Lappeenranta (Finnish:[ˈlɑpːeːnˌrɑntɑ];Swedish:Villmanstrand) is acity inFinland and the regional capital ofSouth Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in theFinnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately 73,000, while thesub-region has a population of approximately 88,000. It is the 13th most populousmunicipality in Finland, and the 11th most populousurban area in the country.
Lappeenranta, the region's tourism centre, is the second most visited city in Finland byRussian tourists afterHelsinki and competes with Helsinki for the largest share oftax-free sales in Finland. Lappeenranta is a model for renewable energy and a clean living environment. Lappeenranta was the only Finnish city among the 14 finalists of the international Earth Hour City Challenge 2014 organised by WWF. In 2009, Lappeenranta was ranked fourth in the comparison of the largest Finnish cities, while in the 2008 survey the city was ranked fifth.[7] In a survey conducted among business representatives in 2011, Lappeenranta was ranked 17th among Finnish cities in terms of image.[8]
Lappeenranta Airport, opened in 1918 and located in the city centre, is Finland's oldest operating airport.
The nameLappeenranta consists of thegenitive ofLappee (the name of the original core town) and the common nounranta which means "shore". The harbor was known asLapvesi ("lap water"). The history of Lappeenranta includes the rural municipality ofLappee and thehundred of Lapvesi. The Swedish nameVillmanstrand contains the wordsvildman meaning "wild man" andstrand also meaning "shore".[9] Awild man is depicted on Lappeenranta's coat of arms.
The village of Kauskila, located about eight kilometers to the south of downtown Lappeenranta, was among the most significantKarelian population centers in South Karelia during theMiddle Ages.[10] Kauskila has been continuously inhabited for approximately 2,000 years.[11]
Lappeenranta's original core settlement,Lapvesi, laterLappee, was originally formed around a headland jutting into LakeSaimaa, the site of the present fortress. The public market was established here, which became so important as a trading place that general Governor CountPer Brahe the Younger proposed that the Swedish government should grant town privileges to Lapvesi. The town was chartered in 1649 byQueenChristina of Sweden.[12] At the time, Lapvesi was an important port fortar.[13]
Between 1721 and 1743, Lappeenranta was the capital ofKymmenegård and Nyslott County and during this period the Swedes built the fortress out in stages.[14]
In 1741, theBattle of Villmanstrand was fought between the Swedish and Russian armies in theRusso-Swedish War of 1741–1743. The battle ended in a Russian victory. The town was pillaged, wooden structures including the provincial chancellery were burnt and the ecclesiastical archives damaged. The remaining portion ofOld Finland still belonging to Sweden, including Lappeenranta, was ceded by Sweden toRussia per theTreaty of Turku. Following the creation of theGrand Duchy of Finland in 1809, Old Finland was joined to the Grand Duchy in 1812 as a gesture of goodwill byAlexander I of Russia.[15]
Lappeenranta incorporated the neighbouring municipalities of Lappee andLauritsala on 1 January 1967,Nuijamaa on 1 January 1989,Joutseno on 1 January 2009, andYlämaa on 1 January 2010.[16]
Lappeenranta has ahumid continental climate of the warm-summer type (Köppen:Dfb). The summers are longer, although rarely hot, and usually warm. Some of the warmest summers in the country can be found here, due to its orientation: southern but inland. Being in an eastern part ofFinland, the winters are often harsh but still mild compared to areas further east.[17][18]
Anchorage has some similarities by being of marine influence of hot currents and at the same time of the marginal continentality. But Lappeenranta is still able to receive heat waves that crossCentral Europe in a warmer climate than cool.[19]
Between 2000 and 2017 the temperature change was greater than the whole previous century, with +1.2 °C (higher values thanHelsinki orOulu). Since 2000 the number of warm days (> 24 °C) has become 2 per year, while the 1900 data indicates only 2 days per decade. From the first half of the twentieth century the days above 24 °C changed from rare to occasional in the second half to regular in the present century. There was also a 17.5 decrease in temperature below −1 °C for the same comparison period. 2015 was the hottest year since 1900, having one of the less than 50 days with freezing days.[20] Work to reduce the temperature increase has been carried out; the city is again among the best 45 cities in the world in the WWF City Challenge 2016. One of the goals is to reducecarbon dioxide by 30% by 2020 and zero emissions by 2050.[21] According to the 1961-1990 climate norms, the climate of Lappeenranta was a climate ofcontinental subarctic zone (Köppen:Dfc) closely bordering on the humid continental climate (Köppen:Dfb). Compared to decades ago, the total amount of precipitation has also increased somewhat.
Climate data for Lappeenranta airport, 1991-2020 normals, extremes 1961 - present
The city of Lappeenranta has 72,909 inhabitants, making it the 13th most populous municipality in Finland. TheLappeenranta region has a population of 87,863.[25]
Population size of Lappeenranta (and merged municipalities) 1990–2020[24]
Lappeenranta is a monolingualFinnish-speaking municipality. As of 2024[update], the majority of the population, 64,996 persons (88.6%), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number ofSwedish speakers was 120 persons (0.2%) of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by11.2% of the population.[25] AsEnglish andSwedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 50 different languages are spoken in Lappeenranta. The most commonly spoken foreign languages areRussian (4.6%),English (0.5%),Chinese (0.5%) andPersian (0.4%).[25]
As of 2024[update], there were 8,339 persons with a foreign background living in Lappeenranta, or 11% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 7,942, or 11% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Lappeenranta was 5,516. Most foreign-born citizens came from the formerSoviet Union,Russia,China andIran.[25]
The relative share of immigrants in Lappeenranta's population is the same as to 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 66.8% of the population of Lappeenranta. Other religious groups accounted for 2.6% of the population. 30.5% of the population had no religious affiliation.[27]
Autumn in LappeenrantaPedestrian street in the city centerHuge sand art in Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta is known as a summer city, mostly due to its closeness to LakeSaimaa, Europe's 4th largest lake. The eponymous GoSaimaa (www.gosaimaa.com) provides all the touristic activities in the area. In addition, its inland location means that summers tend to be warmer and winters colder than along the coastal areas.
Lappeenranta has a healthy winter tourism industry. Various cabins around Lake Saimaa, as well as numerous snowmobiles, Nordic skating, floating in the river, reindeer rides, paragliding, skiing and sledding tracks draw a fair number of winter visitors. The proximity of the Russian border is increasingly evident in the number of Russian tourists visiting the city. In fact, Lappeenranta is closer toSaint Petersburg (195 km or 121 miles) than it is toHelsinki, the capital of Finland (220 km or 140 miles). The presence of Russian tourists is noticeable by the many Russian registered cars on the streets and the use ofCyrillic letters in signs of some shops.
Lappeenranta has several sports teams playing in top levels of Finnish sports leagues.
SaiPa is anice hockey team playing in the highest level in Finland,SM-liiga. SaiPa was fourth in the national Ice hockey league in the season of 2013–2014. 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship - Tournament was played Kisapuisto Ice Hall, Lappeenranta & Imatra Ice Hall during 17–27 April 2014. United States won the tournament, Czech Republic was second and Canada was the third.
Lappeenranta has long been known as one of Finland'sbasketball cities;[34]Lappeenrannan NMKY is a basketball team playing in the third highest level inI-division B and have won two championships in 2005 and 2006.
Lappeenrannan Veiterä, or justVeiterä, plays inBandyliiga and has beenFinnish champions five times, including in 2017. They have been the champions for women and for girls born in 1995 and 1998.[35] The city hosted the first everWomen's Bandy World Championship in2004 and in2014 the tournament was again played in Lappeenranta. The Old Boys World Cup is annually hosted in town, in 2017 for the seventh time.[36]
In women's sports Catz Lappeenranta plays basketball and Pesä Ysit playsFinnish baseball, both in the top leagues of the nation. Catz has won Finnish national basketball championship four times in a row.
TheLappeenranta Airport terminalJouko sub-urban buses in city center of Lappeenranta, Koulukatu street, 29th of September 2020Jouko route guide app (Digitransit) in mobile phone
Lappeenranta is connected to neighbouring cities and municipalities by road. The city is located 215 kilometres (134 mi) from Helsinki and 195 kilometres (121 mi) fromSt. Petersburg. From Lappeenranta, the distance toJoensuu, the capital ofNorth Karelia, is 233 kilometres (145 mi) alongHighway 6.
There are multiple daily train departures to destinations within Finland from theLappeenranta andJoutseno stations and to Russia from Vainikkala station. TheAllegro train service operating between Helsinki and St. Petersburg stops inVainikkala, a village in Lappeenranta. The journey time to Helsinki is about 2 hours and St. Petersburg about 1.5 hours.
During the summer, whenLake Saimaa and theSaimaa Canal are accessible by water, there is a visa-free connection by ship from Lappeenranta toVyborg, Russia.
The regionally ownedLappeenranta Airport is located west of the city center.[37] The airport predominantly serves charter flights to southern Europe, theCanary Islands andMadeira, as well as regularly scheduled flights on Irish airlineRyanair toItaly.
The public transport is by bus and is called Jouko.[38] The Jouko-buses are pink-colored and they serve 17 sub-urban lines (1, 1X, 2, 2H, 3, 3K, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25) and 21 regional lines (100, 101, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 120, 121, 130, 131, 200, 201, 300, 301, 500, 601, 602, 603, 610, 620). Jouko has Waltti-travel card, to which you can charge a 30-day season ticket (travel zones A-D) or a value tickets, which works also in other Finnish cities which do have the Waltti-ticket system. Other ways to buy a ticket in Jouko-buses are single tickets (payment with cash or credit card), mobile-tickets (PayIQ, etc.) and 24-hour ticket. Jouko has also own route-guide (https://lappeenranta.digitransit.fi/), where you can plan a route, see timetables and also see all the Jouko-buses in the map. You can also view delays, exceptions, and other releases. Jouko sub-urban transport is operated bySavonlinja and V-S Bussipalvelut. Regional lines are operated by Kymen Charterline, V-S Bussipalvelut, Vento and Mikkonen. The sub-urban bus fleet consists of low-floor city buses, and the bus models areScania Citywide II Electric,Volvo 8900LE,Scania Citywide LE Suburban (two of them areCNG-buses),Scania Citywide LE, Scania Lahti Scala andVolvo 8700LE.
Lappeenranta is known as an international university city in Finland withLUT University andLAB University of Applied Sciences which together have approximately 13,000 students from 68 countries. Lappeenranta is also a commercial centre of South-East Finland and the meeting point of the EU and Russia, 215 kilometres (134 mi) from bothHelsinki andSt. Petersburg.
Lappeenranta has numerous schools at almost all levels of education, including theLUT University, LAB University of Applied Sciences,[39] located in a shared Skinnarila campus of around 8000 students, the Army Academy (branch of the Finnish Defence Forces), South Karelia Vocational College and South Karelia Adult Education Centre.
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