Viitasaari

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Viitasaaren kaupunki
coat of arms map
Viitasaari Coat of Arms Location of Viitasaari in Finland
Basic data
State : FinlandFinland Finland
Landscape : Central Finland
Administrative community : Saarijärvi-Viitasaari
Geographical location 63 ° 4 ′  N , 25 ° 52 ′  E Coordinates: 63 ° 4 ′  N , 25 ° 52 ′  E
Surface: 1,589.12 km²
of which land area: 1,248.69 km²
of which inland waterways: 340.43 km²
Residents : 6,264 (Dec. 31, 2018)
Population density : 5 people / km²
Municipality number : 931
Language (s) : Finnish
Website : www.viitasaari.fi

Viitasaari [ ˈviːtɑˌsɑːri ] is a town with 6,264 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018) in central Finland .

It has existed as an independent parish since 1635, as a political municipality in its current form since 1868. Viitasaari has had town charter since 1996. In addition to the church village Viitasaari, it includes the towns of Haapaniemi, Haarala, Huopana, Ilmolahti, Jurvansalo, Keihärinkoski, Keitelepohja, Kolima, Kotvala (-Valkeisjärvi), Kumpumäki, Kymönkoski, Löytänä, Muikunlahti, Pasovilanä, Muikunlahti, Mäntlahtylä, -Haarala), Taimoniemi, Vuoskoski and Vuorilahti. The main town Viitasaari lies on the shores of Lake Keitele , which is connected to the shipping routes of the Finnish Lake District via a canal to Päijänne .

Around 1000 square kilometers of the 1589 square kilometer urban area are forested, another 340 square kilometers are occupied by hundreds of lakes; the total length of the banks of the lakes is over 900 kilometers. The agriculturally used area is only 5545 hectares. Accordingly, forestry and the wood processing industry are among the most important economic sectors. After the municipal administration itself, Viitapuu is the largest local employer with 180 employees ; it is one of the largest house door manufacturers in Europe. This is followed by the house fittings manufacturer Pisla and the sawmill Er-saha . Tourism is also of great importance; There are more than 1,600 Mökkis in the municipality . The annual music festival Musiikin aika and the metal festival Heavy Metal Meeting, which has been taking place since 2004, are also of tourist interest .

Viita is the birthplace of Henrik Gabriel Porthan , the "father of Finnish historiography." A memorial stone commemorates him on the site of the house where he was born near today's city center. The current parish church was built in 1849 and redesigned and renovated in 1925 under the direction of Alvar Aalto . Since 1989 there has also been a neo-Byzantine Tsasouna in Viitasaari , a house of prayer for the 140-strong Russian Orthodox community made up of refugees from East Karelia and their descendants.

Viitasaari maintains city partnerships with the towns of Sør-Odal in Norway, Nõo (German: Nüggen) in Estonia, Staffanstorp and Storuman in Sweden and the municipality of Schlangen in North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1987 there has been a parish partnership with the Thuringian Nohra . In 2010 this partnership was supplemented with a municipal partnership agreement.

politics

The two largest Finnish parties, the Social Democrats and the Center Party , were roughly on par in the 2008 local elections, each holding eleven of the 27 seats on the City Council, the highest decision-making body on local affairs, followed by the National Gathering Party with three seats. The left-wing alliance and the Christian Democrats were each able to win one mandate.

Composition of the City Council (2009–2012)
Political party 2008 election results Seats
Social democrats 38.1% 11
Center Party 36.1% 11
National rally party 11.8% 3
Christian Democrats 6.4% 1
Left alliance 4.1% 1

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Viitasaari  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maanmittauslaitos (Finnish land surveying office): Suomen pinta-alat kunnittain January 1, 2011 (PDF; 199 kB)
  2. ↑ Statistical Office Finland: Table 11ra - Key figures on population by region, 1990-2018
  3. ↑ Finnish Ministry of Justice: Result of the 2008 local elections