Kokkola (Finnish:[ˈkokːolɑ];Swedish:Karleby,Finland Swedish:[ˈkɑrleˌbyː]) is atown inFinland and the regional capital ofCentral Ostrobothnia. It is located on the west coast of the country, on theGulf of Bothnia. The population of Kokkola is approximately 48,000, while thesub-region has a population of approximately 54,000. It is the 22nd most populousmunicipality in Finland, and the 20th most populousurban area in the country.
Kokkola covers an area of 2,730.80 square kilometres (1,054.37 sq mi) of which 1,286.61 km2 (496.76 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 33.44 inhabitants per square kilometre (86.6/sq mi). Neighbour municipalities areHalsua,Kalajoki,Kannus,Kaustinen,Kronoby,Lestijärvi,Larsmo andToholampi.
Kokkola is abilingual municipality withFinnish andSwedish as its official languages. The population consists of83% Finnish speakers,12% Swedish speakers, and5% speakers of other languages.
In the oldest Swedish sources Kokkola is mentioned asKarlabi. The town was known in Swedish by the nameGamlakarleby until 1 January 1977 when the surrounding land municipality of Kaarlela (Swedish:Karleby) was consolidated with Kokkola, and the town took over the Swedish name ofKarleby. The wordgamla means "old",karl (anglicanized Charles), is a Germanic males name, a name of many kings, meaning simply "man" andby means "village", so the town name is ambiguous meaning both "old village of Charles" or "old man village". The Latin name wasCarolina Vetus.Gustav II Adolf, the founder of the city, possibly named the town in honor of his father KingKarl IX of Sweden. The Finnish name is possibly derived from Kokkolahti, a narrow bay located at the place of the town. According to a tale thesea eagles (in Finnish merikotka or kokko) used to live there.[6] Another theory claims that the name comes from ancient signal fires (kokko), which were used to warn people about approaching enemy troops.[citation needed]
Thecoat of arms of Kokkola is based on thecity seal issued in 1620 in connection with the founding of the city. The pattern is a symbol oftar burning and tar trade, which have played a significant part in the history of the city since its founding until the 19th century. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson and Into I. Suominen, and it was confirmed for use on 17 December 1956.[7][8][9]
The town of Kokkola was chartered in 1620 by KingGustav II Adolf of Sweden when Finland was a part of theSwedish Empire and is one among the oldest towns in Finland. The king also decided that a tar barrel, with three burning flames coming from both the ends and the plug, should be used as the town seal, because of thetar trade at that time, for which Kokkola was founded as a shipping port.Anders Chydenius (1729-1803) who was one of the leading politicians ofSweden, was a keen supporter of economic freedom and fought in theSwedish Parliament for free foreign trade and further social reforms. In 1765 the Swedish Parliament granted the city of Kokkola thestaple rights. Kokkola also became an importantshipbuilding centre in Finland. As a result of tar trade and shipbuilding industry, Kokkola was for a time one of the richest towns in Finland.
Matts Kankkonen defended Kokkola during the skirmish of Halkokari.
An interesting historical affair, known as theSkirmish of Halkokari, occurred at the town on 7 June 1854 during theÅland War, part of theCrimean War.Royal Marines fromHMS Vulture andHMS Odin tried to come ashore to deal with public property in the town "in accordance with the usages of war". The marines were repelled by local defenders armed with hunting rifles supported by troops, artillery and possibly Russian advisors and military. One of the 9 smaller British craft (agunboat) fell into the hands of the defenders. As such, this boat was the only Royal Navy vessel still in foreign possession in 1914. The boat is still today a museum-object and can be seen in Kokkola's English Park. The town council has refused to return the boat despite several requests by the United Kingdom, most recently byJohn Stuttard, the Lord Mayor of London. The British Treasury annually pays a small sum to the local church congregation for the maintenance of the graves of nine Royal Marines killed in action during the skirmish .[10]
Interesting contemporaneous accounts of the disastrous action can be found in the British Newspaper Archive, citing Gamla Carleby.
The city had a Swedish-speaking majority until 1933.
In 1977, the surrounding municipality of Kaarlela (Swedish:Karleby) was consolidated into Kokkola (Swedish until then:Gamlakarleby). In 2009, the municipalities ofLohtaja,Kälviä andUllava were consolidated with Kokkola.
Kokkola is the capital of theCentral Ostrobothnia region, it is located on the coast ofGulf of Bothnia, the northernmost part of theBaltic Sea. The next larger cities areVaasa is 121 kilometres (75 miles) southwest, andOulu is 198 kilometres (123 miles) northeast. The distance to the capital Helsinki is 483 kilometres (300 miles) to the south. Neighbouring cities and municipals areKalajoki in the northern east,Kannus andToholampi in the east,Halsua andKaustinen in the southern east,Kronoby in the south andLarsmo in the southern west.
The landscape of the region around Kokkola is flat, typical for the area ofOstrobothnia, with numerous river courses flowing through the land. The biggest river in the area isPerhonjoki, which flows intoGulf of Bothnia, north of Kokkola.
The annualpost-glacial rebound at Kokkola is 8.8 mm. Thus large areas of present-day Kokkola were under water when the town was founded.
The city of Kokkola has 48,368 inhabitants, making it the 22nd most populous municipality in Finland. TheKokkola region has a population of 53,632. In Kokkola, 5.1% of the population has a foreign background, which is below the national average.[15]
Population size of Kokkola (and merged municipalities) 1990–2020[14]
The city of Kokkola is officiallybilingual, with bothFinnish andSwedish as official languages. The majority of the population - 40,079 people or83.0% - speak Finnish as their first language. In Kokkola, 5,816 people, or12.0% of the population, speakSwedish.[15]5% of the population of Kokkola have amother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish.[15] AsEnglish and Swedish - or Finnish for Swedish speakers - are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
Kokkola marks the northernmost settlement area of theSwedish-speakers (Fenno-Swedish) on the western coast of Finland. The Swedish-speaking inhabitants of Kokkola are spread unevenly around Kokkola: Whereas the centre of the city is bilingual, the majority of the villages around Kokkola mostly speak Swedish. The districts which were consolidated in 2009 are, however, pure Finnish-speaking areas.
At least 30 different languages are spoken in Kokkola. The most common foreign languages areRussian (0.6%),Arabic (0.4%),English (0.4%) andChinese (0.3%).[15]
As of 2023[update], there were 2,485 persons with a migrant background living in Kokkola, or 5.1% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 2,724, or 5.6% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Kokkola was 1,716.[15] Most foreign-born citizens came fromSweden, the formerSoviet Union,Thailand andChina.[14]
The relative share of immigrants in Kokkola's population is below the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.
In 2023, theEvangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 72.5% of the population of Kokkola. Other religious groups accounted for 2.1% of the population. 25.4% of the population had no religious affiliation.[17]
Kokkola is the capital and biggest city in the region ofCentral Ostrobothnia. Thechemical industry is a major employer. An industrial area and the city's port are located in Ykspihlaja.Umicore has acobalt plant. The Freeport/Umicore refinery is the only large cobalt refinery outside China.[18]Boliden has azinc plant.Kemira, a chemical conglomerate, built an industrial park that is now divided among several corporations. In addition, industries represented in the town include metalworking, casting, textiles, plastics, food and carpentry. Largest employers are as follows (2011):
The city of Kokkola approx. 2.350
Central Ostrobothnian Joint Municipal Authority for Social and Health Services (Soite) 2.500
Boliden Kokkola Oy (zinc) 500
Umicore (was Freeport Cobalt Oy until 2019)[18] (cobalt) 420
ThePort of Kokkola is located in Ykspihlaja, approximately 5 km (3 mi) from the city center, and it is one of the busiest ports in Finland. Oil, ore and limestone are imported, refined products and timber are exported, and iron ore is transited.
TheChydenia Shopping Center, completed in 2006, is located in the center of Kokkola;[19] about 2 million people visit at the shopping center every year.[20]
Kokkola is located on the coast ofGulf of Bothnia, and the coastalEuropean route E8 (Finnish highway 8) goes through, connectingOulu andTurku viaVaasa. Finnish highway 28 begins from Kokkola and runs toKajaani. Finnish highway 13 begins from Kokkola and runs through Finland into theNuijamaa border toRussia crossing viaJyväskylä andMikkeli. The scenic '7 Bridges Archipelago Road' (road 749) runs along the coast between Kokkola andJakobstad (Finnish:Pietarsaari).
The area of old wooden houses in the downtown area ofNeristan has been the setting for the life and livelihood of its inhabitants for hundreds of years. Today these houses are offering restaurants, cafés, little shops and even accommodation for tourists. With its old charm it invites visitors to discover Neristan step by step.
Tankar island, alighthouse island, is in the outerarchipelago, about 18 km (11 mi) northwest from Kokkola. Theisland houses alighthouse which is still in use today, a museum of seal-hunting, a bird-watching tower, a lot of nature trails and even accommodations for tourists. It is easy to reach the island by ferry m/s Jenny from Kokkola.
The stoneEvangelical-LutheranChurch of Kaarlela has been a landmark since 1550 and is a popular venue for weddings and concerts. Next to the church, there is a local history museum at Kirkonmäki with an Ostrobothnian farmhouse, as well as an old smithy, a tannery, a wool-carding workshop, a threshing barn, a smoke sauna, a granary barn and a loft.
K.H.Renlund Museum is devoted toKarl Herman Renlund, who donated his large art collection to the town of Kokkola. The museum houses some temporary exhibitions and the museum shop. Next to the museum is the Pedagogio, a school-house, which is Finland's oldest urban secular wooden building (built in 1696). In this quarter, there is also the Lassander House which offers a glimpse into a merchant home in the 18th century.
Kokkola has a lot ofpreschools, some of them offer children a bilingual education from an early age (mostly Finnish-English or Finnish-Swedish). There are 25 Finnish-speaking and 8 Swedish-speaking schools. Moreover, there are three secondary schools for Finnish-speaking pupils and one for Swedish-speaking. Some schools offer adualvocational education and training. TheChydenius-Institution of Kokkola, auniversityconsortium, carries out teaching and research under the auspices of the universities of Jyväskylä, Oulu and Vaasa. It is specialized in adult education. For Finnish and foreign students it arranges open university studies, further education for professionals in the fields ofeducation,social services andhealth services andmanagement.Centria University of Applied Sciences [Finnish name:Centria ammattikorkeakoulu] is also situated in Kokkola having its other partition in Ylivieska and Jakobstad is an international institute offering three different bachelor's degree program in English language along with Finnish.
