Karkkila (; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and a

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' ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Neighboring municipalities are

Lohja Lohja (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Lohja is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Lohja is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, munici ...

, Loppi, Tammela and

Vihti Vihti (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Vihti is situated in the Uusimaa region. The population of Vihti is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Fin ...

Geography

Karkkila is located in the

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The municipality has a population of () and it covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is (). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

Originally, Karkkila was a village in the municipality of Pyhäjärvi. In the 14th century, the Pyhäjärvi area belonged to the border area of the parishes of

Janakkala Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki. Janakkala is located along Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. To the south, Janakkala shares a bo ...

and

. In 1507, the Pyhäjärvi area became part of the

parish, which was separated from the Lohja parish. Pyhäjärvi became the chapel congregation of the Vihti parish in 1654. The place was originally known as ''Pahajärvi'' ("bad lake"), but the name became established as ''Pyhäjärvi'' ("holy lake") in the late 17th or 18th century. It was decided to form Pyhäjärvi as an independent parish by a decision of the Imperial Senate in 1861, but the separation did not happen until 1869. Based on the municipal decree of 1865, Pyhäjärvi began its activities as a

in 1868. The

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Karkkila was formed from the center of Pyhäjärvi by separating it from Pyhäjärvi in 1932. The borough area consisted mainly of the villages of Nyhkälä and Karkkila. The growth and industrialization of Karkkila has been affected by the now closed narrow-gauge Hyvinkää–Karkkila railway. Later, the municipality of Pyhäjärvi was merged with the Karkkila borough in 1969. Until now, the municipality and the borough had belonged to the Pyhäjärvi parish, whose name was changed to the Karkkila parish in connection with the municipal association. Officially, the Karkkila borough became a

in 1977.

Culture

* Kark'kisällit, quartet based in Karkkila * Sulattofestival, an art and music festival

Politics

Karkkila is famous for having a strong support of red parties. Up to the municipal elections in 2012, the Left Alliance had always been the most voted party in Karkkila. In the 2022 county election of Finland, the Left Alliance rose to the top again making Karkkila the only municipality in Finland where the majority of votes where given to the Left. Results o
the 2019 parliamentary election of Finland
in Karkkila: * Social Democratic Party 25.8% * The Finns Party 19.7% * Left Alliance 13.4% *

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

11.1% * Green League 9.2% * Centre Party 9.1% * Movement Now 4.0% * Christian Democrats 2.4% * Blue Reform 1.3% * Swedish People's Party 1.1% The results of the municipal elections in Karkkila in 2021: * Joint list of Karkkilaan Sitoutuneet 29% * Social Democratic Party 16.4% *

16% * Left Alliance 14.2% * The Finns Party 9% * Centre Party 7.1% * The Greens 1% * Christian Democrats 1% * Communist Party of Finland 0.4%t

Personalities

* Movie director Aki Kaurismäki lives in Karkkila. * Famous Finnish curler Markku Uusipaavalniemi comes from Karkkila. *

Sampsa Astala Sampsa Astala, (born 23 January 1974), known by stage names Stala and Kita, is the lead singer of the Finnish glam rock band Stala & SO. and the former and original drummer for the rock band Lordi. His current stage name, Stala, comes from his ...

, better known as Kita from the hard rock band Lordi, spent most of his teenage years living in Karkkila.

International relations

Twin towns - Sister cities

Karkkila was a member of the

Douzelage Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom. Name The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for t ...

, a unique

town twinning A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

association of 24 towns across the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. This active town twinning began in 1991 and there are regular events, such as a produce market from each of the other countries and festivals. Karkkila was replaced by Asikkala as the Finnish town in the association in 2016.

References

External links

*
Official site
{{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Municipalities of Uusimaa Populated places established in 1932