Uusikaupunki (; sv, Nystad, ) 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 in the

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...

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 ...

, northwest of

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and south of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and 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 ...

. Both its Finnish and Swedish names translate literally to "new town". The original name of the main village that was incorporated into Uusikaupunki was Kalainen (roughly translated from Finnish as "rich in fish"). The surrounding region, and especially the neighboring town of Kalanti, which merged with Uusikaupunki in 1993, was already a lively marketplace for wooden objects and salt in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Uusikaupunki was founded to legalize this trade.

Geography

Uusikaupunki is located in the

Vakka-Suomi Vakka-Suomi is a sub-region within the Southwest Finland region. It consists of the town of Uusikaupunki and its surrounding municipalities of Kustavi, Laitila, Mietoinen, Mynämäki, Pyhäranta, Taivassalo and Vehmaa. This sub-region is in name ...

sub-region on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia. The (''Sirppujoki'') flows through the town and flows into the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

of Uusikaupunki in the northern part of the town. The freshwater pool was built in 1965 when the bays of Velhovesi and Ruotsinvesi were

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

med from the sea. The area of the basin is about 40 km², and the town and part of Vakka-Suomi get their

domestic water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...

from it. The acidity of the freshwater basin has caused some fish deaths as well as an overgrowth of

aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

s. In 2011, the

Bothnian Sea National Park Bothnian Sea National Park ( fi, Selkämeren kansallispuisto, sv, Bottenhavets nationalpark) is a national park in Finland. It was established in early 2011. Around 98% of the surface of the National Park consists of water. References Extern ...

was established in the outer

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

of Uusikaupunki. The area, named Finland's largest marine national park, begins in the south of the

Kustavi Kustavi (; sv, Gustavs) is a municipality of Finland. It is in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the smallest municipality in southwest Finland in ...

archipelago and ends in the north in the

Merikarvia Merikarvia (; sv, Sastmola) is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region. The neighboring municipalities are Isojoki, Kristinestad, Pomarkku, Pori and Siikainen. The municipality has a population of () and it covers an ar ...

archipelago.

Cityscape

The center of Uusikaupunki is built according to the so-called " grid plan layout" and is one of the best-preserved Empire-style wooden house blocks in the country. Today, there are a total of 40 blocks left. Because of this, the area is characterized by wide streets and large blocks with the narrow alleys. In a

town plan Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

drawn up in 1649, there were 27 blocks in the town center that required

residential building A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resi ...

s to be built. The town was built of densely red-soil houses, and the estates were not pleasantly considered deserted. The town also expanded around the base of the bay, where a suburban settlement was built. Green areas were not established in the town until the 1850s, when a new town plan was planned for the town.Uusikaupunki – tulipalojen muovaama empirepuukaupunki
(in Finnish) According to the Finnish Heritage Agency, the town's most significant public buildings are the Seikow's

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

building and the Uusikaupunki's

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

building. Seikow's

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

building was one of the oldest school buildings in Finland. The town library is thought to be one of the oldest functioning library buildings in the country; it was founded in 1861. The first

glass factory Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

of Finland, which was located in Uusikaupunki, was destroyed in a fire in 1685. In the center of Uusikaupunki is the ''Bonk Centre'' museum, which houses a collection of products from the fictional Bonk Business Company. In addition, the town has a

cultural history Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

museum. A notable building in the town center is also ''Wallila'', designed by

F. A. Sjöström F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a cont ...

and located on a hill near the sea. It is now used as venue for Crusell Week

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

, which is named after composer-clarinetist

Bernhard Crusell Bernhard Henrik Crusell (15 October 1775 – 28 July 1838) was a Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, — the outstanding Finn ...

, who was born in Uusikaupunki.

History

The town of Uusikaupunki was founded as a town with the rights of commerce on April 19, 1617 by decree by

Gustav II Adolf Gustavus Adolphus (9 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">N.S_19_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/now ...

.Yleistä Uudenkaupungin historiasta
(in Finnish) In 1721, the

Peace of Nystad The Treaty of Nystad (russian: Ништадтский мир; fi, Uudenkaupungin rauha; sv, Freden i Nystad; et, Uusikaupunki rahu) was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom ...

was signed in Uusikaupunki, ending the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

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 ...

, but as the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

broke out in 1853, Uusikaupunki was attacked by

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

and

British Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

in 1855 during the

Åland War The Åland War ( fi, Oolannin sota, sv, Åländska kriget) is the Finnish term for the operations of a British-French naval force against military and civilian facilities on the coast of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1854–1856, during the Crime ...

. Up to the 19th century, Uusikaupunki was an important port for commerce and fishing, and up to the latter half of the 20th century, the

Port of Uusikaupunki The Port of Uusikaupunki (also known as Port of Hepokari) is a mixed-use cargo port located in the city of Uusikaupunki, in southwestern Finland, on the eastern shore of the Bothnian Sea. The port services mostly RoRo traffic, but is also equi ...

retained an important ship-building industry.

Economy

Uusikaupunki is the home of

Valmet Automotive Valmet Automotive (formerly known as Saab-Valmet) is a Finnish vehicle contract manufacturer and supplier for the development and production of battery systems as well as a supplier for roof and kinematic systems. In its development, the Valme ...

, a contract automobile mechanical production company, producing cars and vehicles for brands such as

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

. It was founded in 1968 as Saab-Valmet for manufacturing

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

cars. As of June 2017, Valmet is assembling

Mercedes-Benz A-Class The Mercedes-Benz A-Class is a subcompact car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz as the brand's entry-level vehicle. The first generation (internally coded W168) was introduced in 1997, the second generation (W169) in ...

and

Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class The Mercedes-Benz GLC is a Compact luxury crossover SUV introduced in 2015 for the 2016 model year that replaces the GLK-Class. According to Mercedes-Benz, it is the SUV equivalent to the C-Class. Although officially considered compact, it is ...

cars. Furthermore, it produces the first commercially available solar-electric vehicle - the Lightyear 0 - as of November 2022. Today, Valmet is one of the largest and most significant employers in Uusikaupunki.

Politics

The results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Uusikaupunki were: *

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 ...

26.6% *

True Finns 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 ...

23.4% *

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 ...

19.6% * Centre Party 13.1% * Left Alliance 8.1% *

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 ...

4.2% *

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 ...

2.3% *

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 ...

0.7% *

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 ...

0.6%

Points of interest

Uusikaupunki is home to the

Bonk Bonk may refer to: People * Bonk (surname) Arts and entertainment * ''Bonk'' (video game series), a caveman character and video game series *Bonk!, a soft drink company in the first-person shooting game ''Team Fortress 2'' * ''Bonk'' (al ...

museum. Other attractions include: * Restaurant Pursiseuran Paviljonki * Myllymäki Park

Culture

Music

Karjurock, the annual rock music festival has been held in Uusikaupunki since 2007.Sikailua ja karjukisailua villisikatilalla
– ''

Turun Sanomat ''Turun Sanomat'' is the leading regional newspaper of the region of Southwest Finland. It is published in the region's capital, Turku and the third most widely read morning newspaper in Finland after '' Helsingin Sanomat'' and ''Aamulehti''. Hi ...

'' (in Finnish)

Sports

The town was co-host of the 1982 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women.

Notable people

Aimo Cajander Aimo Kaarlo Cajander (4 April 1879 – 21 January 1943) was the Prime Minister of Finland up to the Winter War. Cajander was born in Uusikaupunki, and became a botanist, a professor of forestry 1911–34; director-general for Finland's F ...

, Prime Minister of Finland (1922, 1924, 1937–39) *

Bernhard Henrik Crusell Bernhard Henrik Crusell (15 October 1775 – 28 July 1838) was a Swedish- Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, — the outstanding Finn ...

, virtuoso clarinetist and composer *

Robert Wilhelm Ekman Robert Wilhelm Ekman (August 13, 1808 – February 19, 1873), R. W. Ekman, was a significant teacher and painter of the Finnish romantic portraits and early national romanticism. Childhood and Arts Education Robert Ekman was born in Uusikaupun ...

, painter *

Anna Eriksson Anna Sofia Eriksson (born 22 April 1977) is a Finnish artist, filmmaker, composer, and singer. In September 2018, avantgarde film '' M'' directed and produced by Eriksson was having the world premiere at the Venice International Film Critics Wee ...

, singer *

Joni Haverinen Joni Haverinen (born May 17, 1987) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for HPK of the SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite Le ...

(born 1987), ice hockey player *

Gordon Herbert Gordon Walter Herbert (born February 16, 1959) is a Canadian-Finnish professional basketball coach and a retired professional basketball player. He is the head coach of the Germany men's national basketball team, Germany national team. Playing car ...

, basketball coach and former player * Eetu Koski (born 1992), ice hockey player * Awak Kuier (born 2001), basketball player * Jarmo Kuusisto (born 1961), ice hockey player * Gerald Lee Sr., former basketball player * Gerald Lee Jr., basketball player * Aleksi Lehtonen, Archbishop of Finland (1945–1951) * Johan Jakob Nervander, physicist, meteorologist and poet (1805–1848) *

Ilmari Saarelainen Ilmari Saarelainen (born 12 September 1944 in Uusikaupunki) is a Finnish actor. His career has been mainly based on television. Saarelainen began acting in 1970 appearing in a number of TV series. His career has mainly been based on Finnish tele ...

, actor *

Martti Simojoki Martti Ilmari Simojoki, previously Simelius (September 17, 1908 in Uusikaupunki – April 25, 1999 in Helsinki) was the Archbishop of Turku, and the spiritual head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland between 1964 and 1978. Simojoki becam ...

, Archbishop of Finland (1964–78) *

Kari Takko Kari Maurits Takko (born 23 June 1962) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played in the National Hockey League between 1986 and 1991, and in the Finnish SM-liiga between 1979 and 1985, and again from 1991 to 1997. Internati ...

(born 1962), ice hockey goaltender

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Uusikaupunki is twinned with: *

Antsla Antsla is a town in Võru County, southern Estonia, it is the administrative centre of Antsla Parish. Antsla borough was renamed town of third rank by Konstantin Päts from 1 May 1938. The settlement is known since 1405. The town has a furnitur ...

, Estonia *

Haderslev Haderslev (; german: Hadersleben ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark with a population of 22,011 (1 January 2022).Veliky Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Novgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including ...

, Russia *

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

, Norway * Szentendre, Hungary *

Varberg Varberg () is a locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg the coast changes from ...

, Sweden

References

External links

Town of Uusikaupunki
– Official site {{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Populated coastal places in Finland Grand Duchy of Finland Populated places established in 1617 1617 establishments in Sweden