In motorsport history, Imatra is best known for its road races (former TT-race) from 1963 to 1986. From

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

it was the home of the

Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix The Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to the Imatra Circuit. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnis ...

. Racing on the Imatra road circuit ended after fatal accident during the 1986 European Championship event. Racing resumed in 2016 as an International Road Racing Championship event. There is an annual indoor rowing race at Imatra, which attracts competitors from across Finland.

Transport

The national road 6, running from Koskenkylä in

Loviisa Loviisa (; sv, Lovisa ; formerly Degerby) is a municipality and town of inhabitants () on the southern coast of Finland. It is located from Helsinki and from Porvoo. About 43 per cent of the population is Swedish-speaking. The municipality co ...

Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...

via

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

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. T ...

passes through Imatra. Also in Imatra is a crossing point over the Russian border, which is also the ending point of primary road 62 from

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 ...

. The Kouvola–Joensuu railway passes through Imatra, and the Imatra railway station serves both passenger and freight transport. From the rail yard of this station is a fork onto the railway towards

Kamennogorsk Kamennogorsk (russian: Каменного́рск; known before 1948 by the Finnish name of Antrea (russian: А́нтреа; sv, S:t Andree)), is a town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus on the ...

via

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

. The planning of the initiation of regular international passenger traffic between Imatra and

is currently underway. The closest airport to Imatra is the Lappeenranta Airport, which is used by

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

on several routes as well as irregular passenger flights to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

and cargo flights to Russia. The

Immola Airfield Immola Airfield is an airfield in Imatra, Finland, about northeast of Imatrankoski, the centre of Imatra. History Planning of the airfield began in 1933, and the airfield was opened in 1936. Before and during the Second World War, the airfield ...

is also present, serving the

as well as hobbyist aviation activities.

Notable people

Marlo Koponen Marlo Koponen is a Finnish ice hockey defenceman who currently plays professionally in Finland for SaiPa of the SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League ...

, ice hockey player *

Jarmo Koski Jarmo Koski (2 July 1951 in Imatra, South Karelia) is a Finnish actor. He starred as Seppo Taalasmaa in the half-hour soap opera '' Salatut Elämät'' from 1999 to 2013 and briefly in 2017 and from 2020 to 2021. Dubbed movies, Finnish voice H ...

, actor *

Arvo Kyllönen Arvo Kyllönen (17 December 1932 – 10 June 2017Kuolinilmoitus, Uutisvuoksi 18.6.2017, s. 11) was a Finnish wrestler who won national titles in the 57 kg freestyle (1952) and 62 kg Greco-Roman divisions (1954). He competed in Greco-Ro ...

, wrestler *

, ice hockey player *

Lilli Paasikivi Lilli Katriina Paasikivi-Ilves (born in 1965 in Imatra, Finland) is the artistic director of the Finnish National Opera since 2013 and a mezzo-soprano. In her work, Paasikivi has set out to reshape the structures of opera and to find ways to co ...

, artistic director *

Jouni Pellinen Jouni Pellinen (born 11 May 1983) is a Finnish freestyle skier who specializes in the skicross discipline. He is a former alpine skier. He made his World Cup debut in December 2005 in Kranjska Gora, and collected his first World Cup po ...

, skier *

Jarmo Sandelin Jarmo Sakari Sandelin (born 10 May 1967) is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the European Senior Tour. He had five European Tour wins and played in the 1999 Ryder Cup. Early life Sandelin was born in Imatra, Finland, but grew up in ...

, professional golfer *

Anneli Taina Anneli Taina (born June 21, 1951) is a Finnish politician who was Minister of Defence and Minister of Housing for the Finnish Government, and then Governor of the Southern Finland Province. Career Anneli Taina was born on June 21, 1951, in Ima ...

, politician * Taiska, singer

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Imatra is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Ludvika Ludvika () is a bimunicipal city and the seat of Ludvika Municipality, Dalarna County within the country of Sweden, with 14,498 inhabitants in 2010. Overview The conurbation of Ludvika extends over the border of Smedjebacken Municipality, where ...

, Sweden *

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven ''Oberzentren'' of Lower ...

, Germany *

Zvolen Zvolen (; hu, Zólyom; german: Altsohl) is a town in central Slovakia, situated on the confluence of Hron and Slatina rivers, close to Banská Bystrica. It is surrounded by Poľana mountain from the East, by Kremnické vrchy from the West an ...

, Slovakia *

Tikhvin Tikhvin (russian: Ти́хвин; Veps: ) is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin ...

, Russia * Szigetvár, Hungary *

Narva-Jõesuu Narva-Jõesuu (; russian: Усть-Нарва, ''Ust'-Narva'', Нарва-Йыэсуу, Усть-Нарова) is a town in Ida-Viru County, in northeastern Estonia. Geography It is located on the country's northern Baltic coast of the Gulf o ...

, Estonia

Gallery

File:Vuksi_River_,_Island_-_panoramio.jpg,

File:Imatrankosken_kuohuja.jpg,

hydroelectric power plant File:Imatrankoski_2017_15.jpg, Nature around Imatrankoski File:Imatrankosken_ratapiha.JPG, Imatrankoski rail yard File:South_Karelia,_Finland_-_panoramio_(9).jpg, Imatra in winter File:Imatran_kylpylä.jpg, Lake

and Imatra Spa Hotel

References

External links

* *
Town of Imatra
– Official site
goSaimaa.com – Travel information about Imatra
{{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 1948 Finland–Russia border crossings