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 state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Eastern Finland Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen lääni, sv, Östra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east. History On Septemb ...

and is part of the

Northern Savonia North Savo (or Northern Savonia; fi, Pohjois-Savo; sv, Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the r ...

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 ...

, between city of Kuopio 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 Mikke ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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 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 opene ...

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 Leppävirta () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, south of Kuopio along the Finnish national road 5. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population densi ...

and

Joroinen Joroinen is a municipality in the North Savo region of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia sub-region. The municipality has a population of approximately 4,626 people and covers an area of ...

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 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 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. Bi ...

(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 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 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 (born 1938), biologist and politician * Pekka Siitoin (1944–2003), occultist and neo-Nazi *

Petri Varis Petri Johannes Varis (born May 13, 1969) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He was drafted by the San Jose Sharks as their 7th-round pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career Starting his pro career with Karhu-Kissat in ...

(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 with:

References

External links

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