Karkkila (; sv, Högfors) is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
and a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
Neighboring municipalities are
Lohja
Lohja (; sv, Lojo) is a city and municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland. The city has a population of 47,518 (2017), and it covers an area of of which , or 8.3 percent, is water. The population density of Lohja is . The municipality is ...
,
Loppi
Loppi (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region, located about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) south of the city of Hämeenlinna. Loppi was founded ...
,
Tammela and
Vihti
Vihti (; sv, Vichtis) is a small municipality located in the Uusimaa region of province of Southern Finland, approximately northwest of the capital city Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is wate ...
.
Geography
Karkkila is located in the
Uusimaa
Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
. The municipality has a population of ()
and it covers an area of of which is inland water ().
The population density is ().
The municipality is unilingually
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
.
History
![Högforsin ruukkialue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/H%C3%B6gforsin_ruukkialue.jpg)
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
Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki, which is often erroneously shown on maps as being "Janakkala". Janakkala is located along the Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of ...
and
Lohja
Lohja (; sv, Lojo) is a city and municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland. The city has a population of 47,518 (2017), and it covers an area of of which , or 8.3 percent, is water. The population density of Lohja is . The municipality is ...
. In 1507, the Pyhäjärvi area became part of the
Vihti
Vihti (; sv, Vichtis) is a small municipality located in the Uusimaa region of province of Southern Finland, approximately northwest of the capital city Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is wate ...
parish, which was separated from the Lohja parish.
Pyhäjärvi became the chapel congregation of the Vihti parish in 1654.
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.
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.
Based on the municipal decree of 1865, Pyhäjärvi began its activities as a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in 1868.
The
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
of Karkkila was formed from the center of Pyhäjärvi by separating it from Pyhäjärvi in 1932.
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
Hyvinkää (; sv, Hyvinge, ) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region, approximately north of the capital Helsinki. The city was chartered in 1960. The population of Hyvinkää is (). Its neighboring municipal ...
–Karkkila railway. Later, the municipality of Pyhäjärvi was merged with the Karkkila borough in 1969.
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.
Officially, the Karkkila borough became a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in 1977.
Culture
*
Sulattofestival, an art and music festival
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. 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.
Results o
the 2019 parliamentary election of Finlandin Karkkila:
*
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
25.8%
*
The Finns Party
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
The ...
19.7%
*
Left Alliance 13.4%
*
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
11.1%
*
Green League
The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland.
Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...
9.2%
*
Centre Party 9.1%
*
Movement Now
Movement Now ( fi, Liike Nyt , sv, Rörelse nu) is an economically liberal political party in Finland.
It was founded by then- National Coalition Party (NCP) member of parliament (MP) Harry "Hjallis" Harkimo and seven other people as a polit ...
4.0%
*
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
2.4%
*
Blue Reform
The Finnish Reform Movement ( fi, Korjausliike, korj), is a Finnish conservative political party.
It was founded by the 19 MPs who left the Finns Party on 13 June 2017 in protest against Jussi Halla-aho having been elected party leader. The n ...
1.3%
*
Swedish People's Party
The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...
1.1%
The results of the municipal elections in Karkkila in 2021:
* Joint list of Karkkilaan Sitoutuneet 29%
*
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
16.4%
*
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
16%
*
Left Alliance 14.2%
*
The Finns Party
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
The ...
9%
*
Centre Party 7.1%
*
The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to:
Current political parties
*Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens''
*Greens of Andorra
* Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Greens of Burkina
* Greens (Greece)
* Greens of Montenegro
*Greens of Serbia
*Gree ...
1%
*
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
1%
*
Communist Party of Finland
The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP; sv, Finlands Kommunistiska Parti) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.
The SKP was banned ...
0.4%t
Personalities
* Movie director
Aki Kaurismäki lives in Karkkila.
* Famous
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
curler
Markku Uusipaavalniemi
Markku Uusipaavalniemi (born 23 November 1966 in Karkkila) is a Finnish curler and former politician.
Curling career
Uusipaavalniemi was the skip of Team Finland for the first time in the mid-1990s. Most (but not all) of Finland's curling med ...
comes from Karkkila.
*
Sampsa Astala
Sampsa Astala, (born 23 January 1974), known by stage names Stala and Kita, is the lead singer of the Finnish glam rock band Stala & SO. and the former and original drummer for the metal band Lordi.
His current stage name, Stala, comes from his ow ...
, better known as Kita from the hard rock band
Lordi
Lordi () is a Finnish hard rock/ heavy metal band, formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker, Mr Lordi (Tomi Petteri Putaansuu). In addition to their melodic metal music, Lordi are also known for wearing monster ma ...
, spent most of his teenage years living in Karkkila.
International relations
Twin towns - Sister cities
Karkkila was a member of the
Douzelage
The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union.
The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...
, a unique
town twinning
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
association of 24 towns across the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. 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.
Karkkila was replaced by
Asikkala
Asikkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Vääksy, at the shores of the Lake Päijänne. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. Asikkala's neighboring municipalities are H ...
as the Finnish town in the association in 2016.
References
External links
*
Official site
{{authority control
Cities and towns in Finland
Municipalities of Uusimaa
Populated places established in 1932