Lapua (; sv, Lappo) 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

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 ...

. It is located next to the Lapua River in the

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 ...

South Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaa; sv, Södra Österbotten) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South O ...

. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

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

In the early 14th century, permanent settlement began to spread to the Lapuanjoki Valley. Residents came from, among other areas, the settlement center of Suur-Sastamala in Upper Satakunta, which had good land and water connections to the north. The focus of Ostrobothnia's settlement was initially on the lower reaches of the Kyrönjoki River. The proximity to the sea of the Kvarken area, which is rich in natural resources, was especially attractive. Lapua at that time had some Lapps who considered the region their wilderness area. The name Lapuan was probably given by the coastal Swedes precisely because of the Lapps who lived in the area. The

Battle of Lapua The Battle of Lapua was fought between Swedish and Russian troops on 14 July 1808 at Lapua, Finland. The Russians had set up defences around Lapua. The Swedes tried to outflank and surround the defending Russians. The Björneborg Regiment unde ...

was fought between Swedish and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n forces near the outskirts of the town on 14 July 1808 as part of the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic ...

. Lapua is the seat of the

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Diocese of Lapua The Diocese of Lapua (, ) is one of nine dioceses within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The diocese was founded in 1956. The diocese attained national attention in September 2015, when Finnish media reported that the diocese had purch ...

. The

Lapua Cathedral Lapua Cathedral ( fi, Lapuan tuomiokirkko; sv, Lappo domkyrka) is a church in Lapua, Finland, and the seat of the Diocese of Lapua. The neoclassical cathedral was designed by Carl Ludvig Engel and built in 1827. The cathedral's pipe organ is t ...

, designed by

Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...

, was built in 1827. In the 1930s the radical

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

'' Lapua Movement'' was founded and named after the town.

Lapua State Cartridge Factory

Lapua is also home to a large

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

factory, which commenced operations in 1927 as the ''State Cartridge Factory''. This factory was the primary supplier of

to the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army (Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...

during the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. An explosion occurred in a warehouse of this factory on 13 April 1976, resulting in the deaths of 40 employees. After the explosion, the factory was relocated away from the town centre and continues production today as

Nammo Lapua Nammo, short for Nordic Ammunition Company, is a Norwegian/Finnish aerospace and defence group specialized in production of ammunition, rocket engines and space applications. The company has subsidiaries in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switze ...

, part of the Nordic Ammunition Group (

Nammo Nammo, short for Nordic Ammunition Company, is a Norwegian/Finnish aerospace and defence group specialized in production of ammunition, rocket engines and space applications. The company has subsidiaries in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switze ...

). The original site of the factory and the surviving buildings are now an arts centre, a library and a theater.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Lapua is twinned with: *

Hagfors Hagfors is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Hagfors Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 10,125 inhabitants in 2010. Its history is traced to 1873, when it was decided to build two blast furnaces at the location. The town ...

, Sweden *

Hohenlockstedt Hohenlockstedt is a municipality in the district of Steinburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately 8 km northeast of Itzehoe. Hohenlockstedt was formerly known as ''Lockstedter Lager'' and was used as a training area ...

, Germany *

Lantana, Florida Lantana is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is 37 miles north from Fort Lauderdale. This town is part of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 10,423 at the 2010 United States Census. History The first settlers c ...

, United States *

Rakvere Rakvere is a town in northern Estonia and the administrative centre of the Lääne-Viru ''maakond'' (county), 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. Rakvere is the 8th most populous urban area in Estonia. Rakvere has a tota ...

, Estonia *

Kiskőrös Kiskőrös ( sk, Malý Kereš / Kiškereš, yi, קישקעריש ''Kishkerish'', german: Körösch, hr, Kireš) is a town in Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. Kiskőrös is situated between the Danube and Tisza rivers at around . Sándor Petőfi, the nati ...

, Hungary

Notable people

Anneli Jäätteenmäki Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (born 11 February 1955) is a Finnish politician who was the first female Prime Minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) ...

Vihtori Kosola Iisakki Vihtori Kosola (10 July 1884 – 14 December 1936) was the leader of the Finland, Finnish right-wing radical Lapua Movement. Kosola was born in Ylihärmä, Southern Ostrobothnia. His family's farmhouse burnt down the next year, and the ...

Teemu Mäki Teemu Tuomas Mäki (born 14 October 1967) is a Finland, Finnish visual art, artist, theatre director and writer. He was born in Lapua, and was one of the first Finnish artists to gain a doctorate (Finnish Art Academy 2005). In 2008–2013 he was ...

Esko Nikkari Esko Nikkari (23 November 1938 – 17 December 2006) was a prolific Finnish actor who made more than 70 appearances on film and television. He was born in Lapua, and made his screen debut in 1974 in the movie ''Karvat''. Nikkari was a workhorse ...

Jutta Urpilainen Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen (born 4 August 1975 in Lapua) is a Finnish politician. She was the first female chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which she led from 2008 to 2014. She was the Minister of Finance of Finland from 2011 to ...

History

Lapua State Cartridge Factory

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Notable people

See also

References

External links