Kuusankoski is a neighbourhood of city of

Kouvola Kouvola () is a cities of Finland, city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki, Kymijoki River in the Regions of Finland, region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lapp ...

, former industrial town and

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 ...

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 ...

, located in the region of

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

in the province of

Southern Finland Southern Finland ( fi, Etelä-Suomen lääni, sv, Södra Finlands län) 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 O ...

. The population of Kuusankoski was 20,392 (2003) and the total area was 129.5 km² of which 114 km² was land and 14.56 km² water. It is located some northeast of the Finnish capital

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. Kuusankoski is primarily known for paper manufacturing and three large factory complexes. It is sometimes nicknamed the "Paper capital of Finland".

History

Kuusankoski (as a

, not the settlement), was founded in 1921 from the parts of neighbouring

Iitti Iitti (; sv, Itis) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...

and

Valkeala Valkeala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland, and is a neighborhood of city of Kouvola, and it was a part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 11,238 (2003) and cove ...

. It gained the status of ''kauppala'' (literally ''"a place of commerce"'') in 1957 and became a town in 1973. The history of Kuusankoski during the last one and a half centuries has been closely linked to the establishment of the paper factories and their development. The establishment of the factories dates back to the 1870s and 1890s, when the rapids of the river

Kymijoki The Kymi ( fi, Kymijoki, sv, Kymmene älv) is a river in Finland. It begins at Lake Päijänne, flows through the provinces of Päijänne Tavastia, Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso and discharges into the Gulf of Finland. The river passes the towns of H ...

were made to deliver electricity to a waking industry. Since then, and until the modern age of

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

, the factories have offered jobs to many generations of Kuusankoski citizens, making the area somewhat more prosperous than the neighbouring regions. Today, the influence of the factories on everyday life has somewhat lessened, but their historical importance remains well known. The cityscape of Kuusankoski consists mostly of element-based blocks of flats built during the 1960s. However, there are some exceptions, such as a school and a church built at the beginning of the last century. Another kind of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

is represented by the culture building Kuusankoskitalo, a typical creation of modern

Finnish architecture The architecture of Finland has a history spanning over 800 years, and while up until the modern era the architecture was strongly influenced by currents from Finland's two respective neighbouring ruling nations Sweden and Russia, from the early ...

, and a library built in a functionalistic style. The cityscape is also characterised by the river Kymijoki which curves through the town. Footballer

Sami Hyypiä Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (; born 7 October 1973) is a Finnish football manager and former defender. Hyypiä began his playing career with Ykkönen side Kumu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He spent four years at the club, helping t ...

is from Kuusankoski. Ex-Nightwish singer

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. She is a soprano with a three and a half o ...

also lives in the town. As of 2009, the six municipalities –

, Kuusankoski,

Elimäki Elimäki (Swedish: ''Elimä'') is a former municipality of Finland. It was located in the province of Southern Finland and was part of the region of Kymenlaakso. The municipality had a population of 8,199 and covered an area of 391.74 km² ...

Anjalankoski Anjalankoski is a former town and 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 Myllykoski and Inkeroinen. In addition, there ...

and

Jaala Jaala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 1,906 (2003) and covered an area of 563.06 km² of which 129.89 km ...

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

Hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

People born in Kuusankoski

* Kalevi Laitinen (1919 – 1995) * Eeva-Kaarina Volanen (1921 – 1999) *

Veikko Kansikas Veikko Kansikas (24 November 1923, in Kuusankoski – 6 September 1991) was a Finnish plumber and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1959 to 1962, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL). Kansikas wa ...

(1923 – 1991) *

Erkki Kataja Erkki Olavi Kataja (19 June 1924 in Kuusankoski – 27 April 1969) was a Finnish athlete, who competed mainly in the pole vault. He competed for Finland in the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London London is the capital and List of urba ...

(1924 – 1969) * Aulis Kallakorpi (1929 – 2005) *

Kaj Chydenius Kaj Oskar Chydenius (born 16 October 1939, Kuusankoski) is a Finnish composer, probably best known for his left-wing political songs interpreted by various artists. Chydenius studied at the Sibelius Academy, the University of Helsinki and the ...

(1939 – ) *

Maija-Liisa Peuhu Maija-Liisa Peuhu (born 20 January 1942 in Kuusankoski, Finland) is a Finnish actress. She is famous for the half-hour soap opera ''Salatut elämät ''Salatut elämät'' ("Secret Lives", literally "Concealed Lives") is a Finland, Finnish tel ...

(1942 – ) *

Esa Jokinen Esa Antero Jokinen (born February 19, 1958 in Kuusankoski) is a retired male decathlete from Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land ...

(1958 – ) *

Janne Lindberg Janne Lindberg (born 24 May 1966) is a Finnish former professional footballer managing Finnish fourth-tier side Sudet. Lindberg joined his local club Kumu as a six-year-old boy where he stayed for 18 years. In 1990, at the age of 24, he move ...

(1966 – ) * Jukka Heinikainen (1972 – ) *

Jani Uotinen Jani Uotinen (born 17 May 1978) is a Finnish former footballer. He played for two seasons in the Scottish Football League with Greenock Morton as a central midfielder. In his homeland, he has played internationally for Finland's Futsal side as ...

(1978 – ) *

Jukka Rajala Jukka Rajala (born 13 April 1982 in Kuusankoski) is a Finnish former alpine skier who competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known a ...

(1982 – ) *

Sami Hyypia Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

(1973 - ) * Jani Sutelainen (1985 - )

References

External links

Kuusankoski – Suomen paperikaupunki (in Finnish)
{{authority control Populated places established in 1921 Populated places disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in Finland Former municipalities of Finland Kouvola