Kotka

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Kotkan kaupunki
coat of arms map
Coat of arms of Kotka Location of Kotka in Finland
Basic data
State : FinlandFinland Finland
Landscape : Kymenlaakso
Administrative community : Kotka-Hamina
Geographical location 60 ° 28 ′  N , 26 ° 56 ′  E Coordinates: 60 ° 28 ′  N , 26 ° 56 ′  E
Surface: 949.74 km²
of which land area: 271.29 km²
of which inland waterways: 5.76 km²
of which sea area: 672.69 km²
Residents : 52,883 (Dec. 31, 2018)
Population density : 194.9 inhabitants / km²
Municipality number : 285
Postcodes : 48100-48930
Language (s) : Finnish
Website : kotka.fi

Kotka [ ˈkɔtkɑ ] ( Finnish kotka , eagle) is a port city in southern Finland located at the mouth of the Kymijoki in the Gulf of Finland . The city covers an area of ​​950 km², of which only 271 km² is land. The population is 52,883 (as of December 31, 2018).

history

The branch of the National Bank of Finland in Kotka around 1925

The city's history begins as a Russian fortress in the Crimean War , during which the fortress was destroyed by the British in 1855. Traffic in the port began in 1872. The town rights followed in 1878. At the time of industrialization , the population grew by immigration of people from the countryside who wanted to emigrate to America very quickly. Large parts of the city were destroyed by Soviet air raids in the Winter War and the Continuation War.

Development of the population (as of December 31) :

  • 1987 - 57,745
  • 1990 - 56,634
  • 1997 - 55,769
  • 2000 - 54,846
  • 2002 - 54,622
  • 2004 - 54,759

Culture and sights

Buildings

Kotka Church ( J. Stenbäck )
Kotka Orthodox Church
Maretarium , the aquarium in Kotka

The new town hall from 1934, the Orthodox church from 1795, the imperial fisherman's hut, which was built in Langinkoski Park in 1889 for Tsar Alexander III. and the maretarium , an aquarium. In the port of Kotka there is also the Tarmo (Finnish for 'energy' or 'energy'), the oldest preserved icebreaker in the world.

Events

Every year in summer the so-called Sea Days take place in Kotka. It is a popular folk festival that is known far beyond Kotka's borders and attracts crowds of especially young visitors every year.

Sports

The city's most successful football club is FC KTP Kotka , which split from its parent club Kotkan Työvänen Palloilijat in 2000 and plays its home games in Arto Tolsa Areena . The stadium opened in 1952 and was the venue for four games during the 1952 Summer Olympics . KTP won the Finnish football championship in 1951 and 1952 and the national cup competition four times. The basketball team of the KTP-Basket club is one of the most successful in Finland. The ice hockey club Kotkan Titaanit plays in the second-highest league in Finland in the 2011/12 season.

Economy and Transport

In addition to the port, which is Finland 's largest export port, Kotka has sawmills as well as the cellulose and sugar industries . From 2006 to 2008 there was a ferry connection with Narva Line to Sillamäe in Estonia .

The Finnish Wooden Boat Center (Suomen Puuvenekeskus) offers several traditional boat building companies a joint shipyard at the port.

In 2004 there were six VR-Yhtymä train connections in each direction from Monday to Friday to Kouvola, 52 kilometers away, and five on weekends .

education

The Kymenlaakson ammattikorkeakoulu is a university of applied sciences with locations in Kotka and Kouvola . Around 3500 full-time and 500 part-time students study there in the six fields of Business and Administration , Culture , Forestry and Wood Technology , Maritime Studies , Social and Health Care and Technology .

politics

City council

On April 9, 2017, local elections were held in Finland for the local parliaments, whose term of office lasts from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021 (four years) In Kotka the election had the following result:

Composition of the City Council as of January 1, 2018
Political party Share of votes +/- 5p Seats +/-
Social democrats 30.1% + 7.6 16 + 4
Collection party 24.0% - 2.0 12 - 1
Left alliance 14.0% - 6.1 7th - 3
Base fins 11.4% - 4.3 6th - 2nd
Green covenant 11.1% + 3.4 6th + 2
Christian Democrats 4.2% - 0.3 2 ± 0
Center Party 3.5% + 1.2 1 ± 0
Swedish People's Party 1.2% + 0.2 1 ± 0

Town twinning

Sister cities of Kotka are

sons and daughters of the town

The most famous person in town is the boxer Pentti Hämäläinen (1929-1984), who won the gold medal in bantamweight at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maanmittauslaitos (Finnish Land Surveyors): Suomen pinta-alat kunnittain January 1, 2010 . (PDF; 199 kB)
  2. ↑ Statistical Office Finland: Table 11ra - Key figures on population by region, 1990-2018
  3. ↑ Geopostcodes - Kotka
  4. ^ Basil Greenhill, Ann Giffard: The British Assault on Finland, 1854-1855. A forgotten naval was . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1988, ISBN 0-87021-057-2 .
  5. ^ Thiemig, Karl: Finland , p. 112. Munich 1974
  6. ^ The Finnish Wooden Boat Center. Suomen Puuvenekeskus, accessed October 6, 2009 .
  7. ↑ Yleisradio (Finnish Public Broadcasting), Kotka election results , accessed on February 1, 2020
  8. ^ Website Kotka

Web links

Commons : Kotka  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Kotka  - travel guide