Seinäjoki

Seinäjoki
—  City  —
Seinäjoen kaupunki
Lakeuden Risti Church
Coat of arms
Location of Seinäjoki in Finland
Coordinates: 62°47.5′N 022°50.5′E / 62.7917°N 22.8417°E / 62.7917; 22.8417Coordinates: 62°47.5′N 022°50.5′E / 62.7917°N 22.8417°E / 62.7917; 22.8417
Country	Finland
Region	Southern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region	Seinäjoki sub-region
Charter	1868
Market town	1931
Town	1960
Government
– City manager	Jorma Rasinmäki
Area(2011-01-01)[1]
– Total	1,469.23 km2 (567.3 sq mi)
– Land	1,431.64 km2 (552.8 sq mi)
– Water	37.59 km2 (14.5 sq mi)
Area rank	69th largest in Finland
Population (2011-01-31)[2]
– Total	57,930
– Rank	17th largest in Finland
– Density	40.46/km2 (104.8/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
– Finnish	98.7% (official)
– Swedish	0.2%
– Others	1.1%
Population by age[4]
– 0 to 14	18.3%
– 15 to 64	66.8%
– 65 or older	15%
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5]	19.25%
Website	www.seinajoki.fi

Seinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960. In the beginning of 2009, the neighbouring municipalities of Nurmo and Ylistaro were consolidated with Seinäjoki.

The Town library, Lakeuden Risti church and central administrative buildings are designed by Alvar Aalto.

The asteroid 1521 Seinäjoki bears the town's name.

Seinäjoki was historically called Östermyra in Swedish. Today this name is very seldom used even among the Swedish speakers.

Seinäjoki Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Ilmajoki, 11 kilometres (10 mi) south of Seinäjoki city centre.

History

The settlement spread in the area of the present Seinäjoki during the first half of the 16th century. During the 1550s there is said to have been three houses in Seinäjoki, Marttila, Jouppi and Uppa houses. House of Jouppila, which separated from the house of Jouppi, was established during the same century. All of the houses were located on the shore of the river.

Seinäjoki belonged to the church parish of Ilmajoki like Kurikka, Kauhajoki, Jalasjärvi and Alavus. However, in the 18th century the roads from Seinäjoki to the Church of Ilmajoki were usually in poor condition. Therefore, the inhabitants of Seinäjoki and neighbouring Nurmo built together a new chapel in 1725 which in 1765 led to the formation of the chapel town of Nurmo. Seinäjoki, which after the Greater Wrath was called Alaseinäjoki, became a part of the chapel town. The chapel parish of Peräseinäjoki was founded in 1798, and the village of Alaseinäjoki was started to be called Seinäjoki again. The very same year, Östermyra steel mill was founded on the shore of Seinäjoki-river.

In the 1850s the actions to separate Seinäjoki from the church parish of Nurmo began. Ilmajoki wanted to connect Seinäjoki back to its own parish. In spite of the hard opposition of the inhabitants of Nurmo, the Senate of Finland accepted the petition from the inhabitants of Seinäjoki in 1863, to form an own chapel congregation. Seinäjoki got an independent local government in 1868. In 1900 Seinäjoki became an independent municipality.

Seinäjoki has grown around few important railroad crossings. Tampere – Vaasa railway which goes through Seinäjoki was inaugurated in 1883. The track, with the Kokkola track that has been opened for rail service in 1885, alongside the Kristiinankaupunki track which had been completed in 1913 raised Seinäjoki as an important railway crossing section in Finland. In the early 1970s the direct railway opened from Tampere to Seinäjoki and the services of Seinäjoki improved further.

After the Winter War and Continuation War some refugees from Jaakkima and Lumivaara were resettled to Seinäjoki.

Culture

Club Rytmikorjaamo as seen from Vaasantie. Entrance is on the other side of the building

There are many kinds of cultural events in Seinäjoki nowadays. For example, Seinäjoki is known for hosting three large summer events: Tangomarkkinat, which is a tango festival attracting more than 100,000 visitors annually, Vauhtiajot, which is a motor racing event/music festival, and Provinssirock, which is one of the largest and oldest rock festivals in Finland. Rytmikorjaamo is a popular rock club, wherein almost every weekend play some Finnish or international artists. In Seinäjoki there are also several other bars and clubs offering live music and other entertainment. The city theatre of Seinäjoki has a wide quality program throughout the year, offering plays for everyone. The city orchestra of Seinäjoki is performing many concerts in the area and has been making many tours in Finland and abroad.

Sights

• Lakeuden Risti ("The Cross of the Plains")
• Alvar Aalto's cultural and administrative centre
• the Southern Ostrobothnia District Museum
• the Civil Guard and Lotta Svärd museum
• Törnävä church
• the railway exhibition
• Mallaskoski brewery

Other points of interest

• Törnävä tourist centre
• the Suviyö trotting-race
• the summer theatre
• the Jouppilanvuori winter sports centre
• the Seinäjoki City theatre
• Provinssirock
• Tangomarkkinat
• Vauhtiajot

Notable people

• Arto Saari, skateboarder
• Paula Koivuniemi, singer
• Jorma Ollila, The Chairman and former CEO of the Nokia Corporation
• The Dudesons, Known stuntgroup that consist of four childhood friends. Also known as The Duudsons.
• Pekka Koskela, speed skater
• Veli Lampi, soccer player
• Mari Kiviniemi, politician (Prime Minister of Finland 2010—2011)
• Petri Kontiola, hockey player

Statistics

• Population: 31,696 (2003), 35,918 (2005 after consolidation with Peräseinäjoki) and 56,229 (2009 after consolidation with Nurmo and Ylistaro).
• Annual growth: 624

Economy

Finncomm Airlines has its head office on the grounds of Seinäjoki Airport in nearby Ilmajoki.^[6] Also Seinäjoki has a nationally and internationally significant food production and R&D industry. Headquartered in Seinäjoki food company Atria Corporation's net sales in 2009 were EUR 1316 million and it employed an average of 6,214 persons in several countries.

Seinäjoki also is well known for having a large number of SME's and a big number of shops for its size.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Seinäjoki is twinned with:

• Koszalin, Poland
• Schweinfurt, Germany
• Sopron, Hungary
• Thunder Bay, Canada
• Virginia, Minnesota

References

1. ^ "Area by municipality as of 1 January 2011" (in Finnish and Swedish) (PDF). Land Survey of Finland. http://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/sites/default/files/pinta-alat_2011_kunnannimenmukaan.xls. Retrieved 9 March 2011. 
2. ^ "Population by municipality as of 31 January 2011" (in Finnish and Swedish). Population Information System. Population Register Center of Finland. http://vrk.fi/default.aspx?docid=4258&site=3&id=0. Retrieved 18 February 2011. 
3. ^ "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=060_vaerak_tau_107_fi&ti=V%E4est%F6+kielen+mukaan+sek%E4+ulkomaan+kansalaisten+m%E4%E4r%E4+ja+maa%2Dpinta%2Dala+alueittain++1980+%2D+2008&path=../Database/StatFin/vrm/vaerak/&lang=3&multilang=fi. Retrieved 29 March 2009. 
4. ^ "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=050_vaerak_tau_104_fi&ti=V%E4est%F6+i%E4n+%281%2Dv%2E%29+ja+sukupuolen+mukaan+alueittain+1980+%2D+2008&path=../Database/StatFin/vrm/vaerak/&lang=3&multilang=fi. Retrieved 28 April 2009. 
5. ^ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. http://www.vero.fi/nc/doc/download.asp?id=7996;193801. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 
6. ^ "Contact Information." Finncomm Airlines. Retrieved on 25 February 2010.

External links

Panorama image of Seinäjoki, Finland

Media related to Seinäjoki at Wikimedia Commons

• Seinäjoki travel guide from Wikitravel
• Seinäjoki – Official website
• Provinssirock – rock festival
• Tangomarkkinat – tango festival