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Mäntsälä | |
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Municipality | |
| Mäntsälän kunta Mäntsälä kommun | |
 The church hill of Mäntsälä (Mäntsälän kirkonmäki). The church tower in the background. | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Mäntsälä inFinland | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Region | Uusimaa |
| Sub-region | Helsinki sub-region |
| Metropolitan area | Helsinki metropolitan area |
| Charter | 1585 |
| Seat | Mäntsälä (Kirkonkylä) |
| Villages | Numminen, SääksjärviSälinkää |
| Government | |
| • Municipal manager | Esko Kairesalo |
| Area (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 596.11 km2 (230.16 sq mi) |
| • Land | 580.85 km2 (224.27 sq mi) |
| • Water | 15.26 km2 (5.89 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 145th largest in Finland |
| Population (2025-06-30)[2] | |
• Total | 20,966 |
| • Rank | 49th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 36.1/km2 (93/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 93.4% (official) |
| • Swedish | 0.7% |
| • Others | 5.9% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 19.4% |
| • 15 to 64 | 61% |
| • 65 or older | 19.6% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Climate | Dfb |
| Website | www |
Mäntsälä (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈmæntsælæ]) is amunicipality in theprovince ofSouthern Finland, and is part of theUusimaaregion. It has a population of 20,966(30 June 2025)[2] and covers an area of 596.11 square kilometres (230.16 sq mi) ofwhich 15.26 km2 (5.89 sq mi)is water.[1] Thepopulation density is36.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (93/sq mi). The municipality is unilinguallyFinnish. Mäntsälä is one of three municipalities in theUusimaa region that do not have a Swedish name; the others areNurmijärvi andAskola.
Mäntsälä lies about 60 kilometres (40 mi) north ofHelsinki, the capital of Finland. During the last few years, the population of Mäntsälä has been one of the most rapidly increasing in Finland. A new railway, theKerava–Lahti railway line, was built betweenKerava andLahti with passenger traffic starting on 4 September 2006 fromMäntsälä railway station. Helsinki is about 40 minutes away, and Lahti even closer.Highway 4 (E75) connecting both cities passes through Mäntsälä.
Thecoat of arms of Mäntsälä has its theme in the region's traditional livelihoods; the head of themoose refers to thehunting lands of the region, and theclovers symbolizes localagriculture. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson and approved by the Mäntsälä Municipal Council on 16 December 1950. The coat of arms was officially approved by theMinistry of the Interior on 20 February 1951.[5][6]
Mäntsälä is considered to have been founded in 1585, when the community's first church was built. The current church was completed in 1866 after delay. TheCrimean War affected also Mäntsälä: funds for building the church were spent on war efforts. All of the churches were located on Kirkonmäki ("Church Hill") at about the same spot.[citation needed]
The first common school was founded in 1870 by way of a testament of clergymanAbraham Ehnroos. To his credit is the founding of a public library already in 1840. An intermediate school was not founded until 1945 with a high school following in 1954, previously facilities inPorvoo,Järvenpää and Helsinki were used.[citation needed]
In 1854 the first town hall was built on Kirkonmäki. Today a museum is operating in the building, having also served as a morgue, school kitchen and lesson space, and a dormitory. It is deteriorating severely and the museum is only opened upon request.
The second town hall was built in 1935, also on Kirkonmäki. It served until the completion of the present town hall in 1992. Now it houses an open college.[citation needed]
There is a total of 15 manors in Mäntsälä, 4 of which are open to the public, the rest being private residences. Russian czarAlexander I visited as guest of Ulla Möllersvärd in 1809 in the Mäntsälä manor lying in thetown center. The manors emerged in the 17th century as noblemen feoffs. Traditionally the land belonged to the manors. There were manycrofts in Mäntsälä and new legislation in 1918 enabled the crofters to claim the land for themselves. In the 1920s the manors were still a sizable land owner in the parish.[citation needed]
Mäntsälä is especially known for theMäntsälä rebellion. About 400 civil guards went shooting to a Social Democratic party rally at Ohkola community hall, interrupting it. In the course of a few days leaders ofLapua Movement and armed civil guards from all over the country arrived to Mäntsälä. The government ordered them arrested, and after a speech by presidentSvinhufvud on 2 March the situation gradually settled down. The movement disbanded early in spring.[citation needed]
World War II brought about 2000 refugees evacuated from Karelia to Mäntsälä. They came mainly fromKirvu andKoivisto. Land was cut from the manors again for the arrivals, reducing manor estate considerably. In 1985 a museum about the Kirvu parish was opened next to the church in the city center.[citation needed]
In 1992 an apartment trade fair was held in Mäntsälä. The area is being expanded and since 2006, a train depot lies next to it.
Adiscount chainTokmanni's head office,logistics center and warehouse, founded in 1989, are in Mäntsälä.[7] Also,Yandex built one of itsdata centers in Mäntsälä in 2015,[citation needed] with a second data center expected to be built in 2020 byLehto.[8]
The population of Mäntsälä has stayed quite level for decades, but the building of a motorway up to Järvenpää in the 1970s and the extension to Lahti in 1999 have brought new residents from the metropolitan area. By the middle of the 2000s the new railroad to Lahti has been central in municipality population growth. Many people moved to Mäntsälä because of the railroad, that offered quick commuting to Helsinki.
Table of the all statistical urban areas of the municipality. Theadministrative centre is in bold.
| # | Urban area | Population (31 December 2020)[9][10] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mäntsälä (Kirkonkylä) | 11,621 |
| 2 | Helsinki urban area* | 2,708 |
| 3 | Numminen | 329 |
| 4 | Sääksjärvi | 275 |
| 5 | Sälinkää | 242 |
The Helsinki urban area, marked with an asterisk (*), belongs to this municipality only partially, as it extends not only to Mäntsälä but also to the area of several neighboring municipalities of Helsinki.[9]
Results[11] of the2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Mäntsälä:
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld is considered to be originally from Mäntsälä, having spent his early youth on the family estate in theNumminen village,[12] although he was born in Helsinki and lived also in Sweden. Nordenskiöld was a nineteenth-century geologist and Arctic explorer.
Others include member ofLordi-bandJussi Sydänmaa alias "Amen", and former defence ministerElisabeth Rehn in her youth. Former prime ministerAntti Rinne also lives in Mäntsälä.[13]
Places adjacent to Mäntsälä | |
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