Kirkkonummi (; , , Sweden ) is a

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, ...

, located in the southern coast of the country. Kirkkonummi is situated in the western part of the

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

region. The population of Kirkkonummi is approximately . It is the most populous

in Finland. Kirkkonummi is part of the

Helsinki Metropolitan Area Helsinki metropolitan area (, ) or Greater Helsinki (, ) is the metropolitan area around Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It also includes the smaller Helsinki capital region, capital region. The terms Helsinki metropolitan area, Greater H ...

, which has approximately million inhabitants. Kirkkonummi is situated on the northern shore of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

and borders

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

Vihti Vihti (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Vihti is situated in the Uusimaa region. The population of Vihti is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Fin ...

Siuntio Siuntio (; ) is a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Southern Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Ingå to the west, Kirkkonummi to the east, Lohja to the north-west, and Vihti to the north. It is west of Helsinki. As of 2021, the p ...

and

Ingå Ingå (; , ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern coast of the country. Ingå is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Ingå is approximately , while the Raseborg sub-region, sub-region has a popul ...

. The literal translation of the Finnish name "''Kirkkonummi''" into English is “church heath”; the Swedish name "''Kyrkslätt''" translates to “church plain". Kirkkonummi is a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

municipality with Finnish 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 ...

as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages.

Geography

The municipality is located just outside the

, bordering the city of

in the east. Other neighbouring municipalities are

and

. The distance from the municipal centre to central

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 ...

is some . Kirkkonummi also has excellent

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

connections to other parts of the Greater Helsinki area, and many of its inhabitants commute daily to Helsinki. The municipality 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 . In recent years, Kirkkonummi has faced the highest population growth rate in the country, at over 3% per annum. Veikkola Kirkkonummi

Major population centres in Kirkkonummi include the municipal centre, Masala,

Veikkola Veikkola () is a village in Kirkkonummi municipality in Uusimaa, 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 ...

Kantvik Kantvik is a village in Kirkkonummi municipality in Uusimaa, Finland. It is located about south of the municipal center towards Upinniemi. Nearby services include a primary school and a Sale grocery store. There is a bus connection from Kantvi ...

and the

Upinniemi Upinniemi () is a village in the municipality of Kirkkonummi in southern Finland. It is located approximately 12 km south of the municipal centre. Upinniemi is dominated by the Finnish naval base, which is one of the largest military instal ...

naval garrison area. In addition to these, there are dozens of smaller villages. Geographically, Kirkkonummi has two famous

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

s, namely

Porkkala Porkkalanniemi (), often referred to simply as Porkkala (), is a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland, located at Kirkkonummi (Kyrkslätt) in Southern Finland. The peninsula had great strategic value, as coastal artillery based there would be abl ...

and Upinniemi, the latter one of which houses a major Finnish naval base. Porkkala is also on one of the main bird migration routes in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

region. Additionally, Kirkkonummi has a large central plains area, through which a railway goes from Helsinki to

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 ...

as well as extensive lake areas, much of which is relatively untouched wilderness.

Climate

Kirkkonummi has a four-season

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 ...

(

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 ...

: ''Dfb'') with long, cold, snowy winters, and warm summers; spring and fall are somewhat cool and brief seasons. Similar to that of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

. The monthly daily average temperatures range from in January to in July. Precipitation is well-spread throughout the year, though late spring to early summer is the driest season while late fall to winter tends to be the wettest. Its location in the very southern tip of Finland gives it a milder climate than that of northern Finland, being influenced by the

North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. Characteristics The NAC ...

and the

. Record temperatures range from in February, up to in July. The plant life

hardiness zones A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

are between 6a and 7a, representing an annual extreme minimum temperature between .

History

Kirkkonummi has been populated from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

to the present day as evidenced by the first Stone Age rock paintings found in Finland that are located by lake Vitträsk in the central lake region of Kirkkonummi. Incidentally, these paintings were found by the famous Finnish composer

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

. The southern half of the municipality was leased to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

between 1945 and 1956 for use as a naval base as part of the peace settlement that ended the hostilities between the Soviet Union and Finland during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Signs of this time include concrete bunkers, other fortifications and the remains of an airbase.

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 Kirkkonummi: *

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 ...

30.7% *

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 ...

16.8% *

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 ...

16.3% *

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant in ...

14.3% *

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 ...

10.1% * Centre Party 4.4% * Left Alliance 3.6% *

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

2.3%

Attractions

Places of interest located in Kirkkonummi include the medieval stone church in the municipal centre, the wooden church in the village of

Haapajärvi Haapajärvi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Nei ...

, as well as the

Hvitträsk Hvitträsk is a mansion complex in Kirkkonummi, Finland, about west of Helsinki. It was designed as a studio home by the members of the Finnish architecture firm Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen, later becoming the private residence of Eliel Saarin ...

manor designed by Finnish architects

Eliel Saarinen Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1873 – July 1, 1950) was a Finnish and American Architecture, architect known for his work with Art Nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century. He was also the father of famed architect Ee ...

Herman Gesellius Herman Ernst Henrik Gesellius (16 January 1874 – 24 March 1916) was a Finnish architect. Biography Gesellius graduated from the Polytechnical Institute in 1897. In 1896 he founded the architecture firm Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen with Arma ...

and

Armas Lindgren Armas Eliel Lindgren (28 November 1874 – 3 October 1929) was a Finnish architect, professor and painter. Biography Early life and career Armas Lindgren was born in Hämeenlinna on 28 November 1874. He studied architecture in the Polytechnica ...

Notable people

(1874–1916), architect *

Jani Hakanpää Jani Hakanpää (born 31 March 1992) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hakanpää was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the fourth round (104th overall) of the 2010 ...

(born 1992), professional ice hockey player *

Laura Närhi Laura Närhi (born 19 January 1978) is a Finnish pop singer. The lead singer of Kemopetrol, she started a solo career and her debut solo album '' Suuri sydän'' was released in August 2010 and has sold over 30,000 copies in Finland. It peak ...

(born 1978), pop singer *

Daniela Owusu Daniela Owusu (born 9 February 2004) is a Finnish social media content creator who portrayed Saint Lucy in Finland's national Saint Lucy's Day celebrations in 2024. She was elected by the public and crowned in a ceremony at Helsinki Cathedral. Owu ...

(born 2004), first Black woman to portray

Saint Lucy Lucia of Syracuse ( – 304 AD), also called Saint Lucia () and better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman people, Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in Catholic Church, Catholic, Angl ...

in national celebrations *

Riikka Purra Riikka Katriina Purra (; born 13 June 1977) is a Finnish politician, serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, and Finance Minister, since 2023. She is also a member of the Parliament of Finland for the Finns Party for the Uusimaa consti ...

(born 1977), politician *

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center; the pa ...

(1910–1961), architect

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kirkkonummi is twinned with: *

Sundbyberg Sundbyberg Municipality ( or ''Sundbybergs stad'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, just north of the capital Stockholm. Sundbyberg is wholly within the Stockholm urban area and has a 100% urban population. Sundbybe ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, 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 count ...

Paldiski Paldiski is a seaside Populated places in Estonia, town in northwestern Estonia, located on the Pakri Peninsula and adjacent Pakri Islands, Pakri islands in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. It is the administrative centre of the Lääne- ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

References

External links

Municipality of Kirkkonummi
– official website {{Authority control Greater Helsinki Populated coastal places in Finland Populated places established in the 1330s