Heinola

Heinola is a city of 20,910 inhabitants (2004) located in the Province of Southern Finland. Heinola is perhaps best known for its summer activities such as the Sauna-sitting World Championships.

History

Heinola used to be a remote village of then larger Hollola until it gained significance in 1776 when Gustav III of Sweden promoted it to be the governmental center of the province in which it was then located. The grid plan of the city center is from that era. Heinola also became a center of commerce for nearby regions.

When Finland became a part of Russia in 1809, the capital of the province was moved eastwards with the state border. To compensate this, Heinola gained a city status in 1839. Before the World War II, Heinola was widely known as a spa town, and until 1972 it served as a location for an institute (seminaari) that taught elementary school teachers. These both were established in the 1890’s and played important role in the town life.

Economy

After World War II Heinola has been economically an industrial town, mainly due to its wood processing industry. Industry remained the largest source of employment until 1970s, when the trade and services sector grew larger, following a national trend.

Geography

Heinola is largely situated between two lakes, Ruotsalainen and Konnivesi. A waterway connecting the lakes crosses the town and is, along with an esker also crossing the town, a characterising geographical feature of Heinola.

A freeway (E75) connects Heinola to Lahti (distance 35 km) and Helsinki (distance 138 km).

ister cities

Heinola is twinned with Piešťany in Slovakia, and Baranovichi in Belarus.

External links

* [http://www.heinola.fi/ Heinola Official Web Pages (mostly in Finnish)]
* [http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=13&ll=61.204318,26.045494&spn=0.058625,0.161018&om=1 Heinola in Google Maps]