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 ...

Southern Finland Southern Finland (, ) 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 On September 1, 1997 the Uusimaa Province, the Ky ...

, and is a neighborhood of city of

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city in Finland and the administrative capital of Kymenlaakso. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country. The population of Kouvola is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 17th m ...

, and it was a part of the

Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso (; ; "Kymi River, Kymi/Kymmene Valley") is a Regions of Finland, region in Finland. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Päijät-Häme, Southern Savonia, South Savo and South Karelia and Russia (Leningrad Oblast). Its name means lit ...

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 had a population of 11,238 (2003) and covered an area of 1,004.40 km² of which 143.47 km² was 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 ...

was 13.1 inhabitants per km². In the Valkeala region there is the lake ''Vekaranjärvi'' near which the Karelia Brigade is located. Valkeala is famous for Repovesi National Park. The municipality was unilingually Finnish. As of 2009, the six municipalities –

Kuusankoski Kuusankoski is a neighbourhood of city of Kouvola, former industrial town and List of former municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland, located in the region of Kymenlaakso in the province of Southern Finland. The population of Kuusan ...

, Elimäki,

Anjalankoski Anjalankoski is a former town and List of former municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It had 16 379 inhabitants in 2008. About 4/5 of the people live in the vicinity of the Kymi River. The most densely populated communities are My ...

, Valkeala and Jaala – were consolidated, accounting for the new municipality of Kouvola with a population of over 80,000, being the 10th largest city in Finland.

People born in Valkeala

* Anton Suurkonka (1886 – 1964) * Paavo Karjalainen (1904 – 1978) *

Arvo Askola Arvo Askola (2 December 1909, Valkeala – 23 November 1975) was a Finnish long-distance runner. He won silver medals in the 10,000 m event at the 1936 Olympics and 1934 European Championships.Kauko Andersson (1913 – 1979) * Heikki Hykkäälä (1914 – 1995) * Sulo Suorttanen (1921 – 2005) * Markku Laukkanen (1950 – ) * Sari Palm (1966 – ) * Tuomas Kansikas (1981 – ) * Visa Hongisto (1987 – ) * Vili Sopanen (1987 — ) * Sami Tamminen (1997 — ) Populated places disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in Finland Former municipalities of Finland Kouvola {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub