Kokemäki (; ) 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' ...

in the Satakunta Region of

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, ...

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

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is . Finland is constitutionally bi-lingual with a Swedish speaking minority. The

unilingual Monoglottism (Greek μόνος ''monos'', "alone, solitary", + γλῶττα , "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism, is the condition of being able to speak only a single language, as opposed to multilingualism. ...

with the vast majority of the population speaking Finnish. Many, mostly younger, residents are able to understand or speak some English. The American

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

company

Æsir Technologies Inc. Æsir (Old Norse; singular: ) or ēse (Old English; singular: ) are gods in Germanic paganism. In Old Nordic religion and mythology, the precise meaning of the term "" is debated, as it can refer either to the gods in general or specifically t ...

has announced that it will establish a nickel hydroxide plant producing material for nickel-zinc batteries in the village of Peipohja of Kokemäki. The Kokemäki coat of arms depicts the bishop's

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...

Geography

The long

Kokemäki River Kokemäki (; ) is a town and municipality in the Satakunta Region of Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finland is constitutionally bi-lingual with a Swedish speakin ...

(''Kokemäenjoki'') flows from

Lake Liekovesi A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

, in the Pirkanmaa region, through Kokemäki and in to the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...

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 ...

. The Kolsi hydro-electric power plant is located at Kokemäki. Kokemäki River has long been an important waterway, well known for its salmon, whitefish and

lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are a group of Agnatha, jawless fish comprising the order (biology), order Petromyzontiformes , sole order in the Class (biology), class Petromyzontida. The adult lamprey is characterize ...

Climate

History

It is believed that the Iron Age town of Teljä was located next to the

Kokemäenjoki The Kokemäenjoki (" Kokemäki River", ) is a river in southwestern Finland. Geography The river originates at Lake Liekovesi in the Pirkanmaa region, and flows to the Gulf of Bothnia at Pori in the Satakunta region. Primary tributaries of the ...

river at Kokemäki. The oldest stone carving yet found in Finland, dated at 8,000 to 9,000 years old, was discovered in nearby

Huittinen Huittinen () is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region, southeast of Pori and southwest of Tampere. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...

in 1903. The 10 cm elk's head is in a permanent exhibition at the

National Museum of Finland The National Museum of Finland (, ) is a museum in Helsinki presenting Finnish history from the Stone Age to the present day, through objects and cultural history. The Finnish National Romantic style building is located at Mannerheimintie 34 in ...

in the capital,

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 ...

. Archeological finds from in and around Kokemäki have been dated to the Middle Ages. Kokemäki is thought to have been founded in the 12th century, maybe even earlier. The Kokemäki parish was established in 1324. While part of the

Kingdom of Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic country by both area ...

, the administrative area ( slottslän) of Kumogård (Kokemäenkartano) was created in 1331. Kokemäki served as the administrative centre of the historical province of Satakunta until 1634. The Medieval

Kokemäki Castle Kokemäki Castle (, ) was a Medieval castle in Kokemäki in the province of Satakunta in Finland. The time of its foundation is unclear, but the castle was most likely completed in 1324–25. It was demolished in 1367 by order of King Albert, as t ...

was demolished in 1367. The medieval trading route of Huovintie goes from

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

, by Kokemäki and the river of

. Along the Huovintie were guild houses where travellers could stay overnight. This was located near the Kokemäki church. The legend states that in 1156

Bishop Henry Henry (; ; ; died 20 January 1156). was a medieval English clergyman. He came to Sweden with Cardinal Nicholas Breakspeare in 1153 and was most likely designated to be the new Archbishop of Uppsala, but the independent church province of Swed ...

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

visited Satakunta on a preaching tour as a part of

Eric IX of Sweden Saint Erik ( 1125 - 18 May 1160), also called Eric IX or Erik Jedvardsson was King of Sweden from 1156 until his death in 1160. The ''Roman Martyrology'' of the Catholic Church names him as a saint memorialized on 18 May. He was the founder of ...

first crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

to Finland. St. Henry's Chapel is a neogothic style brick chapel one kilometre east of the town centre of Kokemäki. The chapel was built in 1857 on the site of a medieval wooden

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

which was used by Bishop Henry. It is possible that the original building dates back to between the 12th and 15th century, making it the oldest remaining wooden building in Finland. Kokemäki was granted a town charter in 1869. During the Revolution of 1918 some one-hundred-fifty-three individuals were killed in the municipality of Kokemäki. The municipality of Kauvatsa was merged with Kokemäki in 1969. Kokemäki was granted city status in 1977.

Transport

The transport system of Finland is well-developed with an extensive road system.

Road

Highway 2 passes to the south, running from Helsinki to Pori on the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

coast; Highway 11 runs from Pori to

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

only briefly in the northern part of the municipality; and

Highway 12 A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

runs from

Rauma Rauma may refer to: Places * Rauma, Finland, a town and municipality in the Satakunta region of western Finland * Rauma Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway * Rauma (river), a river in the Romsdalen valley in Møre og Ro ...

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

and Nokia, passing through nearby Huittinen. Helsinki is or two and a half hours away by car. There are two electric vehicle (EV) charging points in Kokemäki, with another 55 within a radius. The private

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

companies OnniBus and

ExpressBus ExpressBus is a Finland, Finnish express coach network covering most of Finland. It is a joint marketing brand of three coach operators and it was launched in 1991. The fleet has around 100 coaches with a white base colour and a red-blue arrow. T ...

operate services to all major towns and regions in Finland.

Rail

Finnish trains have a reputation for being spacious, comfortable and clean. The state-owned rail company VR operates a service between

and

, stopping at Kokemäki. The train station is to the west of the town centre at Peipohja.

Air

The nearest airport is

Pori Airport Pori Airport () is an airport in Pori, Finland. The airport is located south of the Pori town centre. It has two check-in desks, and a cafeteria service. During 2011 Pori Airport served 54,056 passengers, an increase of 25.2% from previous year ...

, which is or 40 minutes away by Highway 2.

Piikajärvi Airfield Piikajärvi Airfield is an airfield in Kokemäki, Finland, located by the Lake Piikajärvi ca. south west of the town. It is operated by Piikajärven ilmailuyhdistys (Piikajärvi Aviation Society). Piikaärvi Airfield was opened in 1943 as an al ...

is located ca. 8 kilometres south west of Kokemäki. Tampere-Pirkkala Airport is or an hour and ten minutes away by Highway 12.

Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (, ) , or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport serving Helsinki, the capital of Finland, as well as its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region in Finland. The airport is located in t ...

is two hours and twenty minutes away by Highway 2.

Tourist attractions

* St. Henry's Chapel * Tulkkila - Museum Bridge * Vestry of Saint Maria's Church * Puurijärvi-Isosuo National Park * Museum of Agriculture or "''Maatalousmuseo''" * Open-air Museum * Kokemäenjoki river * Kriivari Reindeer Farm * Sapila Suspension Bridge * Church of Gustav lll

Education

The Finnish education system is based on

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

ing and is publicly funded. Kokemäki has six schools offering

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

. These are; Tuomaala, Tulkkila, Riste, Peipohja, Lahteenmaki and Korkeaoja

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

. There is free pre-school education for all children aged 6. The Peipohjan day-care nursery caters for children aged 9 months to 5 years. There is a special needs Forsby School for children aged 0–9.

Vocational training Vocational education is education that prepares people for a Skilled worker, skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self em ...

is provided by Satakunta Training Consortium, known as SATAEDU and Huittinen Business and Vocational College.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Kokemäki is twinned with: *

Falköping Falköping () is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 16,350 inhabitants in 2010. History The town of Falköping was first spoken of in the Icelandic ''Rimbegla'' (around 1100 A.D.), ...

, Sweden * Lier, Norway *

Mariagerfjord Mariagerfjord Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in North Jutland Region in Denmark. It covers an area of 723.63 km²; (2011) it has a population of 41,606 (2025). On 1 January 2007 Mariagerfjord municipality was cre ...

, Denmark *

Põltsamaa Põltsamaa is a town in Põltsamaa Parish, Jõgeva County, in central Estonia. The town stands on the Põltsamaa River, and it features a Põltsamaa Castle, 13th-century castle. History During the German occupation in World War II, a subcamp of ...

, Estonia

References

External links

Town of Kokemäki
– Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokemaki Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 1869 1869 establishments in the Russian Empire