Kauhajoki (; “

Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The Scoop may refer to: Artefacts * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (theater), a type of wide area l ...

River A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

”) 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

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, ...

. It is located in the

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

Western Finland Western Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. Tampere was the largest city of the province. Histor ...

and is part of the

Southern Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( ; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobo ...

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 ...

, southwest of the city of

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; , formerly ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Ostrobothnia. Seinäjoki is located in the western interior of the country and along the Seinäjoki (river), River Seinäjoki. The population of Sein ...

. The population of Kauhajoki is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is . The town is unilingually Finnish. The neighboring municipalities of Kauhajoki are Isojoki in the southwest,

Kankaanpää Kankaanpää () is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and Municipalities of Finland, 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 Häm ...

in the south, Karijoki in the west,

Karvia Karvia is a municipality of Finland founded in 1865. Karvia is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Satakunta region. The population is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The popul ...

in the southeast,

Kurikka Kurikka is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The population of Kurikka is () and the municipality covers a ...

in the north and Teuva in the west. Kauhajoki is the center of the Suupohja sub-region.

Geography

Most of Kauhajoki is located north of the Suomenselkä's watershed. Most of the municipal area is a gently sloping

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

s to the west and north. On the border of the Kauhajoki and Isojoki is Lauhanvuori, one of the highest points in

, which rises 231 meters above sea level. However, the highest point of Lauhanvuori is on the Isojoki side, a few tens of meters from the Kauhajoki border. Lauhanvuori national park and an other national park located in Kauhajoki
Kauhaneva-Pohjankangas
belong to
Unesco Global Geopark Lauhanvuori-Hämeenkangas
.

Climate

History

Permanent settlement in the Kauhajoki area began in the 16th century and in 1584 chapel was built in Kauhajoki. When the Soviet Union attacked Finland in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, in early December 1939 Parliament was evacuated and the legislature temporarily relocated to Kauhajoki, a town in western Finland far away from the frontline. The parliament held 34 plenary sessions in Kauhajoki, with the last on 12 February 1940.

2008 vocational college shooting

On 23 September 2008, a

school shooting A school shooting is an Gun violence, armed attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of a firearm. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shooti ...

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.

Demographics

Kauhajoki has the highest proportion of

Finnish Kale The Kaale (; ; , ''Suomen romanit;'' also known as Finnish Romani, Finnish Roma, Finnish Kale are a Romani subgroup who live primarily in Finland but also in Sweden. Their main languages are Finnish, Swedish and Kalo. History From t ...

in Finland, with an estimated 5% of the population being Finnish Kale. The town is linguistically homogenous, with 97% speaking Finnish. Kauhajoki has the highest proportion of Hungarians in Finland, with 0.6% of the population speaking Hungarian.

Culture

Food

In the 1980s, the traditional parish dished of Kauhajoki was named ''sinsalla'' (a local name of ''

rosolli In Finnish cuisine, rosolli is a salad eaten mostly as a cold side dish, in particular as part of the traditional Finnish Christmas meal. Overview Rosolli is made of cooked, diced root vegetables, especially beetroot, carrot and potato, ofte ...

'') and charred

Baltic herring Atlantic herring (''Clupea harengus'') is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the northern Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. ...

Sports

Today sports in Kauhajoki is mostly famous for the basketball team Karhu Basket
Karhu Basket
has been the most successful team in Finland for years winning th
national league
in 2018, 2019 and 2022. In the season 2020-21 Karhu Basket was second and in the season 2019-20 the season was interrupted because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The home venue of Karhu Basket is the IKH Areena
IKH Areena
can hold 3500 spectators, which is more than a quarter of the inhabitants of Kauhajoki. Some internationally successful Kauhajokian sports figures include: *

Jouko Salomäki Jouko Johannes Salomäki (born 26 August 1962 in Kauhajoki) is a Finnish wrestler and Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling. He was nicknamed "Jokke" during his career. Salomäki competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles where h ...

, the 1984 Olympic Champion in

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

, 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.

References

External links

Town of Kauhajoki
– official site {{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in the 16th century