Small Town Series: Finland
Good Morning!
Here is another installment of the Small Town series. Today's country is Finland. All of these small towns have 50,000 inhabitants or less. I will be covering 6 different towns in today's post. I have included as much as I can about each small town.
Population numbers come from worldpopulationreview.com
Rauma- 39,400 inhabitants
Rauma is a town and municipality on the west coast of Finland, 92 kilometres (57 mi) north of Turku, and 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Pori. Granted town privileges on 17 April 1442 (then under the rule of Sweden), Rauma is known for its paper and maritime industry, high quality lace (since the 18th century) and the old wooden architecture of its centre (Old Rauma, Vanha Rauma), which is a UNESCO world heritage site. In the 14th century, before being declared as a town, Rauma had a Franciscan monastery and a Catholic church. In 1550, the townsmen of Rauma were ordered to relocate to Helsinki, but this was unsuccessful and Rauma continued to grow.
Practically the whole wooden part of the town of Rauma was devastated in the fires of 1640 and 1682. The city centre, which was as large as the town was until 1809, has approximately 600 wooden buildings. The neo-renaissance style of many of the houses is a result of prosperity brought on by seafaring. In 1897 Rauma had the largest fleet of sailing boats in Finland, totaling 57 vessels. Goods were mainly exported to Germany, Stockholm and the Baltic states. In the 1890s, Rauma got a teacher's college (a 'seminar'), which was later annexed to the University of Turku. A part of the department of education still exists in Rauma. The name Rauma comes from the Germanic word strauma, meaning "stream".
https://www.britannica.com/place/Rauma
Kerava- 36,292 inhabitants
Kerava is a town and municipality in Finland, and covers an area of 30.79 square kilometres (11.89 sq mi) of which 0.17 km2 (0.066 sq mi) is water. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. Its neighboring municipalities are Vantaa, Sipoo and Tuusula. The population density is 1,185.24 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,069.8/sq mi). Kerava is the 30th largest municipality in terms of population, but the 5th smallest municipality in terms of area in Finland (and the second smallest in the Uusimaa region after Kauniainen). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Raseborg-27,653 inhabitants
Raseborg is a town (administrative area) and municipality of Finland,and covers an area of 2,354.24 square kilometres (908.98 sq mi) of which 1,206.47 km2 (465.82 sq mi) is water. It was created on January 1, 2009, when the municipalities of Ekenäs, Karis and Pohja were consolidated into a single town. The population density is 24.09 inhabitants per square kilometre (62.4/sq mi). The name of the new town is based on the Castle of Raseborg located in Ekenäs, or formerly in the municipality of Snappertuna. Historically the name of the county was also Raseborg in the 14th century. The town is bilingual, the majority of the town being Swedish-speakers, taking up two-thirds of the population (66.2% to be precise) and Finnish-speakers being the minority, which approximately takes up the remaining one-third of the population (31% precisely). In February 2011, Raseborg Municipality entered into a "Friendship Co-operation Agreement" with Makana Municipality in South Africa. The project, which is to last three years, seeks to facilitate information sharing in the fields of economic development, arts and culture, women's development, youth development, and education.
Kemi- 20,991 inhabitants
Kemi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. It was founded in 1869 by a decree of the Russian Emperor Alexander II because of its proximity to a deepwater port. Kemi is situated on the Bothnian Bay, at the mouth of the river Kemijoki, and it is part of the Lapland region.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Kemi
Lapua-14,091 inhabitants
Lapua is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located next to the Lapua River in the region of South Ostrobothnia. In the early 14th century, permanent settlement began to spread to the Lapuanjoki Valley. Residents came from, among other areas, the settlement center of Suur-Sastamala in Upper Satakunta, which had good land and water connections to the north. The focus of Ostrobothnia's settlement was initially on the lower reaches of the Kyrönjoki River. The proximity to the sea of the Kvarken area, which is rich in natural resources, was especially attractive. Lapua at that time had some Lapps who considered the region their wilderness area. The name Lapuan was probably given by the coastal Swedes precisely because of the Lapps who lived in the area.
The Battle of Lapua was fought between Swedish and Russian forces near the outskirts of the town on 14 July 1808 as part of the Finnish War. Lapua is the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Lapua. The Lapua Cathedral, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, was built in 1827. In the 1930s the radical anti-communist Lapua Movement was founded and named after the town.
Kaskinen-1,263 inhabitants
Kaskinen is a town and municipality of Finland, and the municipality covers an area of 10.49 km2 (4.05 sq mi) (excluding sea areas) of which 0.16 km2 (0.062 sq mi) is inland water It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The population density is 120.4/km2 (312/sq mi). The population is bilingual with a majority speaking Finnish (68%) and the minority Swedish (28%). Kaskinen is the smallest municipality in Finland with a town status.
Here are another 6 small towns. Hope you enjoyed today's post. Have an awesome day :)
