Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") 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 south of

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

, north of

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

and north of

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

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 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. Valkeakoski is best known for its paper industry and domestically highly successful

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, FC Haka. The town and the paper industry have both grown by the Valkeakoski rapids between the lake Mallasvesi in the north and the lake

Vanajavesi Vanajavesi is a large lake in southern Finland, in the provinces of Pirkanmaa and Kanta-Häme. It is part of the Kokemäenjoki basin. The lake gathers waters from a wide area in the regions of Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper and parts of the Päij� ...

in the south.

History

The Valkeakoski area is known to have been inhabited since the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. More than a thousand years ago, the ridges on the area served as a foundation of the Rapola fort. In the following Middle Ages, the mill town

Sääksmäki Sääksmäki is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality, currently part of Valkeakoski in the Pirkanmaa region of Western Finland. A past president of Finland, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, the Finnish film producer and director Ve ...

was the center of the area. However, industrialization towards the end of the 19th century increased the importance of what became the contemporary town of Valkeakoski. The channel of Valkeakoski was opened in 1869, and the first paper mill was completed in 1873, marking the beginning of a continuing tradition of the forest industry. The municipality of Sääksmäki, from which the town of Valkeakoski was detached in 1923 was consolidated with Valkeakoski in 1973.History of Valkeakoski
/ref>

Districts, neighborhoods and villages

Countryside and villages

The entire countryside of Valkeakoski consists mainly of the former

municipality areas. * Sääksmäki (consists of Huittula and Ritvala, Kemmola, Mälkiäinen, Haukila, Uskila, Tykölä, Viranmaa, Kasuri / Koivuniemi / Raija, Metsäkansa, Ylenjoki, Konho, Nikkarinhanko / Muti, Rantoo, Yli-Nissi, Kärjenniemi, Vedentaka, Kaapelinkulma, Kannistonmäki, Viuha, Mattila, Vuorentaka, Valto, Paino, Tarttila, Pyörönmaa and Vanhakylä)

Districts

There are 25 districts in what is considered the urban area of Valkeaskoki. These districts are further divided into neighborhoods. The districts and neighborhoods of Valkeakoski are: In addition, outside of but in the vicinity of these districts lay Vanhakylä and Viuha.

Sports

Valkeakoski is notable for the football team FC Haka and also other Haka sections, especially the cross-country skiing section. The "skiing Haka" is one of the most successful skiing teams in Finland. The other major local sports organization Koskenpojat has also been really successful, winning many national championships in aerobic gymnastics.

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Valkeakoski is twinned with: *

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, Sweden * Kragerø, Norway (1954) * Sokol, Russia (1971) * Vechelde, Germany (1976) *

Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...

, Poland (1979) *

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

, China (1997) *

Mariehamn Mariehamn ( , ; ; ) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded b ...

, Åland Islands, Finland (1999)

Notable persons from Valkeakoski

* Veikko Hakulinen * Mika Kallio * Kari-Pekka Laaksonen * Pentti Linkola * Iris Sihvonen * Emil Wikström * Juhani Peltonen * Alpo Suhonen * Antti Muurinen

Notable places and events

* National Football Museum * Työväen Musiikkitapahtuma music festival (freely translated as Workers' Music Event) *

Tehtaan kenttä Tehtaan kenttä (, Eng. lit. ''Factory's field'') is a 1934 opened football (soccer), football stadium in the 1st district of Valkeakoski, Finland, and the home of Veikkausliiga club FC Haka. The stadium holds an attendance capacity of 3,516. The r ...

References

Gallery

File:Tehtaan kenttä valkeakoski Finland.jpg, Tehtaan kenttä – the football stadium in Valkeakoski, Finland, home of the football team FC Haka Valkeakoski File:Valkeakosken keskusta1b.JPG, Valtakatu, the main shopping street of Valkeakoski File:Valkeakosken keskusta3..jpg, Downtown Valkeakoski File:ValkeakoskiFabrik.jpeg, Factories in Valkeakoski

External links

Town of Valkeakoski
– Official site {{Authority control Populated places established in 1923 1923 establishments in Finland