Kotka (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈkotkɑ];lit.'"eagle"') is atown inFinland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of theKymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately 50,000, while thesub-region has a population of approximately 79,000. It is the 21st most populousmunicipality in Finland, and the 16th most populousurban area in the country.
Kotka is situated in the southern part of theKymenlaakso province of Finland. Kotka is a majorport and industrial city situated on the coast of theGulf of Finland. Kotka is a culturally diverse city with a variety of schools. It was previously a part of the formerKymi parish. Kymi,Haapasaari island, and Karhula, which was once a separatemarket town, were later incorporated into Kotka. Kotka's neighboring municipalities areHamina,Kouvola, andPyhtää.[6] Kotka is situated in the Kotka-Hamina subdivision and, along with Kouvola, is one of the main centres of the Kymenlaakso region.
The city centre of Kotka is located on an island in the sea calledKotkansaari ("Island of Kotka").[7][8] The main road in Kotka is theFinnish national road 7 (E18), which runs west throughPorvoo toHelsinki, the capital of Finland, and extends east toSt. Petersburg,Russia. ThePort of Kotka is a major Finnish seaport serving both Finnish and Russian foreign trade.[9] The municipality is officially unilinguallyFinnish, with88% being native Finnish speakers,1% Swedish, and10% speaking some other language.
The oldercoat of arms of Kotka from the 19th century
The description of the oldercoat of arms read that "the upper field of the splitshield is blue, the lower field silver, and in the center of the shield anatural stone with a goldeneagle, and in the lower field theanchor andcaduceus diagonally crossed, both blue," while the current coat of arms is described as follows: "In a blue field, the wings of a golden natural eagle are raised, standing with a crossed anchor and caduceus, both of which are silver."[10][11] The first coat of arms of the city of Kotka was confirmed in 1881. However, the Kotka City Council had to renew the old coat of arms in 1954 because it did not meetheraldic requirements.[12] The new coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson in 1957,[12] Eriksson kept the new coat of arms as the main emblem of Kotka referring to the name of the city. From the images of the current coat of arms, the anchor reflects the importance of Kotka as aport town and caduceus intrade,industry andmaritime traffic.[13]
On 16 April 1878, theSenate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issued a declaration establishing a city on the southern part islands from theold Kymi parish, so in 1879 the islands of Kotkansaari and Hovinsaari were separated from Kymi and the city of Kotka was established.[14][15][16]
Historically,Swedish was the official language in the city until 1902. From 1902 until 1906, the city was officially bilingual. Kotka has a Swedish speaking minority (see:Swedish-speaking population of Finland), which in the 1890s accounted for 16% of the city population and 3% in the 1950s.[17] Today around 1% of the city's population are Swedish speakers. There is one school in Kotka where Swedish is the language of instruction,Kotka Svenska Samskola, which was founded in 1885.[18]
Kotka region was one of the first heavily industrialized regions of Finland. Paper and pulp mills remain important employers. In the last decades several factories have undergone restructuring which has led to an increasing unemployment. Since the 1980s the population of Kotka has been slowly decreasing, mostly due to domestic migration to Helsinki region.[19]
Kotka is a monolingualFinnish-speaking municipality. As of 2024[update], the majority of the population, 44,162 persons (88%), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number ofSwedish speakers was 477 persons (1%) of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by11.1% of the population.[21] AsEnglish andSwedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 30 different languages are spoken in Kotka. The most common foreign languages areRussian (5.2%),Ukrainian (1.0%),Estonian (0.7%),Arabic (0.4%) andEnglish (0.4%).[21]
As of 2024[update], there were 5,743 persons with a foreign background living in Kotka, or 11% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 5,278, or 11% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Kotka was 3,323.[21] Most foreign-born citizens came from the formerSoviet Union,Russia,Estonia,Ukraine, andIraq.
The relative share of immigrants in Kotka's population is above the national average. Moreover, 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 59.9% of the population of Kotka. Other religious groups accounted for 3.0% of the population. 37.2% of the population had no religious affiliation.[23]
Kotka's three largest employers at the beginning of 2018 were the City of Kotka, the Social and Health Services in Kymenlaakso (Kymsote), and Steveco.[24] The largestlivelihoods in 2004 weresocial services (31.7%) and localindustry (21.9%).[25] In 2006, the city's total expenditure was just over EUR 370 million and municipaltax revenue amounted to EUR 141.3 million with anincome tax rate of 18.75%.[26] At the end of 2015, theunemployment rate in Kotka was 22.2%, which is one of the highest and largest cities in Finland.[27] In 2005, the unemployment rate in Kotka was 14.4% and in 2006 12.9%. In 2010, the relative number of unemployed in the city started to rise and at the end of 2012 the rate was 17.1%.[28]
Maritime Centre Vellamo is home to theMaritime Museum of Finland, the Museum of Kymenlaakso, the Coast Guard Museum, Information Centre Vellamo and the Kotka Cultural Centre. In addition to this, the building holds classrooms, seminar rooms, a 200-seat auditorium, Restaurant Laakonki with 100 seats, and Museum Shop Plootu.
The Kymenlaakso Museum operates at the Kantasatama Harbour in Kotka, at Maritime Centre Vellamo.[29] The museum building, which has aroused much attention, was designed by the architect Ilmari Lahdelma.[30]The area of operation of the Kymenlaakso museum, which is maintained by the City of Kotka, covers seven municipalities. The museum information services and the work of the regionalarchaeologist cover the entire region of Kymenlaakso.In building research, the museum serves as a public authority, with duties such as the issuing of opinions in building protection matters.The collections of Kymenlaakso museum have been compiled since the 1920s. Alongside collections of museum items, the museum has an extensive archive of photographs. The collections are located at Metsola in Kotka.
Langinkoski Imperial Fishing Lodge (Langinkosken keisarillinen kalastusmaja) is a museum andfishing lodge in the valley ofRiver Kymijoki. Kymijoki is one of the biggest rivers in Finland with a drainage basin with 11% of the area of Finland. EmperorAlexander III of Russia first visited Langinkoski in 1880 as Crown Prince. During his second visit to Langinkoski, he stated that he wanted a small fishing lodge near rapids.[31][32] Construction of the house began in the summer of 1888 and was inaugurated the following year. The museum is visited annually by about 14,000 visitors a year.[33]
Maretarium Aquarium opened in 2002, is located on Kotka Island, on the shore of the Gulf of Sapokka. It focuses on the presentation of Finnish fish species and water bodies. There are about 60 native and established fish species from Finland. The Maretarium was created in collaboration between the City of Kotka, the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute. In addition to aquariums, there are also facilities for researchers and the nature school. There is also the Maritime Theater, Meri Café Kristina and a souvenir shop.
TheChurch of St Nicholas is located in Isopuisto Park in Kotka city centre. Based on designs by Jakov Perrin, the neoclassical church was constructed between 1799–1801, and it is the oldest building in Kotka today. Facade consists of pillars for three entries, the bell tower and a cross dome.
The numerous well-maintained parks and green areas make the centre of Kotka can be visited with a walk of about five kilometers, which can reach these park sites: Sapokka Watergarden, Katariina Seaside Park, Sibelius Park, Isopuisto ("Big Park"), Sculpture Promenade, Palotornivuori Park, Redutti-Kotka herb garden, Fuksinpuisto Park and Toivo Pekkanen Park.
Sapokka Watergarden, awarded with numerous international prizes, is a real greenoasis in the middle of Kotka. In addition to the variety of plants, the main elements of this park are water, stone and special lighting.[34]
Katariina Seaside Park is an extensive outdoor recreation area of more than 20 hectares, which grew up on the site of the oil loading port.[35]
Sculpture Promenade is Finland's largest outdoor gallery. The new works have been acquired for thesculpture promenade almost every year.[36]
Therugby union team Griffins RFC Kotka playing in the Rugby-7 Tournament in 2013
The local football team isKTP. Founded in 1927, KTP has long, and successful football history. KTP won the Finnish football championship in 1951 and 1952, and Finnish Cup 4 times, in years 1958, 1961, 1967, and 1980. Currently the club plays in the highest Finnish leagueVeikkausliiga.
^Jaakko Kolmonen (1988).Kotomaamme ruoka-aitta: Suomen, Karjalan ja Petsamon pitäjäruoat (in Finnish). Helsinki: Patakolmonen. p. 100.ISBN951-96047-3-1.
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