Kankaanpää () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. 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 areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

Satakunta Satakunta (in both Finnish language, Finnish and Swedish language, Swedish, ; historically ''Satacundia'') is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland ...

. 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 Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

and the town of Rauma. Pori is located southwest of Kankaanpää. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

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. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as c ...

in the middle of

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

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

Honkajoki Honkajoki (; ''Hongonjoki'' until 1952) is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland. It was merged with the town of Kankaanpää on 1 January 2021. It was located in the provinces of Finland, province of Western ...

municipality was merged with Kankaanpää on 1 January 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 Swedish 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 (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa regions of Finland, region, and is located from Tampere. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. Th ...

through the ridges to

Kauhajoki Kauhajoki (; “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 is () an ...

. 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 N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

travelled from

Ilmajoki Ilmajoki (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, 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 are ...

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

through Kankaanpää in 1614 and Adolf Fredrik 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 Niinisalo is a village in the municipality of Kankaanpää in the region of Satakunta in Finland. It is known for the Niinisalo Garrison which is the base of the Finnish Army unit Artillery Brigade (Finland), Artillery Brigade. The population of N ...

about 5.7 km northeast of the site the climate is a continental subarctic frontier (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''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 cold ...

(''Dfb'') being closer to

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

than

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, 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 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting, Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout o ...

in Kankaanpää: *

True Finns The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

37.2% * Centre Party 25.5% *

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

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 Form ...

10.6% * Left Alliance 7.7% * Christian Democrats 4.4% *

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

2.4% 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 last municipal elections were held in 2017 and were won by the National Coalition Party with a 20.7 percen ...

, resulted in the

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

Villages

Ala-Honkajoki, Hapua, Jyränkylä, Karhusaari, Korvaluoma, Kyynärjärvi, Narvi,

, 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 provides university-level education for all future career

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

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 (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

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 Tavastian dialects (), or Häme dialects, are Western Finnish dialects spoken in Pirkanmaa, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme, and in parts of Satakunta, Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso. The dialect spoken in the city of Tampere is part of the Tavastian diale ...

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 pea ...

made with rye flour. In the 1980s, sheep meat and cooked

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

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, musician and

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

* 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 has about 14,000 inhabitants.https://bollnas.se/kommun-och-politik/kommunfakta History The first recording of Bollnäs in writing is fro ...

, Sweden *

Flekkefjord Flekkefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Lister Region, Lister. The administrative centre of the municipality is the ...

, Norway *

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

, Georgia * Misburg, Germany * Morsø Municipality, Denmark

References

External links

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