Ulvila (; ) 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 one of the six medieval cities of Finland, as well as the third oldest city in the country. Ulvila was granted

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

as a town by King

Albert of Sweden Albert (, – 1 April 1412), also known as Albert of Mecklenburg (), was King of Sweden from 1364 to 1389 and Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 1384 to 1412. Background He was the second son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and Euphemia ...

on 7 February 1365. However, its

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

were taken over by

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

in 1558. After 442 years, Ulvila regained town privileges in 2000. Ulvila is located in the

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 ...

Satakunta Satakunta (in both Finnish language, Finnish and Swedish language, Swedish, ; historically ''Satacundia'') is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland ...

and the former province of

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 ...

. The town is situated just southeast of the city of Pori along Highway 2. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of , of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The medieval St. Olaf's Church is dedicated to St. Olaf, who also is portrayed in the arms of the municipality. The

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

fieldstone church A fieldstone church () is a type of church, built using fieldstone of glacial erratics and glacial rubble. Such cathedrals and monasteries occur mostly in areas where the ice ages have deposited such rock material on the one hand, and where on t ...

, also known as Ulvila Church, is one of the best-preserved of its kind in Finland.

Politics

Results of the Finnish municipal elections 2021 in Ulvila: *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

29.6% *

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 ...

23.4% * Centre Party 15.3% *

True Finns The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

14.5% * Left Alliance 9.1% *

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

4.8% *

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

3.3%

Transport

Ulvila is served by

OnniBus.com OnniBus.com is a Finnish express coach operator. It commenced operating in 2011. History In 2011, OnniBus was founded by Pekka Möttö, Lauri Helke, Petteri Rantala and Pertti Möttö. In May 2014, Brian Souter's Highland Global Transport ...

route Helsinki—Pori.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Ulvila is twinned with: *

Ljusdal Municipality Ljusdal Municipality () is one of Sweden's 290 municipalities within Gävleborg County. Its seat is Ljusdal. The municipality was formed in 1971 by the amalgamation of the market town (''köping'') of Ljusdal (instituted in 1914) with the rural m ...

, Sweden *

Suure-Jaani Suure-Jaani () is a Populated places in Estonia, town in the northern part of the county of Viljandi County, Viljandimaa in Põhja-Sakala Parish, Põhja-Sakala rural municipality, 25 kilometres north of the town of Viljandi. Until 2017, Suure-Ja ...

, Estonia

Notable people from Ulvila

* Simo Frangén (born 1963) – television presenter and humorist * Kaarlo Kangasniemi (born 1941) – weightlifter and sports personality * Kauko Kangasniemi (1942–2013) – weightlifter * Mauno Lindroos (born 1941) – weightlifter * Patrik Raitanen (born 2001) – footballer * Karl Reilin (1874–1962) – sports shooter *

Raili Riuttala Raili Anita Hillevi Laiho (née Riuttala, 23 October 1933 – 9 March 2024) was a Finnish competitive swimmer. She represented Finland in the women's 100 metre freestyle and women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the 1952 Summer Olympics in ...

(born 1933) – freestyle swimmer * Sylvi Salonen (1920–2003) – actress * Sofianna Sundelin (born 2003) – ice hockey player * Kalle Varonen (born 1974) – freestyle swimmer

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Finland Medieval Finnish towns Populated places established in the 1360s