Varkaus

Town in Northern Savonia, Finland

Coat of arms

Location of Varkaus in Finland

Coordinates: 62°19′N 027°53.5′E / 62.317°N 27.8917°E / 62.317; 27.8917Country

FinlandRegionNorthern SavoniaSub-regionVarkausMarket town1929City rights1961Government

• Town managerHannu TsupariArea

(2018-01-01)^[1]

• Total524.48 km² (202.50 sq mi) • Land385.62 km² (148.89 sq mi) • Water138.45 km² (53.46 sq mi) • Rank206th largest in FinlandPopulation

(2023-12-31)^[2]

• Total19,718 • Rank57th largest in Finland • Density51.13/km² (132.4/sq mi)Population by native language

^[3]

• Finnish96.3% (official) • Swedish0.2% • Others3.5%Population by age

^[4]

• 0 to 1412% • 15 to 6456.4% • 65 or older31.6%Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET) • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)Websitewww.varkaus.fi

Varkaus (before year 1929 Warkaus) is a Middle-Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region, between the city of Kuopio and the town of Savonlinna.

The municipality has a population of 19,718 (31 December 2023)^[2] and covers an area of 524.48 square kilometres (202.50 sq mi) of which 138.45 km² (53.46 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 51.13 inhabitants per square kilometre (132.4/sq mi).

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. In old Finnish 'Varkaus' meant strait, and this city is located in the lake district on straits between two parts of Lake Saimaa. An extension of the Saimaa Canal passes through the town.

History

Varkaus was born in the late 19th century as an industrial community of the A. Ahlström paper mills. It was a part of the municipalities of Leppävirta and Joroinen until 1929 when Varkaus became a market town. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918 the town was taken over by the Reds, but because of its isolated location in rural Finland, it was soon taken by the Whites on the Battle of Varkaus 19–21 February. The whites proceeded to execute every tenth Red soldier.

The municipality of Kangaslampi was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005.

Sport

The bandy team Warkauden Pallo-35, or just WP-35, plays in the highest division, Bandyliiga, and has become Finnish champions 16 times.

Varkaus Speedway Stadion is a motorcycle speedway on the northern outskirts of the town off the Tykkitie road, adjacent to the motorcycle racing and karting facilities.^[6] The Speedway circuit is one of the oldest in Finland and held the final of the Finnish Individual Speedway Championship three times.^[7]

Notable people

Onni Hiltunen (1895–1971), politician
Jukka Keskisalo (born 1981), steeplechaser
Antti Kupiainen (born 1954), mathematical physicist
Esa Pakarinen (1911–1989), actor and musician
Esa Pakarinen Junior (born 1947), actor
Piia Pantsu (born 1971), equestrian rider
Lassi Parkkinen (1917–1994), speed skater
Erkki Pulliainen (born 1938), biologist and politician
Pekka Siitoin (1944–2003), occultist and neo-Nazi
Petri Varis (born 1969), ice hockey forward

Parts of the town of Varkaus

Kaura-aho
Käpykangas
Kuoppakangas
Kosulanniemi
Lehtoniemi
Puurtila
Taipale
Luttila
Könönpelto
Kangaslampi
Kurola
Hasinmäki
Häyrilä
Päiviönsaari
Peltola

Twin towns — sister cities

Varkaus is twinned with:

References

^ ^a ^b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
^ "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
^ "Use of Tracks". Varkaus Racing Team. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
^ "Speedway Individual Finnish Championship". Speedway Sanomat. Retrieved 13 February 2024.