Varkaus (before year 1929 ''Warkaus'') is a Middle- Savonian industrial

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

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 Bo ...

. It is located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia

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 ...

, between city of

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

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

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. In old Finnish 'Varkaus' meant strait, and this city is located in the lake district on straits between two parts of Lake Saimaa. An extension of the Saimaa Canal passes through the town.

History

Varkaus was born in the late 19th century as an industrial community of the A. Ahlström paper mills. It was a part of the municipalities of Leppävirta and Joroinen until 1929 when Varkaus became a

market town A market town is a Human settlement, settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918 the town was taken over by the Reds, but because of its isolated location in rural Finland, it was soon taken by the Whites on the Battle of Varkaus 19–21 February. The whites proceeded to execute every tenth Red soldier. The municipality of Kangaslampi was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005.

Sport

The bandy team Warkauden Pallo-35, or just WP-35, plays in the highest division, Bandyliiga, and has become Finnish champions 16 times.

Notable people

* Onni Hiltunen (1895–1971), politician * Jukka Keskisalo (born 1981), steeplechaser *

Antti Kupiainen Antti Kupiainen (born 23 June 1954, Varkaus, Finland) is a Finnish mathematical physicist. Education and career Kupiainen completed his undergraduate education in 1976 at the Technical University of Helsinki and received his Ph.D. in 1979 from Pri ...

(born 1954), mathematical physicist * Esa Pakarinen (1911–1989), actor and musician *

Esa Pakarinen Junior Esa Pakarinen Jr. (born December 12, 1947) is a Finnish actor. Biography He is the son of actor Esa Pakarinen, known for his roles as Pekka Puupää in the ''Pekka and Pätkä'' films. Like his father, Esa Pakarinen Jr. has acted in Finnish film ...

(born 1947), actor *

Piia Pantsu Piia Pantsu (born March 29, 1971 in Varkaus, Finland) is a Finnish Equestrianism, equestrian rider. She competes in three-day eventing and in show jumping competitions. She is married to Fredrik Jönsson who was the son of her trainer, Jan J ...

(born 1971), equestrian rider *

Lassi Parkkinen Lauri ("Lassi") Rikhard Parkkinen (8 May 1917 – 3 October 1994) was a Finnish speed skater. __NOTOC__ Lassi Parkkinen was born in Varkaus, an industrial town in the southeast of Finland. He made his debut at the World Allround Championship ...

(1917–1994), speed skater *

Erkki Pulliainen Erkki Ossi Olavi Pulliainen (23 June 1938 – 22 August 2022) was a Finnish biologist and politician and member of Finnish Parliament, representing the Green League. He was first elected to the parliament in 1987 and was continuously a member unti ...

(born 1938), biologist and politician * Pekka Siitoin (1944–2003), occultist and neo-Nazi * Petri Varis (born 1969), ice hockey forward

Parts of the town of Varkaus

*Kaura-aho *Käpykangas *Kuoppakangas *Kosulanniemi * Lehtoniemi *Puurtila *Taipale *Luttila *Könönpelto * Kangaslampi *Kurola *Hasinmäki *Häyrilä *Päiviönsaari *Peltola

Twin towns — sister cities

Varkaus is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with:

References

External links

* *
Town of Varkaus
– Official website Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 1929 {{EasternFinland-geo-stub