Lohja (; sv, Lojo) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 an ...

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 Bot ...

. 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 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 RosenberPopu ...

of Lohja is . The municipality is

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

, with the majority being Finnish and minority Swedish speakers. Lohja has the fourth-most

summer house A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden ...

s of any municipality in Finland, with 8,468 located within the city as of June 2018. Lohja is located near

Greater Helsinki Greater Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: ''Helsingforsregionen'', ''Storhelsingfors'') is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (''Pääkaupunkiseutu ...

, and it benefits from a good road network. It takes less than an hour to drive from

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 ...

to Lohja on the E18 motorway, which is one of the most significant main road connections in Lohja next to Hangonväylä. City's bilingual slogan is: ''Järvikaupunki - Insjöstaden'' which translates to "Lake city". The landscape of Lohja is characterized by manors and gardens. Its area is divided by the Lohja ridge, which forms a watershed for the largest lake system in Uusimaa, Lake Lohja (Lohjanjärvi); mostly that's why Lohja is also referred to as "Lake City" (''järvikaupunki''). The medieval Church of St. Lawrence is the architectural highlight of downtown Lohja, which also includes a heterogeneous mix of buildings mostly dating from the 1960s onwards. The Lohja library, which was opened in 2005, is a distinctly modern building Lohja has been a focal point for the population and economy of western Uusimaa since the early 14th century. The local inhabitants were among the pioneers of the Finnish mining and construction material industries. Lohja has long-established traditions in horticulture and especially in market gardening. These traditions are represented by the During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

heavily bombed the city,

Politics

Local

Mika Sivula is the

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief exec ...

of Lohja. The city manager oversees the city committee. In addition to the city committee, Lohja has a 51-seat municipal council. The parties represented in the council as well as their seat counts are listed below.

National

2015 parliamentary election

Culture

The most notable are the Lohja Summer Cultural Festival, the Apple Carnival organized by representatives of business and commerce, the retailers' Hurlumhei Carnival and the Old Time Christmas market continue the tradition of fairs dating back to the Middle Ages. The Doom Metal band Reverend Bizarre hails from Lohja. Elias Lönnrot, who wrote the ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and ...

'', was both born and died in Sammatti, which has been part of Lohja since 2009.

Sights

One unique experience is the Tytyri

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

mine, which has a museum located 100 metres under ground. This attraction and exhibitions can be reached using either an old mine wagon or a modern lift. Other places of note are: *Lohja museum area *The surroundings of Lohjanjärvi *The gothic Church of St. Lawrence which dates from the 15th century *Kisakallio Sport college *Floating Restaurant-Café Kaljaasi *Alitalo vineyard *St. Lawrence Golf and the recreation bath Neidonkeidas

Sports

Lohjan Pallo is the football team of the city. Lohja also has a ice hockey team called Lohjan Jääankat.

Municipal consolidations

The municipality of Lohja was consolidated with the city of Lohja in 1997, and the municipality of Sammatti in 2009. The municipalities of Karjalohja and Nummi-Pusula were consolidated with Lohja in 2013.

Local subdivisions

A significant part of the city of Lohja is not yet part of any district, since after the 1997 municipal association with the former rural municipality of Lohja.

Neighborhoods

The official city districts within the city proper of the municipality of Lohja are: * Ahtsalmi, Anttila, Gruotila, Gunnarla, Hiidensalmi, Immula, Keskilohja, Kirkniemi ( sv, Gerknäs), Kukkumäki (formerly Luttula,http://vesa.lib.helsinki.fi/cgi-bin2/ysa.pl?h=Lohjan%20kunta%20--%20Luttula sv, Jönsböle), Kirkonkylä ( sv, Kyrkstad), Lempola, Maksjoki,

Metsola Metsola is a Finnish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Ilari Metsola (born 1992), Finnish ice hockey player * Juha Metsola (born 1989), Finnish ice hockey player * Jukka-Pekka Metsola (born 1954), Finnish judoka * Roberta Metsol ...

, Moisio, Muijala, Myllylampi, Neitsytlinna, Ojamo, Ojamonkangas, Paloniemi, Pappila, Pappilankorpi, Perttilä, Pitkäniemi, Routio,

Röylä Röylä (; sv, Rödskog , ) is a district of Espoo, Finland. It is located in the Pohjois-Espoo area, northern shores of the Lake Bodom. Röylä had 410 inhabitants at the turn of the year 2019–2020 and the average age of the residents is 56, ...

, Sammatti, Vappula ( sv, Vabby), Ventelä ( sv, Vendelä), Vienola and Virkkala ( sv, Virkby).

Villages

The villages and hamlets of the municipality of Lohja are:

Lohja rural

* Ahtiala, Askola, Hermala, Hietainen, Hiittinen, Hongisto, Iso-Teutari ( sv, Stortötar), Jalassaari, Jantoniemi, Kaijola, Karjalohjan Ahtiala, Karjalohjan Pappila, Karkalniemi, Karnainen, Kittilä ( sv, Kittfall), Koikkala, Kokkila, Korkenoja, Koski, Kouvola, Kunnarla ( sv, Gunnars), Kutsila, Laakspohja ( sv, Laxpojo), Lehmijärvi, Lieviö ( sv, Skräddarskog), Lohjankylä, Lylyinen, Maksjoki, Mynterlä* ( sv, Mynderlä), Niemi, Nummenkylä, Näätälä ( sv, Mårbacka), Osuniemi ( sv, Orsnäs), Outamo, Paavola, Paksalo, Pauni, Pietilä, Piispala ( sv, Biskopsnäs), Pulli, Seräjärvi, Skraatila, Suittila, Särkijärvi, Talpela, Torhola, Vaanila, Valla, Vanhakylä, Varola, Vasarla, Veijola ( sv, Vejby), Vohloinen, Vähä-Teutari ( sv, Lilltötar) and Yli-Immola.

Sammatti

* Haarijärvi (Haarjärvi), Karstu, Kaukola, Kiikala, Leikkilä, Lohilampi, Luskala, Myllykylä, Niemenkylä and Sammatti

Karjalohja

* Härjänvatsa, Ilmoniemi, Immola, Karkali, Kattelus, Kourjoki, Kuusia, Kärkelä, Lohjantaipale, Lönnhammar (Linhamari), Maila, Makkarjoki, Murto, Mustlahti, Nummijärvi, Pappila, Pellonkylä, Pipola, Pitkälahti (Långvik), Puujärvi, Pyöli, Saarenpää, Sakkola, Suurniemi, Särkjärvi, Tallaa and Tammisto

=Nummi

= *

Haarla Haarla ( Finnish; ''Harlax'' in Swedish) is a district and a suburb of the city of Turku, in Finland. It is located in the southern part of the island of Hirvensalo Hirvensalo is an island in the Archipelago Sea, belonging to the city of Tu ...

, Hakula, Heijala, Heimola, Huhti, Hyrsylä, Hyvelä, Immola, Jakova,

Järvenpää Järvenpää (; sv, Träskända) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located on the Helsinki–Riihimäki railway track in Uusimaa region, some north of Helsinki. Neighbouring municipalities are Tuusula, Sipoo and Mäntsälä. People ...

, Jättölä, Korkianoja, Kovela, Leppäkorpi, Luttula, Maikkala, Maskila, Mettula, Miemola, Millola, Mommola,

Mäntsälä Mäntsälä () is a municipality in the province of Southern Finland, and is part of the Uusimaa region. It has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. ...

, Nummi, Näkkilä, Oinola, Oittila, Pakkala, Pälölä, Raatti, Remala, Retlahti, Röhkölä, Salo,

Saukkola Saukkola () is an urban area and district in the city of Lohja and the former administrative centre of the Nummi-Pusula municipality. Old Turku Road between Turku and Helsinki ( regional road 110) crosses through the area. Saukkola has a populatio ...

, Sierla, Sitarla, Tavola, Varttila and Vivola

=Pusula

= * Ahonpää, Hattula, Hauhula, Herrala, Hirvijoki, Hyrkkölä, Hyönölä, Ikkala, Karisjärvi, Kaukela, Koisjärvi, Kärkölä, Marttila, Mäkkylä, Pusula, Radus, Seppälä, Suomela, Uusikylä, Viiala and Vörlö

Twin towns

Lohja is twinned with: * Växjö, Sweden * Ringerike, Norway * Aabenraa, Denmark * Skagaströnd, Iceland * Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary

References

External links

*
Town of Lohja
– Official site {{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Municipalities of Uusimaa Populated places established in 1926 Populated lakeshore places in Finland