Lapua

Lapua (Finnish: [ˈlɑpuɑ]; Swedish: Lappo) is a town and municipality of Finland.

This article is about the town in Finland. For the arms manufacturer, see Nammo.
Lapua

Lappo
Town
Lapuan kaupunki
Lappo stad
Coat of arms
Location of Lapua in Finland
Coordinates: 62°58.2′N 023°00.5′E
Country Finland
RegionSouth Ostrobothnia
Sub-regionSeinäjoki sub-region
Charter1865
Market town1964
City rights1977
Government
 • Town managerSatu Kankare
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total751.82 km2 (290.28 sq mi)
 • Land737.10 km2 (284.60 sq mi)
 • Water13.67 km2 (5.28 sq mi)
Area rank115th largest in Finland
Population
 (2019-01-31)[2]
 • Total14,414
 • Rank79th largest in Finland
 • Density19.56/km2 (50.7/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish99% (official)
 • Swedish0.1%
 • Others0.9%
Population by age
 • 0 to 1418.4%
 • 15 to 6462.3%
 • 65 or older19.4%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Municipal tax rate[5]19.5%
Websitewww.lapua.fi

It is located next to the Lapua River in the region of South Ostrobothnia. The town has a population of 14,414 (31 January 2019)[2] and covers an area of 751.82 square kilometres (290.28 sq mi) of which 13.67 km2 (5.28 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 19.56 inhabitants per square kilometre (50.7/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

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.

Lapua State Cartridge Factory

Lapua is also home to a large ammunition factory, which commenced operations in 1927 as the State Cartridge Factory. This factory was the primary supplier of ammunition to the Finnish Army during the Winter War and World War II. An explosion occurred in a warehouse of this factory on 13 April 1976, resulting in the deaths of 40 employees, mainly women. Sixty children lost a parent in the disaster. This is the worst accidental disaster in Finland's modern history. After the explosion, the factory was relocated 5 kilometres (3 mi) away from the town centre and continues production today as part of the Nordic Ammunition Group (Nammo) as Nammo Lapua. The original site of the factory and the surviving buildings are now an arts centre, a library and a theater.

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Lapua is twinned with:[6]

Notable people

See also

References
  1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. "Suomen virallinen tilasto (SVT): Väestön ennakkotilasto [verkkojulkaisu]. Tammikuu 2019" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  4. "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  6. "Lapua info (statistics)". Lapua. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  7. "Twin Cities". Rakvere. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2014.

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