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Uusikaupunki Nystad (New Town) Vasaborg | |
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Town | |
| Uudenkaupungin kaupunki Nystads stad | |
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 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Uusikaupunki inFinland | |
| Coordinates:60°48′N021°25′E / 60.800°N 21.417°E /60.800; 21.417 | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Region | Southwest Finland |
| Sub-region | Vakka-Suomi |
| Charter | April 19, 1617[1] |
| Government | |
| • Town manager | Atso Vainio |
| Area (2018-01-01)[2] | |
• Town | 1,932.42 km2 (746.11 sq mi) |
| • Land | 503.22 km2 (194.29 sq mi) |
| • Water | 1,430.07 km2 (552.15 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 502.49 km2 (194.01 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 173rd largest in Finland |
| Population (2025-06-30)[3] | |
• Town | 14,750 |
| • Rank | 77th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 29.31/km2 (75.9/sq mi) |
| • Urban density | 30.63/km2 (79.3/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 90.8% (official) |
| • Swedish | 0.4% |
| • Others | 8.8% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 13.3% |
| • 15 to 64 | 57.4% |
| • 65 or older | 29.3% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Climate | Dfb |
| Website | uusikaupunki |
Uusikaupunki (Finnish:[ˈuːsiˌkɑu̯puŋki]ⓘ;Swedish:Nystad,Finland Swedish:[nyːstɑːd]; also known asVasaborg)[7] is atown andmunicipality ofFinland. It is located in theSouthwest Finlandregion, 71 kilometres (44 mi) northwest ofTurku and 97 kilometres (60 mi) south ofPori. The municipality has a population of 14,750 (30 June 2025)[3] and covers an area of 551.65 square kilometres (212.99 sq mi) of which 49.04 km2 (18.93 sq mi) is inland water. The population density is 29.31 inhabitants per square kilometre (75.9/sq mi).
The municipality is unilinguallyFinnish. Both its Finnish and Swedish names translate literally to "new town". The original name of the main village that was incorporated into Uusikaupunki was Kalainen[8] (roughly translated from Finnish as "rich in fish"). The surrounding region, and especially the neighboring town of Kalanti, which merged with Uusikaupunki in 1993, was already a lively marketplace for wooden objects and salt in the earlyMiddle Ages. Uusikaupunki was founded to legalize this trade.[9]
Uusikaupunki is located in theVakka-Suomi sub-region on the shores of theGulf of Bothnia.[10] TheSirppu River [fi] (Sirppujoki) flows through the town and flows into thereservoir of Uusikaupunki in the northern part of the town. Thefreshwater pool was built in 1965 when the bays of Velhovesi and Ruotsinvesi weredammed from the sea. The area of the basin is about 40 km², and the town and part of Vakka-Suomi get theirdomestic water from it. The acidity of the freshwater basin has caused some fish deaths as well as an overgrowth ofaquatic plants.[11]
In 2011, theBothnian Sea National Park was established in the outerarchipelago of Uusikaupunki. The area, named Finland's largestmarine national park, begins in the south of theKustavi archipelago and ends in the north in theMerikarvia archipelago.[12]
The center of Uusikaupunki is built according to the so-called "grid plan layout"[13] and is one of the best-preservedEmpire-style wooden house blocks in the country.[14] Today, there are a total of 40 blocks left. Because of this, the area is characterized by wide streets and large blocks with the narrow alleys.[15] In atown plan drawn up in 1649, there were 27 blocks in the town center that requiredresidential buildings to be built. The town was built of densely red-soil houses, and the estates were not pleasantly considered deserted. The town also expanded around the base of the bay, where asuburban settlement was built. Green areas were not established in the town until the 1850s, when a new town plan was planned for the town.[14]
According to theFinnish Heritage Agency, the town's most significant public buildings are the Seikow'sschool building and the Uusikaupunki'slibrary building. Seikow'sNeo-Renaissance building was one of the oldest school buildings in Finland.[16] The town library is thought to be one of the oldest functioning library buildings in the country; it was founded in 1861.[17] The firstglass factory of Finland, which was located in Uusikaupunki, was destroyed in a fire in 1685.[18] In the center of Uusikaupunki is theBonk Centre museum, which houses a collection of products from the fictionalBonk Business Company.[19] In addition, the town has acultural history museum.[20] A notable building in the town center is alsoWallila, designed byF. A. Sjöström and located on a hill near the sea. It is now used as venue for Crusell Weekmusic festival, which is named after composer-clarinetistBernhard Crusell, who was born in Uusikaupunki.[21][22]
The town of Uusikaupunki was founded as a town with the rights of commerce on April 19, 1617 by decree byGustav II Adolf.[1] His daughter and successor, QueenChristina of Sweden, raised her illegitimate half-brotherGustav of Vasaborg to the dignity of a count when she gave him the Countship of Nystad in 1647,[23] which led to the county town sometimes being calledVasaborg.[7] In 1721, thePeace of Nystad was signed in Uusikaupunki, ending theGreat Northern War betweenSweden andRussia, but as theCrimean War broke out in 1853, Uusikaupunki was attacked byFrench Navy andBritish Navy in 1855 during theÅland War. Up to the 19th century, Uusikaupunki was an important port for commerce and fishing, and up to the latter half of the 20th century, thePort of Uusikaupunki retained an important ship-building industry.[24]
Uusikaupunki is the home ofValmet Automotive, a contract automobile mechanical production company, producing cars and vehicles for brands such asMercedes-Benz. It was founded in 1968 as Saab-Valmet for manufacturingSaab cars. As of June 2017, Valmet is assemblingMercedes-Benz A-Class andMercedes-Benz GLC-Class cars. Furthermore, it produces the first commercially available solar-electric vehicle - the Lightyear 0 - as of November 2022.[25] Today, Valmet is one of the largest and most significant employers in Uusikaupunki.[26]
The results of the2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Uusikaupunki were:
Uusikaupunki is home to theBonk museum.[27]
Other attractions include:
Karjurock, the annualrock music festival has been held in Uusikaupunki since 2007.[29][30]
The town was co-host of the1982 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship for Women.
Uusikaupunki istwinned with:
Antsla, Estonia[31]
Haderslev, Denmark
Veliky Novgorod,Novgorod Oblast, Russia
Sandefjord, Norway
Szentendre, Hungary
Varberg, Sweden
Media related toUusikaupunki at Wikimedia Commons
Uusikaupunki travel guide from Wikivoyage
Places adjacent to Uusikaupunki | |
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