Kuopio
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| Basic data | |
| State : |
 Finland
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| Landscape : | North Savo |
| Administrative community : | Kuopio |
| Geographical location | 62 ° 54 ' N , 27 ° 41' E |
| Surface: | 3,740.10 km² |
| of which land area: | 2,775.85 km² |
| of which inland waterways: | 964.25 km² |
| Residents : | 118,664 (Dec. 31, 2018) |
| Population density : | 42.7 inhabitants / km² |
| Municipality number : | 297 |
| Postcodes : | 70000-70840 |
| Language (s) : | Finnish |
| Website : | kuopio.fi |
Kuopio [ ˈkuɔ̯piɔ ] is a city in the Savo region of Finland . With 118,664 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018), it is the ninth largest city in the country and the largest city in Eastern Finland. Kuopio is the administrative center of the landscape Savo , university town, seat of an Orthodox archbishop and a Lutheran bishop, resort and popular holiday destination. The center of Kuopio is located on a peninsula on Lake Kallavesi , the urban area of Kuopio is a total of 3,700 square kilometers.
geography
Kuopio is located 390 kilometers north of Helsinki in the center of the eastern Finnish landscape of Northern Savo . Neighboring cities and municipalities of Kuopio are Siilinjärvi and Lapinlahti in the north, Rautavaara in the northeast, Kaavi and Tuusniemi in the east, Leppävirta in the south, Suonenjoki in the southwest, Tervo in the west and Maaninka in the northwest. With the closely connected surrounding communities of Karttula, Maaninka and Siilinjärvi, Kuopio has merged to form the Kuopio administrative community.
The core city of Kuopio is located on a peninsula in Lake Kallavesi in the shadow of the 232 meter high Puijo hill. The lake is 82 meters above sea level. The actual city, with an area of 45 square kilometers, only takes up a fraction of the administrative urban area of Kuopio. After a series of incorporations, the latter covers an area of 3,740 square kilometers. Much of the area is structured in a rural way. More than a quarter of the area consists of inland waterways. By far the largest lake is the Kallavesi, with 478 square kilometers the tenth largest lake in Finland.
Localities
In addition to the core city, Kuopio has other settlement centers ( taajama ): (Population as of December 31, 2011):
- Core city (82,268 inhabitants)
- Nilsiä (3,174 inhabitants)
- Karttula (925 inhabitants)
- Melalahti (797 inhabitants)
- Kurkimäki (682 inhabitants)
- Vehmersalmi (608 inhabitants)
- Pellesmäki - Vehmasmäki (508 inhabitants)
- Pihkainmäki (450 inhabitants)
- Hiltuanlahti (242 inhabitants)
- Syvänniemi (240 inhabitants)
- Toivala - Vuorela (146 inhabitants)
With the incorporation of Maaninkas the villages Haatala, Halola, Hamula, Jynkänniemi, Kinnulanlahti, Kurolanlahti, Käärmelahti, Leinolanlahti, Lappetelä, Pohjois-Haatala, Tavinsalmi, Tuovilanlahti, Varpasmaa, Venäläjänsaari were added.
climate
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Kuopio
Source: WMO
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history
Kuopio was first mentioned in 1552 when a church was built and a parish was set up on the initiative of Mikael Agricola, among others, on the Kuopionniemi peninsula, now the district of Väinölänniemi. In 1653 Kuopio was designed by the Swedish governor Per Brahe the city raised, but already in 1681 were municipal rights withdrawn. By decree of the Swedish King Gustav III. Kuopio was re-founded on November 17, 1775 and designated the capital of the newly created province of Savo-Karelia .
In 1809 Kuopio came to Russia with the rest of what is now Finland and became part of the newly founded Grand Duchy of Finland . The provincial reform of 1831 replaced the province of Savo-Karelia with the province of Kuopio . With the construction of the Taipale Canal in 1840, the Konnus Canal in 1841 and the Saimaa Canal in 1856, it was now possible to reach the Baltic Sea from Kuopio . This expansion of the waterway accelerated the growth of the city in the second half of the 19th century, so that Kuopio developed into an important inland port and trading center. On October 1, 1889, the railway from Kouvola reached the city.
With the Finnish declaration of independence in 1917, Savonlinna also became part of the independent Republic of Finland. In 1939 Kuopio became the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Kuopio . During the Winter War and the Continuation War , various Soviet air strikes took place on the city, which resulted in a total of 38 civilian deaths, 0.5% of the homes were destroyed and 1.1% badly damaged.
After the Second World War , the city grew due to the settlement of refugees from Karelia, which was ceded to the Soviet Union . The University of Kuopio was founded in 1972, which merged with the University of Joensuu to form the University of Eastern Finland in 2010 . Due to the provincial reform in 1997, Kuopio lost the status of the provincial capital: the former province of Kuopio now became part of the province of Eastern Finland with the capital Mikkeli .
Originally, the city of Kuopio only included the actual urban area and was surrounded by the rural municipality of Kuopio . In the meantime, however, the administrative urban area has expanded considerably through a series of incorporations. In 1969 the rural community of Kuopio was dissolved and most of it was added to the city of Kuopio. 1973 followed the incorporation of Riistavesi . In 2005 Vehmersalmi was incorporated, in 2011 Karttula and 2013 Nilsiä . The most recent incorporation took place on January 1, 2015 with Maaninka .
politics
City council
In the 2012 local elections, the conservative National Collection Party replaced the rural-liberal Center Party as the strongest political force. While the Conservatives now have 14 seats in the city council, the Center, the second largest party, has 13 seats, closely followed by the Social Democrats with twelve MPs. Also represented on the city council are the right-wing populist True Finns with nine seats, the Green Bund with five seats, the Left Alliance with four members and the Christian Democrats with two members.
| Political party | 2012 election results | Seats |
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| National rally party | 23.0% (+0.1) | 14 (−8) |
| Finnish Center Party | 21.9% (−2.0) | 13 (−21) |
| Social democrats | 19.9% (+0.1) | 12 (−7) |
| True Finns | 14.4% (+9.1) | 9 (+5) |
| Green covenant | 8.5% (−4.8) | 5 (−5) |
| Left alliance | 7.3% (−1.5) | 4 (−6) |
| Christian Democrats | 4.4% (−0.9) | 2 (−6) |
| Other | 0.6% (± 0.0) | 0 (± 0) |
Twin cities
Kuopio has twinning partnerships with 14 cities :
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Attractions
Orthodox church museum
In the Orthodox Church Museum Church treasures from the former Finnish monasteries of Valamo , Konevitsa and Petsamo issued. The museum was founded in 1957 and has been located in the building complex designed by Dag Englund since 1969, which is also the seat of the board of directors of the Orthodox Church of Finland.
Marketplace
In the center is the market square , which is one of the liveliest of its kind in Finland. The market has been held here since 1818. The town house is on the north side. It was built between 1882 and 1885 in the neo-renaissance style. The start of construction in 1882 is marked on the facade. The architects were FA Sjöström and Josef Stenbäck . The current color scheme dates from 1974. The facade bears the inscriptions “Oikeus kansaa ohjelevi” (The law governs the people) and “Wapautta laki vartioivi” (The law watch over freedom).
On the market is the market hall built in 1902 in Art Nouveau style, in which around 30 shops offer mainly regional products.
On the east side of the market hall is the bronze statue "Veljmies" (Brother) from 1959. The figure was made by the sculptor Heikki Konttinen, who won a retailer competition with the statue in 1957 on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the city of Kuopio. The figure is first washed by the students every year as part of the celebrations on Vappu , the Finnish May Day, and then, accompanied by the cheering of many spectators, a student hat is put on.
On the west side of the market hall is the counterpart to the Veljmies statue, the Siskotyttö statue (sister) by Taru Mäntynen, which is also the subject of student tradition.
Dom
The cathedral of Kuopio has been an Evangelical Lutheran cathedral and main church of the Kuopio diocese since 1851. It was designed by the Stockholm architect Pehr Wilhelm Palmroth. The construction of the stone church began in 1806. It was interrupted in 1808 because of the outbreak of the Russo-Swedish War . Construction continued in 1812 and completed in 1815. The cathedral was consecrated in 1816. The floor plan corresponds to that of a Greek cross . The altarpiece "Jesus on the Cross" from 1843 is by Berndt Abraham Godenhjelm. The organ was installed in 1986 by the Danish company Bruno Christensen & Sønner Orgelbyggeri. In the tower there are two bells from 1928 and 1851. Restorations were carried out in 1866, 1877, 1895, 1925 and 1961.
Museums
One of the best photography exhibitions in the country can be seen at the Victor Barsokevich Photography Center . The city museum at Snellman Park shows the city's history as well as nature exhibitions. The museum of the Finnish writer Minna Canth is located in Kuopio . The home of the philosopher, journalist and statesman Johan Vilhelm Snellman now houses the Snellman Museum.
Puijo tower
One of the main attractions in Kuopio is the 75 m high Puijo Tower on the wooded Pujio Height. The tower has two viewing platforms and a revolving restaurant, which offer an impressive view of the Finnish lake landscape. Below the tower is the Puijo sports center with the Puijo ski jump .
More Attractions
- Recreation area and district of Väinölänniemi with a beach, sports facilities and the former Peräniemi casino
- Kuopio Harbor
- Alt Kuopio Museum Quarter (Kuopion Korttelimuseo)
- City library
- St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral
Culture
The dance festival "Kuopio Tanssii ja Soi", at which dance fans from all over the world meet, has been held every summer since 1970 . The Kuopio Rockcock rock festival has been held on the Väinölänniemi peninsula since 2003. Since 1997, a large wine festival has been held annually at the harbor.
to eat and drink
The specialty of the region around Kuopio is Kalakukko , which literally means something like fish cock . It is a mixture of vendace or perch and bacon that is baked in bread dough.
Infrastructure
traffic
Kuopio has a passenger port for barges. It used to be an important trading port and known for the fleet of inland steamers. Kuopio is connected to the Gulf of Finland via the Taipale Canal , the Saimaa Lake System and the Saimaa Canal . In summer, excursion steamers leave for the islands in the area and there are regular boat connections with the old steamers to Heinävesi and Savonlinna. However, the steam drive was replaced by diesel engines.
The VR Group provides direct rail links to and from Helsinki to.
The airport of Kuopio (Rissala) is about 17 km north of Kuopio and offers the following connections:
- Finnair - to Helsinki ( Helsinki-Vantaa Airport ) - 7–8 / working day, 4–5 / Saturday, 5–6 / Sunday
- Blue1 (SAS) - to Helsinki (Helsinki-Vantaa) - 3 / working day, not on Saturday, 1 / Sunday
Teaching and Research
The State University of Kuopio (Kuopion yliopisto ), which was formally founded in 1966 and currently has around 6200 students, has existed since 1972 (commencement of teaching), and since 1992 the Savonia University of Applied Sciences , at whose locations in Kuopio 4,700 people study. Several research institutes and high-tech companies are located in the vicinity of the university and the internationally renowned Kuopion Tiedelaakso science center . Kuopio is a pioneer in animal biotechnology , drug development, and medical and environmental technology .
economy
There are 3,529 factories in Kuopio, including the Siilinjärvi carbonatite complex . The economy of the eastern Finnish trading center is shaped by the food and metal industries as well as wood processing.
Others
In 2001, Kuopio hosted the Fire Brigade Olympiad , which is held every four years by the World Fire Brigade Association CTIF in various cities.
Personalities
Individual evidence
- ↑ Maanmittauslaitos (Finnish land surveying office): Suomen pinta-alat kunnittain January 1, 2013 . (PDF; 199 kB)
- ↑ Statistical Office Finland: Table 11ra - Key figures on population by region, 1990-2018
- ↑ Geopostcodes - Kuopio
- ↑ Tilastokeskus (Finnish Statistics Office): Taajama- ja haja-asutusalueväestö iän ja sukupuolen mukaan kunnittain December 31, 2011. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lappalainen: Kuopion Historia I, Kuopio 1982, p. 23: Mikael Agricola, then in the cathedral chapter of Turku , and Canutus Johannis Raumensis expressed in a letter dated February 7, 1549 to the royal governor Gustav Fincke in Savonlinna the wish to be on the peninsula Kuopionniemi (Coopianiemi, today Väinölänniemi) to build a church. From a letter dated March 15, 1552 from Fincke to King Gustav I. Wasa it can be seen that the church was finished.
- ^ Thiemig, Karl: Finland , p. 115. Munich 1974
- ↑ Finnish Ministry of Justice: Results of the 2012 local elections
- ↑ Website Kuopio ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Hurja Solutions Oy Kuopio-Savonlinna / Savonlinna-Kuopio. Retrieved August 21, 2018 .
Web links
Iisalmi | Kaavi | Keitele | Kiuruvesi | Kuopio | Lapinlahti | Leppävirta | Pielavesi | Rautalampi | Rautavaara | Siilinjärvi | Sonkajärvi | Suonenjoki | Tervo | Tuusniemi | Varkaus | Vesanto | Vieremä