Lempäälä () 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

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

region. It lies south of the regional capital,

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 ...

. The population of Lempäälä is approximately , while the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

has a population of approximately . It is the most populous

in Finland. 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 . The centre of Lempäälä lies on an isthmus between Lakes Vanajavesi and Pyhäjärvi, which are connected by the Kuokkalankoski Rapids and the Lempäälä Canal, which was built in the 1870s and is still in use. The first written reference to the parish of Lempäälä dates from 1430. The oldest building in the town is a medieval church named after Saint Birgitta, built in 1504. The only surviving item from the Middle Ages in the church is a wooden

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

carved from

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

. Finnish writer Yrjö Kokko lived in Lempäälä and is buried in the cemetery. Ideapark, the second largest

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

in the Nordic countries, is located in Lempäälä along the Helsinki-Tampere motorway ( E12).

Kuokkala

Kuokkala is a neighbourhood to the north of Lempäälä town which houses a ’museoraitti’ (museum trail). Several buildings now house collections of historical items, including a shop museum (also a shop and information office), hairdressers & barbers, cobblers, WW2 memorabilia, household equipment, blacksmiths, carpenters, a 19th-century Finnish dwelling, and a special exhibit relating to the ex-Finnish region of Sakkola.

Politics

In the 2023 parliamentary elections, Lempäälä voted as such: *

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 ...

- 26.0% *

Finns Party 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 ...

- 22.0% * Social Democratic Party - 21.8% * Centre Party - 7.4% * Green League - 6.6% * Christian Democrats - 6.3% * Left Alliance - 4.4% * Movement Now - 3.1% * Freedom Alliance - 1.0%

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Lempäälä is twinned with: * Ulricehamn, Sweden * Øvre Eiker, Norway * Kerteminde, Denmark *

Tapolca Tapolca (; ) is a town in Veszprém County, Hungary, close to Lake Balaton. It is located at around . The town has an outer suburb, Tapolca-Diszel, approximately 5 km to the East. Etymology The origin of ''Tapolca'' is disputed, originat ...

, Hungary

Villages

* Aimala

References

External links

Municipality of Lempäälä
– Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Lempaala Tampere metropolitan area Populated places established in 1866 1860s establishments in Finland