Karkkila
Högfors
Town
Karkkilan kaupunki
Högfors stad
Road Helsingintie in town centre
Road Helsingintie in town centre
Coat of arms of Karkkila
Coat of arms
Location of Karkkila in Finland
Location of Karkkila in Finland
Coordinates: 60°32′N 024°13′E / 60.533°N 24.217°E / 60.533; 24.217
Country Finland
RegionUusimaa
Sub-regionHelsinki sub-region (formerly Lohja sub-region)
Charter1932
Town1977
Government
 • MayorTuija Telén
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total255.32 km2 (98.58 sq mi)
 • Land242.44 km2 (93.61 sq mi)
 • Water12.95 km2 (5.00 sq mi)
 • Rank248th largest in Finland
Population
 (2023-09-30)[2]
 • Total8,607
 • Rank114th largest in Finland
 • Density35.5/km2 (92/sq mi)
Population by native language
[3]
 • Finnish91.6% (official)
 • Swedish0.8%
 • Others7.6%
Population by age
[4]
 • 0 to 1414.9%
 • 15 to 6458.3%
 • 65 or older26.7%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
ClimateDfb
Websitewww.karkkila.fi

Karkkila (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑrkːilɑ]; Swedish: Högfors) is a town and a municipality of Finland.

Neighboring municipalities are Lohja, Loppi, Tammela and Vihti.

Geography

Karkkila is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of 8,607 (30 September 2023)[2] and it covers an area of 255.32 square kilometres (98.58 sq mi) of which 12.95 square kilometres (5.00 sq mi) is inland water (2018-01-01).[1] The population density is 36 inhabitants per square kilometre (93/sq mi) (30 September 2023).

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

The Högfors Ironworks (Högforsin ruukki) from the 1820s in Karkkila
Illustration of the bruk in Finland framstäldt i teckningar edited by Zacharias Topelius and published 1845-1852.

Originally, Karkkila was a village in the municipality of Pyhäjärvi. In the 14th century, the Pyhäjärvi area belonged to the border area of the parishes of Janakkala and Lohja. In 1507, the Pyhäjärvi area became part of the Vihti parish, which was separated from the Lohja parish.[5] Pyhäjärvi became the chapel congregation of the Vihti parish in 1654.[5] The place was originally known as Pahajärvi ("bad lake"), but the name became established as Pyhäjärvi ("holy lake") in the late 17th or 18th century.[5] It was decided to form Pyhäjärvi as an independent parish by a decision of the Imperial Senate in 1861, but the separation did not happen until 1869.[5] Based on the municipal decree of 1865, Pyhäjärvi began its activities as a municipality in 1868.[6]

The borough of Karkkila was formed from the center of Pyhäjärvi by separating it from Pyhäjärvi in 1932.[6] The borough area consisted mainly of the villages of Nyhkälä and Karkkila. The growth and industrialization of Karkkila has been affected by the now closed narrow-gauge Hyvinkää–Karkkila railway.[7] Later, the municipality of Pyhäjärvi was merged with the Karkkila borough in 1969.[6] Until now, the municipality and the borough had belonged to the Pyhäjärvi parish, whose name was changed to the Karkkila parish in connection with the municipal association.[5][8] Officially, the Karkkila borough became a town in 1977.[6]

Culture

Politics

Karkkila is famous for having a strong support of red parties. Up to the municipal elections in 2012, the Left Alliance had always been the most voted party in Karkkila.[9] In the 2022 county election of Finland, the Left Alliance rose to the top again making Karkkila the only municipality in Finland where the majority of votes where given to the Left.[10]

Results of the 2019 parliamentary election of Finland in Karkkila:

The results of the municipal elections in Karkkila in 2021:[11]

Personalities

International relations

Twin towns - Sister cities

Karkkila was a member of the Douzelage, a unique town twinning association of 24 towns across the European Union. This active town twinning began in 1991 and there are regular events, such as a produce market from each of the other countries and festivals.[12][13] Karkkila was replaced by Asikkala as the Finnish town in the association in 2016.

Spain Altea, Spain - 1991
Germany Bad Kötzting, Germany - 1991
Italy Bellagio, Italy - 1991
Republic of Ireland Bundoran, Ireland - 1991
France Granville, France - 1991
Denmark Holstebro, Denmark - 1991
Belgium Houffalize, Belgium - 1991
Netherlands Meerssen, the Netherlands - 1991
Luxembourg Niederanven, Luxembourg - 1991
Greece Preveza, Greece - 1991
Portugal Sesimbra, Portugal - 1991
United Kingdom Sherborne, United Kingdom - 1991
Finland Karkkila, Finland - 1997–2016
Sweden Oxelösund, Sweden - 1998
Austria Judenburg, Austria - 1999
Poland Chojna, Poland - 2004
Hungary Kőszeg, Hungary - 2004
Latvia Sigulda, Latvia - 2004
Czech Republic Sušice, Czech Republic - 2004
Estonia Türi, Estonia - 2004
Slovakia Zvolen, Slovakia - 2007
Lithuania Prienai, Lithuania - 2008
Malta Marsaskala, Malta - 2009
Romania Siret, Romania - 2010

References

  1. 1 2 "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Preliminary population statistics 2023, September". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "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.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Seurakunnan historia lyhyesti" (in Finnish). Karkkilan seurakunta. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Kuutsa, Tommi. "Lukuja Karkkilan historiasta" (in Finnish). Karkkilan kaupunki. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  7. ↑ Joutsi, Jukka. "Karkkila" (in Finnish). Svala & Joutsi. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  8. ↑ Hannu Tarmio, Pentti Papunen& Kalevi Korpela: Suomenmaa 6: maantieteellis-yhteiskunnallinen tieto- ja hakuteos, pp. 319–321. Porvoo-Helsinki: WSOY, 1976. ISBN 951-0-06465-3. (in Finnish)
  9. ↑ "Karkkila on vasemmistolainen väriläiskä Uudenmaan kuntakartalla – taustalla valimoduunareita ja korpikommunisteja". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  10. ↑ "Karkkila | Results service | County Elections 2022 | yle.fi". vaalit.yle.fi. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  11. ↑ "Yle - Result service - Karkkila - Uudenmaan vaalipiiri - Municipal Elections 2021 - Yle.fi". vaalit.yle.fi. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  12. ↑ "Douzelage.org: Home". www.douzelage.org. Archived from the original on 2010-02-17. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  13. ↑ "Douzelage.org: Member Towns". www.douzelage.org. Archived from the original on 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
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