Varkaus

Varkaus
Town
Varkauden kaupunki

Varkaus in July 2006

Coat of arms

Location of Varkaus in Finland
Coordinates: 62°19′N 027°53.5′E / 62.317°N 27.8917°E / 62.317; 27.8917Coordinates: 62°19′N 027°53.5′E / 62.317°N 27.8917°E / 62.317; 27.8917
Country Finland
Region Northern Savonia
Sub-region Varkaus sub-region
Market town 1929
City rights 1961
Government
 • Town manager Hannu Tsupari
Area (2011-01-01)[1]
 • Total 524.49 km2 (202.51 sq mi)
 • Land 386.04 km2 (149.05 sq mi)
 • Water 138.45 km2 (53.46 sq mi)
Area rank 222nd largest in Finland
Population (2016-03-31)[2]
 • Total 21,603
 • Rank 43rd largest in Finland
 • Density 55.96/km2 (144.9/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
 • Finnish 98.2% (official)
 • Swedish 0.2%
 • Others 1.6%
Population by age[4]
 • 0 to 14 14.8%
 • 15 to 64 64.7%
 • 65 or older 20.5%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5] 20%
Website www.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. The municipality has a population of 21,603 (31 March 2016)[2] and covers an area of 524.49 square kilometres (202.51 sq mi) of which 138.45 km2 (53.46 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 55.96 inhabitants per square kilometre (144.9/sq mi).

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Oddly enough, 'Varkaus' translates to 'theft', even though it is not the reason for giving that name to the city. In old Finnish the same word also 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.

The town became an industrial center in the end of the 19th century with the A. Ahlström paper mills. 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.

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

Bandy player Sami Laakkonen, here in the dress of Dynamo Kazan, is originally from Varkaus and WP 35

Parts of the town of Varkaus

Twin towns — Sister cities

Varkaus is twinned with:

References

  1. 1 2 "Area by municipality as of 1 January 2011" (PDF) (in Finnish and Swedish). Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Ennakkoväkiluku sukupuolen mukaan alueittain, maaliskuu.2016" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
Water tower of Varkaus. There are also apartments in the tower.
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