- Kirkkonummi
Kirkkonummi (pronounced|ˈkirkːoˌnumːi), or Kyrkslätt (IPA| [tɕyrkslɛt] ) in Swedish), is a municipality of 34,389 inhabitants (
2006-12-31 ) in southernFinland . The literal meaning of the words "Kirkkonummi" and "Kyrkslätt" in English is "church moor".The municipality is located just outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, bordering the municipality of
Espoo in the east. Other neighbouring municipalities areVihti andSiuntio . The distance from the municipal centre to centralHelsinki is some 30kilometre s. Kirkkonummi also has excellenttrain andbus connections to other parts of the Greater Helsinki area, and many of its inhabitants commute daily to Helsinki.The municipality covers an area of 393.30 km² (excluding sea) of which 28.29 km² is inland water. The
population density is 89.78 inhabitants per km². Over the recent years, Kirkkonummi has faced the highest population growth rate in the country, over 3% per annum.Major population centres in Kirkkonummi include the municipal centre, Masala,
Veikkola ,Kantvik and theUpinniemi naval garrison area. In addition to these, there are dozens of smaller villages. Geographically, Kirkkonummi has two famouspeninsula s, namelyPorkkala and Upinniemi, the latter one of which houses a major Finnish naval base. Porkkala is also on one of the main bird migration routes in theBaltic Sea region. Additionally, Kirkkonummi has a large central plains area, through which a railway goes from Helsinki toTurku as well as extensive lake areas, much of which are quite untouched wilderness.Kirkkonummi has been populated from the
Stone Age to the present day as evidenced by the very first Stone Age rock paintings found in Finland that are located by lake Vitträsk in the central lake region of Kirkkonummi. Incidentally, these paintings were found by the famous Finnish composerJean Sibelius himself. The southern half of the municipality was leased to theSoviet Union between1945 and1956 for use as a naval base as part of the peace settlement that ended the hostilities between the Soviet Union and Finland duringWorld War II . Signs of this time include concrete bunkers, other fortifications and the remains of an airbase.Other places of interest located in Kirkkonummi include the medieval stone church in the municipal centre, the wooden church in the village of
Haapajärvi as well as theHvitträsk manor designed by three of the most famous Finnish architects ever -Eliel Saarinen ,Herman Gesellius andArmas Lindgren .External links
*http://www.kirkkonummi.fi - Official website
*http://www.kirkkonummi.com - kirkkonummi Guide
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