Kankaanpää () 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 o ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Kankaanpää was founded in 1865, became a township in 1967 and finally a town in 1972. It is located in the crossroads of Hämeenkangas and Pohjankangas ridges. It belongs to the

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 ...

of Satakunta. Kankaanpää has a population of about inhabitants, which make it the third largest municipality in the Satakunta region in terms of population, after the city of

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north- ...

and the town of Rauma. Pori is located southwest of Kankaanpää. 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 Kankaanpää has its theme from the early days of the municipality's settlement, the origin of which is depicted with a golden

pine tree A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden ac ...

in the middle of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

areas. The coat of arms was designed by Carolus Lindberg and was confirmed on October 12, 1951.

Honkajoki Honkajoki (''Hongonjoki'' until 1952) is a former municipality of Finland. It was merged with the town of Kankaanpää on 1 January 2021. It was located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Satakunta region In geography, regio ...

municipality was merged with Kankaanpää on January 1, 2021.

History

First signs of humanity in the area are from the stone age and during the 16th century people started to settle in Kankaanpää area. Oldest houses that area found from the documents of Sweden-Finland are from the 1560 decade. There were three houses in Kankaanpää then: Honko, Oukari and Päivike. The oldest passage in the province was from

Hämeenkyrö Hämeenkyrö (; sv, Tavastkyro) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region, and is located from Tampere. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...

through the ridges to

Kauhajoki Kauhajoki (; literally “ Scoop River”) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, southwest of the city of Seinäjoki. The population of Kauhajoki ...

. In the 17th century it was the most important road between southern Finland and Ostrobothnia. The king of Sweden visited Kankaanpää twice.

Gustavus Adolphus 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 ...

travelled from

Ilmajoki Ilmajoki (; sv, Ilmola) is a municipality of Finland. Ilmajoki is a town and municipality situated in Finland's South Ostrobothnia region, founded in 1865. Ilmajoki has a population of 12,165 (28. February 2017)and covers an area of 579.79 ...

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of ...

through Kankaanpää in 1614 and

Adolf Fredrik Adolf Frederick, or Adolph Frederick ( sv, Adolf Fredrik, german: Adolf Friedrich; 14 May 171012 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. He was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina ...

had a rest in Kuninkaanlähde spring to water his horses and to eat in 1752. The spring was named after this event. The church of Kankaanpää has been built in 1839. Architect of the church was C. L. Engel.

Climate

Based on the village of Niinisalo about 5.7 km northeast of the site the climate is a continental subarctic frontier ( Köppen: ''Dfc'') considering that the warmest fourth month is around 9 °C, which puts Kankaanpää in a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(''Dfb'') being closer to

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 ...

than

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after ...

, it also means that summer is more consistent and warm but winters are still cold. The municipality is considered one of the rainiest of

with 571 mm only during a growing season in 1995. Growing season starts in early May and lasts until October 10.

Politics

Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Kankaanpää: *

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 ...

37.2% * Centre Party 25.5% *

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 ...

11.8% *

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 For ...

10.6% * Left Alliance 7.7% *

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 tea ...

4.4% *

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 pol ...

2.4% Results of the 2021 Finnish municipal elections, resulted in the

being the largest group on the Kankaanpää council, in Kankaanpää.

Villages

Ala-Honkajoki,

Hapua A hapua is a river-mouth lagoon on a mixed sand and gravel (MSG) beach, formed at the river-coast interface where a typically braided, although sometimes meandering, river interacts with a coastal environment that is significantly affected by long ...

, Jyränkylä, Karhusaari, Korvaluoma, Kyynärjärvi, Narvi, Niinisalo, Santaskylä, Taulunoja, Venesjärvi, Veneskoski, Verttuu and Vihteljärvi.

Education

Kankaanpää offers basic education with 6 elementary schools and a secondary school. There is also a trade school and a polytechnic school which will be abolished in near future. The Artillery School in the

Artillery Brigade An artillery brigade is a specialised form of military brigade dedicated to providing artillery support. Other brigades might have an artillery component, but an artillery brigade is a brigade dedicated to artillery and relying on other units f ...

provides university-level education for all future career

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

officers.

Culture

Kankaanpää town museum is presenting the life in Kankaanpää during the last 100 years. Kankaanpää is also home to the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

unit of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, which is better known as . The educational institution has a long and impressive history, which starts from the art of the 1950s and 60s, when Kankaanpää was already a vibrant center of visual arts. The local dialect of Kankaanpää is part of the Tavastian dialects.

Food

Due to its roots in Tavastia, the traditional drink of Kankaanpää is ''

sahti Sahti is a Finnish type of farmhouse ale made from malted and unmalted grains including barley and rye. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper in addition to, or instead of, hops;

'', and the traditional food is ''ristavelli'', which is a

pea soup Pea soup or split pea soup is soup made typically from dried peas, such as the split pea. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is most often greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of pe ...

made with rye flour. In the 1980s,

sheep meat Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

and cooked

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...

es were also named as other parish dishes.Jaakko Kolmonen: ''Kotomaamme ruoka-aitta: Suomen, Karjalan ja Petsamon pitäjäruoat'', p. 36–37. Helsinki: Patakolmonen Ky, 1988. (in Finnish)

Military

The Pohjankangas Training Area is located nearby, it is the second largest training area of the Finnish Defence Forces.

Notable people

Cristal Snow Tapio Huuska (born 14 July 1975), known by his stage name Cristal Snow, is a Finnish musician, television presenter, and a drag artist. He was one of the candidates to represent Finland in Eurovision Song Contest 2008. In 2016, he participated ag ...

, musician and

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

* Toni Vilander, racing driver * Ristomatti Hakola, cross-country skier

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Kankaanpää is twinned with: *

Bollnäs Bollnäs () is a Swedish locality and the seat of Bollnäs Municipality, in Gävleborg County, Sweden. It had 26,937 inhabitants in 2017 History The first recording of Bollnäs in writing is from 1312 when a vicar named Ingemund referred to i ...

, Sweden *

Flekkefjord is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Flekkefjord. The villages of Sira, Gyland, Rasvåg, Kirkehavn, and Åna-Sira are ...

, Norway *

Gagra Gagra ( ka, გაგრა; Abkhaz and Russian: Гагра) is a town in Abkhazia/Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Gagra a popular he ...

, Georgia * Misburg, Germany * Morsø Municipality, Denmark

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kankaanpaa Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 1865