Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) 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 ...

of Finland. The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia

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 ...

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

Halsua Halsua ( sv, Halso) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of about 1200 in 2019's and covers an area of of which is water ...

Kalajoki Kalajoki (; literally translated the "fish river") is a coastal town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the Gulf of Bothnia in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has ...

Kannus Kannus is a town and municipality of Finland. It is situated in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of , of which is water. The population den ...

Kaustinen Kaustinen ( sv, Kaustby) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population about 4300 and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities ...

Kronoby Kronoby ( fi, Kruunupyy) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The populatio ...

Lestijärvi Lestijärvi is a municipality of Finland. There is also the Lake Lestijärvi in the area. Lestijärvi is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of (), which m ...

Larsmo Larsmo ( fi, Luoto) is a municipality of Finland, located in the Ostrobothnia region. ''Larsmo'' is also the name of one of the villages in the municipality of Larsmo. The municipality is bilingual with Swedish as the majority language and Finn ...

and

Toholampi Toholampi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Kannus, Kokk ...

. The municipality is bilingual with being

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 ...

and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

speakers. Kokkola celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2020.

Etymology

Name

In the oldest Swedish sources Kokkola is mentioned as ''Karlabi''. The town was known in Swedish by the name until 1 January 1977 when the surrounding land municipality of Kaarlela ( sv, Karleby) was consolidated with Kokkola, and the town took over the Swedish name of . The word means "old", ''karl'' (anglicanized Charles), is a Germanic males name, a name of many kings, meaning simply "man" and ''by'' means "village", so the town name is ambiguous meaning both "old village of Charles" or "old man village". The Latin name was ''Carolina Vetus''.

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 ...

, the founder of the city, possibly named the town in honor of his father King Karl IX of Sweden. The Finnish name is possibly derived from Kokkolahti, a narrow bay located at the place of the town. According to a tale the sea eagles (in Finnish merikotka or kokko) used to live there. Another theory claims that the name comes from ancient signal fires (kokko), which were used to warn people about approaphing enemy troops.

Heraldry

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of Kokkola is based on the city seal issued in 1620 in connection with the founding of the city. The pattern is a symbol of

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...

burning and tar trade, which have played a significant part in the history of the city since its founding until the 19th century. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson and Into I. Suominen, and it was confirmed for use on December 17, 1956.

History

The town of Kokkola was chartered in 1620 by King

of Sweden when Finland was a part of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

and is one among the oldest towns in Finland. The king also decided that a tar barrel, with three burning flames coming from both the ends and the plug, should be used as the town seal, because of the

trade at that time, for which Kokkola was founded as a shipping port.

Anders Chydenius Anders Chydenius (; 26 February 1729 – 1 February 1803) was a Swedish-Finnish Lutheran priest and a member of the Swedish Riksdag, and is known as the leading classical liberal of Nordic history. Born in Sotkamo, Finland (then part of Swed ...

(1729-1803) who was one of the leading politicians of Sweden-Finland, was a keen supporter of economic freedom and fought in the Swedish Parliament for free foreign trade and further social reforms. In 1765 the Swedish Parliament granted the city of Kokkola the

staple right The staple right, also translated stacking right or storage right, both from the Dutch ''stapelrecht'', was a medieval right accorded to certain ports, the staple ports. It required merchant barges or ships to unload their goods at the port and to ...

s. Kokkola also became an important

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

centre in Finland. As a result of tar trade and shipbuilding industry, Kokkola was for a time one of the richest towns in Finland. An interesting historical affair, known as the

Skirmish of Halkokari Skirmish of Halkokari, 7 June 1854, was a short coastal battle during the Åland War, a part of the United Kingdom, Anglo–France, French Baltic Sea campaign in Crimean War. It was fought between a British landing detachment and the local coast ...

, occurred at the town on 7 June 1854 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 ...

, part of 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 ...

. Royal Marines from HMS Vulture and HMS Odin tried to come ashore to deal with public property in the town "in accordance with the usages of war". The marines were repelled by local defenders armed with hunting rifles supported by troops, artillery and possibly Russian advisors and military. One of the 9 smaller British craft (a

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

) fell into the hands of the defenders. As such, this boat was the only Royal Navy vessel still in foreign possession in 1914. The boat is still today a museum-object and can be seen in Kokkola's English Park. The town council has refused to return the boat despite several requests by the United Kingdom, most recently by John Stuttard, the Lord Mayor of London. The British Treasury annually pays a small sum to the local church congregation for the maintenance of the graves of nine Royal Marines killed in action during the skirmish . Interesting contemporaneous accounts of the disastrous action can be found in the British Newspaper Archive, citing Gamla Carleby. The city had a Swedish-speaking majority until 1933. In 1977, the surrounding municipality of Kaarlela ( sv, Karleby) was consolidated into Kokkola (Swedish until then: ). In 2009, the municipalities of

Lohtaja Lohtaja ( sv, Lochteå) is a former municipality of Finland. Lohtaja was consolidated with the city of Kokkola on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The former mun ...

Kälviä Kälviä ( sv, Kelviå) is a former municipality of Finland. Kälviä was consolidated with the city of Kokkola on Jan 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The former municipal ...

and

Ullava Ullava is a former municipality of Finland. Ullava was consolidated with the city of Kokkola on January 1, 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The former municipality had a po ...

were consolidated with Kokkola.

Geography

Kokkola is the capital of the Central Ostrobothnia region, it is located on the coast of Gulf of Bothnia, the northernmost part of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

. The next larger cities are

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

is southwest, and Oulu is northeast. The distance to the capital Helsinki is to the south. Neighbouring cities and municipals are

in the northern east,

and

in the east,

and

in the southern east,

in the south and

in the southern west. The landscape of the region around Kokkola is flat, typical for the area of Ostrobothnia, with numerous river courses flowing through the land. The biggest river in the area is

Perhonjoki Perhonjoki is a river of Finland in Central Ostrobothnia region. It originates in Suomenselkä from the small lakes on the border of the municipalities of Perho, Kyyjärvi and Kivijärvi, and it flows for into the Gulf of Bothnia. http://www. ...

, which flows into Gulf of Bothnia, north of Kokkola. The annual

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...

at Kokkola is 8.8 mm. Thus large areas of present-day Kokkola were under water when the town was founded.

Climate

Demographics

Kokkola marks the northernmost settlement area of the

Swedish-speaking population of Finland The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names; fi, suomenruotsalainen) can be used as an attribute., group=Note—see below; sv, finlandssvenskar; fi, suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic minority in Finl ...

(Finland-Swedes) on the western coast of Finland. 84.0% of the inhabitants of Kokkola speak Finnish as their mother tongue, 12.6% Swedish. The remaining 3.4% speak Estonian,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

or other mother tongues. Kokkola is an official bilingual city with Finnish as the language of the majority and Swedish as the language of the minority. The approximately 6,020 Swedish-speaking inhabitants of Kokkola are spread unevenly around Kokkola: Whereas the centre of the city is bilingual, the majority of the villages around Kokkola mostly speak Swedish. The districts which were consolidated in 2009 are, however, pure Finnish-speaking areas.

Economy

Kokkola is the capital and biggest city in the region of Central Ostrobothnia. The chemical industry is a major employer. An industrial area and the city's port are located in Ykspihlaja. OMG has a

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

plant. The Freeport/Umicore refinery is the only large cobalt refinery outside China.

Boliden Boliden is a locality situated in Skellefteå Municipality, Västerbotten County, Sweden with 1,566 inhabitants in 2010. It lies 28,5 kilometers from Skellefteå City. This is where Boliden AB Boliden AB is a Swedish multinational metals, m ...

has a

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

plant.

Kemira Kemira Oyj () is a global chemicals company serving customers in water intensive industries. Kemira has two main segments, Pulp & Paper and Industry & Water. Kemira is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. In 2019, Kemira had annual revenue of aro ...

, a chemical conglomerate, built an industrial park that is now divided among several corporations. In addition, industries represented in the town include metalworking, casting, textiles, plastics, food and carpentry. Largest employers are as follows (2011): * The city of Kokkola approx. 2.350 * Central Ostrobothnian Joint Municipal Authority for Social and Health Services (Soite) 2.500 * Boliden Kokkola Oy (zinc) 500 *

Umicore Umicore N.V.. formerly '' Union Minière'', is a multinational materials technology company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Formed in 1989 by the merger of four companies in the mining and smelting industries, Umicore has since reshaped ...

(was Freeport Cobalt Oy until 2019) (cobalt) 420 * KPO group (retail) 400 * Halpa-Halli (retail) 300 * CABB Oy (fine chemicals) 200 The

Port of Kokkola The Port of Kokkola is a cargo port located in the city of Kokkola, on the west coast of Finland and the eastern shore of the Bothnian Bay. Facilities The port complex consists of three areas: *Kantasatama 'core' harbour: containerised and ge ...

is located in Ykspihlaja, approximately from the city center, and it is one of the busiest ports in Finland. Oil, ore and limestone are imported, refined products and timber are exported, and iron ore is transited. The

Chydenia Shopping Center The Chydenia Shopping Center fi, Kauppakeskus Chydenia) is a shopping mall located in the town center of Kokkola in Central Ostrobothnia, Finland. The first part of the center was completed in 2006, the third in 2009. The shopping center is locate ...

, completed in 2006, is located in the center of Kokkola; about 2 million people visit at the shopping center every year.Kauppakeskukset
– Kauppakeskusyhdistys ry (in Finnish)

Transport

Kokkola is located on the coast of Gulf of Bothnia, and the coastal

European route E8 The European route E8 is a European route that goes from Tromsø, Norway to Turku, Finland. The length of the route is . * E8: Tromsø – Nordkjosbotn – Skibotn – Kilpisjärvi – Kaaresuvanto – Muonio – Tornio – Keminmaa – Kemi ...

(Finnish highway 8) goes through, connecting Oulu and

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''; ...

via

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

. Finnish highway 28 begins from Kokkola and runs to

Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...

. Finnish highway 13 begins from Kokkola and runs through Finland into the

Nuijamaa Nuijamaa (; literally translated the " club land") is a former municipality in the province of South Karelia in Finland. The municipality had inhabitants and an area of 136 km² in 1988. Nuijamaa was a Finnish-speaking municipality. Nuija ...

border to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

crossing via

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

and

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 ...

. The scenic '7 Bridges Archipelago Road' (road 749) runs along the coast between Kokkola and

Jakobstad Jakobstad (; fi, Pietarsaari) is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of () and covers a land area of . The population density is . Neighboring municipalities are Larsmo, Pedersöre, and Nykarleby. The ...

( fi, Pietarsaari).

Kokkola-Pietarsaari Airport Kokkola-Pietarsaari Airport ( sv, Karleby-Jakobstad flygplats, fi, Kokkola-Pietarsaaren lentoasema; ) is located in Kronoby, Finland, about south of Kokkola city centre and north-east of Jakobstad city centre. Overview The airport opened to ...

is situated from Kokkola in

. The

Kokkola railway station Kokkola railway station ( fi, Kokkolan rautatieasema, sv, Karleby järnvägsstation) is located in the town of Kokkola, Central Ostrobothnia, Finland. The railway to Kokkola was completed in 1885 and further to Oulu in 1886. Seinäjoki railway st ...

is a stop along the Seinäjoki–Oulu railway, with service between Helsinki and

Kemijärvi Kemijärvi ( se, Giemajávri, smn, Kiemâjävri, sms, Ǩeeʹmmjäuʹrr) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. History The first permanent settler inhabitant of Kemijärvi was Paavali Ollinpoika H ...

via

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

and Seinäjoki, where the fast

Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...

bullet train operates. There is no passenger ferry traffic from Kokkola.

Politics

Results of the

2021 Finnish municipal elections Municipal elections were held in Finland on 13 June 2021 after being rescheduled from 18 April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Context The 2017 Finnish municipal elections, last municipal elections were held in 2017 and were won by the National Co ...

in Kokkola:

Culture and sights

The city is the home of the world-renowned Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, which was founded by the conductor Juha Kangas in 1972.

Buildings

The area of old wooden houses in the downtown area of Neristan has been the setting for the life and livelihood of its inhabitants for hundreds of years. Today these houses are offering restaurants, cafés, little shops and even accommodation for tourists. With its old charm it invites visitors to discover Neristan step by step. Tankar island, a lighthouse island, is 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 Arc ...

, about northwest from Kokkola. The

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

houses a lighthouse which is still in use today, a museum of seal-hunting, a bird-watching tower, a lot of nature trails and even accommodations for tourists. It is easy to reach the island by ferry m/s Jenny from Kokkola. The stone

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 Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Church of Kaarlela Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

has been a landmark since 1550 and is a popular venue for weddings and concerts. Next to the church, there is a local history museum at Kirkonmäki with an Ostrobothnian farmhouse, as well as an old smithy, a tannery, a wool-carding workshop, a threshing barn, a smoke sauna, a granary barn and a loft. K.H.Renlund Museum is devoted to

Karl Herman Renlund Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

, who donated his large art collection to the town of Kokkola. The museum houses some temporary exhibitions and the museum shop. Next to the museum is the Pedagogio, a school-house, which is Finland's oldest urban secular wooden building (built in 1696). In this quarter, there is also the Lassander House which offers a glimpse into a merchant home in the 18th century.

Sport

During the winter time, Kokkola offers 20 skiing tracks with a total length of . Kokkola is the home of the

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

club

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

, which plays in the second highest Finnish league (

mestis Mestis (from fi, Mestaruussarja, meaning 'Championship series') is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division' ...

). Moreover, there are the soccer clubs

Kokkolan Palloveikot KPV (or Kokkolan Palloveikot) is a Finnish football club, based in Kokkola. It currently plays in the Finnish First Division (''Ykkönen''). The club's head coach is Christian Sund, and it plays its home matches at ''Kokkolan keskuskenttä''. ...

(KPV), which plays in the second highest Finnish league (

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' ( Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also pla ...

) and

Gamlakarleby Bollklubb Gamlakarleby Bollklubb is a Finnish football club from Kokkola (''Gamlakarleby'' in Swedish). It currently plays in the Finnish Second Division ('' Kakkonen''), which is the third-highest level in Finnish football. GBK play their home games at ...

(GBK), which plays in the third highest Finnish league (

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1 ...

). Kokkola's volleyball team

Kokkolan Tiikerit Kokkolan Tiikerit (Finnish for Tigers of Kokkola Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. ...

is active in the highest Finnish volleyball league and current Finnish champions for men ( Lentopallon Mestaruusliiga). Sailing clubs include Gamlakarleby Segelförening, Kokkolan Purjehtijat and Kokkolan venekerho. There is also an american football team Karleby Goats, which plays in the third highest Finnish american football league ( Amerikkalaisen jalkapallon II-divisioona).

Education

Kokkola has a lot of

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

s, some of them offer children a bilingual education from an early age (mostly Finnish-English or Finnish-Swedish). There are 25 Finnish-speaking and 8 Swedish-speaking schools. Moreover, there are three secondary schools for Finnish-speaking pupils and one for Swedish-speaking. Some schools offer a dual

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...

and training. The Chydenius-Institution of Kokkola, a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

consortium, carries out teaching and research under the auspices of the universities of Jyväskylä, Oulu and Vaasa. It is specialized in adult education. For Finnish and foreign students it arranges open university studies, further education for professionals in the fields of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, social services and

health service Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profess ...

s and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

Centria University of Applied Sciences Centria University of Applied Sciences (former name Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences) ( fi, Centria ammattikorkeakoulu, sv, Centria yrkeshögskola) is a private-recognized higher education institution in Finland. The name Ce ...

innish name: ''Centria ammattikorkeakoulu''is also situated in Kokkola having its other partition in Ylivieska and Jakobstad is an international institute offering three different bachelor's degree program in English language along with Finnish.

Notable people

(1729–1803), Lutheran priest and member of the Swedish Riksdag *

Otto Donner Otto Donner (15 December 1835, Kokkola – 17 September 1909, Helsinki) was a Finnish linguist and politician. Biography He was professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Indo-European linguistics at the University of Helsinki, but also studied ...

(1835–1909), linguist, professor and politician * Juho Kuosmanen (born 1979), film director and screenwriter

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Kokkola is twinned with 15 cities: *

Härnösand Härnösand () is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 17,556 inhabitants in 2010. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just a few miles north of H ...

, Sweden *

Mörbylånga Mörbylånga is a locality situated on the southern part of the island of Öland and is the seat of Mörbylånga Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 1,780 inhabitants in 2010. Other settlements in southern Öland are Alby, the site of a Meso ...

, Sweden *

Ullånger Ullånger () is a locality situated in Kramfors Municipality, Västernorrland County Västernorrland County ( sv, Västernorrlands län) is a county ('' län'') in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, ...

, Sweden * Averøy, Norway *

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

, Norway *

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejle. It was founded in 16 ...

, Denmark *

Ambla Ambla is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Järva County, in Järva Parish, in central Estonia. It was the administrative centre of Ambla Parish. As of 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 299. Gallery Ambla vallamaja 2008. aastal.jpg ...

, Estonia *

Järva-Jaani Järva-Jaani is a borough ( et, alev) in Järva County, in Järva Parish, central Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finla ...

, Estonia *

Marijampolė Marijampolė (; also known by several other names) is a cultural and industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Mar ...

, Lithuania * Boldog, Hungary *

Hatvan Hatvan is a town in Heves county, Hungary. Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". Etymology Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is a common urban legend that the town got this name because it is 60 km from Budapest, but in fact the na ...

, Hungary *

Ratingen Ratingen ( li, Rotinge) is a town in the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the northwestern part of Berg about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf. Administration With a communal reform of 1975 the independent mu ...

, Germany * Fitchburg, United States * Greater Sudbury, Canada *

Fushun Fushun (, formerly romanised as ''Fouchouen'', using French spelling, also as Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun Rive ...

, China

References

External links

*
Official City of Kokkola website

Port of Kokkola
{{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Populated coastal places in Finland Grand Duchy of Finland Populated places established in 1620 1620 establishments in Sweden