Uusikaupunki

Uusikaupunki Nystad
—  Town  —
Uudenkaupungin kaupunki
Market place with the New Church in the background
Coat of arms
Location of Uusikaupunki in Finland
Coordinates: 60°48′N 021°25′E / 60.8°N 21.417°E / 60.8; 21.417Coordinates: 60°48′N 021°25′E / 60.8°N 21.417°E / 60.8; 21.417
Country	Finland
Region	Finland Proper
Sub-region	Vakka-Suomi sub-region
Charter	1617
Government
– Town manager	Kari Koski
Area(2011-01-01)[1]
– Total	1,932.68 km2 (746.2 sq mi)
– Land	502.61 km2 (194.1 sq mi)
– Water	1,430.07 km2 (552.2 sq mi)
Area rank	45th largest in Finland
Population (2011-01-31)[2]
– Total	15,828
– Rank	74th largest in Finland
– Density	31.49/km2 (81.6/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
– Finnish	98.8% (official)
– Swedish	0.5%
– Others	0.7%
Population by age[4]
– 0 to 14	14.5%
– 15 to 64	66.3%
– 65 or older	19.3%
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5]	20.25%
Website	uusikaupunki.fi

Uusikaupunki (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈuːsiˌkɑupuŋki], Swedish: Nystad), is a town and municipality of Finland.

It is located in the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of 15,828 (31 January 2011)^[2] and covers an area of 551.65 square kilometres (212.99 sq mi) of which 49.04 km² (18.93 sq mi) is inland water. The population density is 31.49 inhabitants per square kilometre (81.6 /sq mi).

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Both its Finnish and Swedish names mean literally "new town".

Uusikaupunki is the home of Valmet Automotive, a mechanical production company, producing cars and vehicles for other manufacturers.

In 1721, the Peace of Nystad was signed in Uusikaupunki, ending the Great Northern War between Sweden and Russia.

The original name of the main village that was incorporated into Uusikaupunki was Kalainen (which is a Finnish adjective meaning "having plenty of fish"). The village of Kalainen originated as a market place for the people of Vakka-Suomi. The town of Uusikaupunki was founded as a town with the rights of commerce in 1617 by decree by Gustav II Adolf.

Up to the 19th century it was an important port for commerce and fishing, and up to the latter half of the 20th century it still retained an important ship building industry.

Uusikaupunki is home of the Bonk museum^[6]

Politics

Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in Uusikaupunki:

• Social Democratic Party 26.6%
• True Finns 23.4%
• National Coalition Party 19.6%
• Centre Party 13.1%
• Left Alliance 8.1%
• Christian Democrats 4.2%
• Green League 2.3%
• Communist Party of Finland 0.7%
• Swedish People's Party 0.6%

People

• Robert Wilhelm Ekman, Painter
• Bernhard Henrik Crusell, Virtuoso clarinetist and composer
• Arvid Liljelund, Painter
• Martti Simojoki, Former Archbishop of Finland
• Ilmari Saarelainen, Finnish actor
• Gerald Lee, College basketball player, Old Dominion University
• Kari Takko, hockey goaltender
• Reijo Laine, Former purchasing and production chief of Suomen Rehu Ltd

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Uusikaupunki is twinned with:

• Antsla, Estonia^[7]
• Haderslev, Denmark
• Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod Oblast, Russia
• Sandefjord, Norway
• Szentendre, Hungary
• Varberg, Sweden

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. ^ ^{a b} "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. ^ Bonk Museum
7. ^ "Antsla valla arengukava 2003–2012" (in Estonian). Antsla vald. p. 81. http://www.antsla.ee/public/files/Antsla%20valla%20arengukava%202012.doc. Retrieved 23 July 2011. 

External links

Media related to Uusikaupunki at Wikimedia Commons

• Town of Uusikaupunki – Official site
• Uusikaupunki travel guide from Wikitravel