Kankaanpää (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑŋkɑːmˌpæː]) is a town and municipality of Finland. 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 of Satakunta. Kankaanpää has a population of about 12,500 inhabitants,[2] which make it the third largest municipality in the Satakunta region in terms of population, after the city of Pori and the town of Rauma. Pori is located 53 kilometres (33 mi) southwest of Kankaanpää.
Kankaanpää | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Kankaanpään kaupunki Kankaanpää stad | |
 Military cemetery at church in Kankaanpää | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Kankaanpää in Finland | |
| Coordinates: 61°48′N 022°24′E / 61.800°N 22.400°E | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Region | Satakunta |
| Sub-region | Northern Satakunta sub-region |
| Charter | 1865 |
| Market town | 1967 |
| Town privileges | 1972 |
| Government | |
| • Town manager | Mika Hatanpää |
| Area (2018-01-01)[1] | |
| • Total | 704.73 km2 (272.10 sq mi) |
| • Land | 1,021.25 km2 (394.31 sq mi) |
| • Water | 15.37 km2 (5.93 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 122nd largest in Finland |
| Population (2024-08-31)[2] | |
| • Total | 12,473 |
| • Rank | 81st largest in Finland |
| • Density | 12.21/km2 (31.6/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 94.8% (official) |
| • Swedish | 0.1% |
| • Others | 5.1% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 14.5% |
| • 15 to 64 | 57.4% |
| • 65 or older | 28.2% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Climate | Dfc |
| Website | www |
The coat of arms 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 in the middle of forest areas. The coat of arms was designed by Carolus Lindberg and was confirmed on October 12, 1951.[5]
Honkajoki municipality was merged with Kankaanpää on January 1, 2021.[6]
History
editFirst 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.[7]
The oldest passage in the province was from Hämeenkyrö through the ridges to Kauhajoki. In the 17th century it was the most important road between southern Finland and Ostrobothnia. The king of Sweden visited Kankaanpää twice. Gustavus Adolphus travelled from Ilmajoki to Hämeenlinna 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.[8]
Climate
editBased on the village of Niinisalo about 5.7 km northeast of the site the climate is a continental subarctic frontier (Köppen: Dfc) considering that the warmest fourth month is around 9 °C, which puts Kankaanpää in a humid continental climate (Dfb) being closer to Helsinki than Oulu, it also means that summer is more consistent and warm but winters are still cold.[9] The municipality is considered one of the rainiest of Finland with 571 mm only during a growing season in 1995. Growing season starts in early May and lasts until October 10.[10]
| Climate data for Kankaanpää (Niinisalo), elevation: 136 m or 446 ft, 1961-1990 normals and extremes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 7.0 (44.6) |
8.5 (47.3) |
13.5 (56.3) |
21.2 (70.2) |
28.4 (83.1) |
32.5 (90.5) |
30.4 (86.7) |
31.2 (88.2) |
27.7 (81.9) |
16.3 (61.3) |
10.2 (50.4) |
7.0 (44.6) |
32.5 (90.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −5.1 (22.8) |
−4.6 (23.7) |
0.2 (32.4) |
6.3 (43.3) |
14.7 (58.5) |
19.7 (67.5) |
21.1 (70.0) |
18.8 (65.8) |
12.8 (55.0) |
7.0 (44.6) |
1.0 (33.8) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
7.4 (45.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −8.0 (17.6) |
−7.8 (18.0) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
1.9 (35.4) |
9.0 (48.2) |
14.0 (57.2) |
15.7 (60.3) |
13.8 (56.8) |
8.8 (47.8) |
4.0 (39.2) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
3.4 (38.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −11.3 (11.7) |
−11.1 (12.0) |
−7.4 (18.7) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
3.4 (38.1) |
8.2 (46.8) |
10.5 (50.9) |
9.4 (48.9) |
5.3 (41.5) |
1.2 (34.2) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
−8.7 (16.3) |
−0.5 (31.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −34.9 (−30.8) |
−35.7 (−32.3) |
−25.4 (−13.7) |
−14.3 (6.3) |
−7.0 (19.4) |
−3.0 (26.6) |
2.0 (35.6) |
0.2 (32.4) |
−5.4 (22.3) |
−14.7 (5.5) |
−23.8 (−10.8) |
−33.0 (−27.4) |
−35.7 (−32.3) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 42.0 (1.65) |
29.0 (1.14) |
33.0 (1.30) |
38.0 (1.50) |
37.0 (1.46) |
53.0 (2.09) |
71.0 (2.80) |
80.0 (3.15) |
73.0 (2.87) |
54.0 (2.13) |
59.0 (2.32) |
47.0 (1.85) |
616 (24.26) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 10.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 116 |
| Source: NOAA[11] | |||||||||||||
Politics
edit
Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Kankaanpää:
- True Finns 37.2%
- Centre Party 25.5%
- National Coalition Party 11.8%
- Social Democratic Party 10.6%
- Left Alliance 7.7%
- Christian Democrats 4.4%
- Green League 2.4%
Results of the 2021 Finnish municipal elections, resulted in the True Finns being the largest group on the Kankaanpää council, in Kankaanpää.[12]
Villages
edit
Ala-Honkajoki, Hapua, Jyränkylä, Karhusaari, Korvaluoma, Kyynärjärvi, Narvi, Niinisalo, Santaskylä, Taulunoja, Venesjärvi, Veneskoski, Verttuu and Vihteljärvi.
Education
editKankaanpää 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 officers.
Culture
edit
Kankaanpää town museum is presenting the life in Kankaanpää during the last 100 years.[13] Kankaanpää is also home to the visual arts unit of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, which is better known as Kankaanpää Art School. 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.[14]
The local dialect of Kankaanpää is part of the Tavastian dialects.[15]
Food
editDue to its roots in Tavastia, the traditional drink of Kankaanpää is sahti, and the traditional food is ristavelli, which is a pea soup made with rye flour. In the 1980s, sheep meat and cooked potatoes were also named as other parish dishes.[16]
Military
editThe Pohjankangas Training Area is located nearby, it is the second largest training area of the Finnish Defence Forces.
Notable people
edit- Cristal Snow, musician and drag queen[citation needed]
- Toni Vilander, racing driver[citation needed]
- Ristomatti Hakola, cross-country skier[citation needed]
International relations
editTwin towns — sister cities
editKankaanpää is twinned with:
Bollnäs, Sweden
Flekkefjord, Norway
Gagra, Georgia
Misburg, Germany
Morsø Municipality, Denmark
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ a b c "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,625,011 at the end of August 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 24 September 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ Suomen kunnallisvaakunat (in Finnish). Suomen Kunnallisliitto. 1982. p. 118. ISBN 951-773-085-3.
- ^ Laakso, Antti (15 May 2020). "Honkajoki liittyy Kankaanpäähän vuodenvaihteessa – valtuustot hyväksyivät ainoan Suomessa vireillä olevan kuntaliitoksen". YLE News (in Finnish). YLE. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "RKY ι Museovirasto". www.rky.fi. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
- ^ "Toimitilat" (in Finnish). Kankaanpään seurakunta. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ "Niinisalo, Kankaanpää, Satakunta Climate Niinisalo, Kankaanpää, Satakunta Temperatures Niinisalo, Kankaanpää, Satakunta Weather Averages". www.kankaanpaa.climatemps.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Ilmasto-opas.fi. "Suomen muuttuva ilmasto - Ilmasto-opas.fi". Ilmasto-opas (in Finnish). Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Kankaanpää (02942) - WMO Weather Station". NOAA. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "Finns Party gains, NCP top as turnout dips in Finnish local elections | News | Yle Uutiset". 13 June 2021.
- ^ Kankaanpää Museum – Museot.fi (in English)
- ^ Taidekoulu – Town of Kankaanpää (in Finnish)
- ^ Hämäläismurteiden alue – Sokl.uef.fi. (in Finnish)
- ^ Jaakko Kolmonen: Kotomaamme ruoka-aitta: Suomen, Karjalan ja Petsamon pitäjäruoat, p. 36–37. Helsinki: Patakolmonen Ky, 1988. (in Finnish)
External links
edit
Media related to Kankaanpää at Wikimedia Commons
Kankaanpää travel guide from Wikivoyage