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 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

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

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 Savonlinna (, , ; sv, Nyslott, lit=New Castle) is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region, which is why the city is also nicknamed the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikkel ...

. The municipality 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. In old Finnish 'Varkaus' meant strait, and this city is located in the lake district on straits between two parts of

Lake Saimaa Saimaa ( , ; sv, Saimen) is a lake located in the Finnish Lakeland area in southeastern Finland. At approximately , it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth largest natural freshwater lake in Europe. The name Saimaa likely comes from a ...

. An extension of the

Saimaa Canal The Saimaa Canal ( fi, Saimaan kanava; sv, Saima kanal; russian: Сайменский канал) is a transportation canal that connects lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia. The canal was built from 1845 to 1856 and opened ...

passes through the town.

History

Varkaus was born in the late 19th century as an industrial community of the

A. Ahlström A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure of ...

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 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 market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

. During the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

in 1918 the town was taken over by the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

, but because of its isolated location in rural Finland, it was soon taken by the

Whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...

on the

Battle of Varkaus Battle of Varkaus was a battle of the 1918 Finnish Civil War, fought 19–21 February between the Whites and the Reds in Varkaus, Leppävirta. The victory was important for the Whites, all of Northern Finland was now under their control. The batt ...

19–21 February. The whites proceeded to execute every tenth Red soldier. The municipality of

Kangaslampi Kangaslampi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of 1,611 (31 Dece ...

was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005.

Sport

The bandy team

Warkauden Pallo-35 Warkauden Jalkapalloklubi (abbreviated Warkaus JK) is a football club from Varkaus in Finland. The club was formed in 2000 and their home ground is at the Varkauden Keskuskenttä. The men's first team currently plays in the Kakkonen (Second Div ...

, or just WP-35, plays in the highest division,

Bandyliiga The Bandyliiga (; 'Bandy League') is the top level of men's bandy in Finland. The league was founded in 1908 as the Jääpallon SM-sarja ('Bandy Finnish Championship Series') and the present name has been used since the 1991–92 season. Bandyl ...

, and has become Finnish champions 16 times.

Notable people

Onni Hiltunen Onni Alfred Hiltunen (26 November 1895 – 8 June 1971) was a Finnish politician, minister in several cabinets and chairman of the Social Democratic Party. Hiltunen was born in Jyväskylä. He worked as railwayman and was later a shopkeeper. ...

(1895–1971), politician *

Jukka Keskisalo Jukka Pekka Sakari Keskisalo (born 27 March 1981) is a Finnish athlete competing in 3000 m steeplechase and 1500 m. He won the 3000 m steeplechase at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg and was also an Olympian in 2012. B ...

(born 1981), steeplechaser * Antti Kupiainen (born 1954), mathematical physicist *

Esa Pakarinen Feeliks Esaias "Esa" Pakarinen (9 February 1911 – 28 April 1989) was a Finnish actor, singer, accordionist and comedian, best known for the role of Pekka Puupää in the ''Pekka and Pätkä'' films from 1953–1960. He was also a skilled, self- ...

(1911–1989), actor and musician * Esa Pakarinen Junior (born 1947), actor * Piia Pantsu (born 1971), equestrian rider * Lassi Parkkinen (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 Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin (May 20, 1944 in Varkaus, Finland – December 8, 2003 in Vehmaa, Finland) was a Finnish occultist and neo-Nazi. He was born in Varkaus, Finland. According to Siitoin, he was born to a German military officer and ...

(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 *

*Kurola *Hasinmäki *Häyrilä *Päiviönsaari *Peltola

Twin towns — sister cities

Varkaus is twinned with:

References

External links

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