Lapua

This article is about the town in Finland. For the firearm round, see .338 Lapua Magnum.
Lapua
Lappo
Town
Lapuan kaupunki


Coat of arms

Location of Lapua in Finland
Coordinates: 62°58.2′N 023°00.5′E / 62.9700°N 23.0083°E / 62.9700; 23.0083Coordinates: 62°58.2′N 023°00.5′E / 62.9700°N 23.0083°E / 62.9700; 23.0083
Country Finland
Region Southern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region Seinäjoki sub-region
Charter 1865
Market town 1964
City rights 1977
Government
 • Town manager Arto Lepistö
Area (2011-01-01)[1]
 • Total 750.77 km2 (289.87 sq mi)
 • Land 737.10 km2 (284.60 sq mi)
 • Water 13.67 km2 (5.28 sq mi)
Area rank 163rd largest in Finland
Population (2016-03-31)[2]
 • Total 14,628
 • Rank 79th largest in Finland
 • Density 19.85/km2 (51.4/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
 • Finnish 99% (official)
 • Swedish 0.1%
 • Others 0.9%
Population by age[4]
 • 0 to 14 18.4%
 • 15 to 64 62.3%
 • 65 or older 19.4%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5] 19.5%
Website www.lapua.fi

Lapua (Finnish: [ˈlɑpuɑ]; Swedish: Lappo) is a town and municipality of Finland.

It is located next to the Lapua River in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 14,628 (31 March 2016)[2] and covers an area of 750.77 square kilometres (289.87 sq mi) of which 13.67 km2 (5.28 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 19.85 inhabitants per square kilometre (51.4/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Events in history

The Battle of Lapua was fought between Swedish and Russian forces near the outskirts of the town on 14 July 1808 as part of the Finnish War. Lapua is the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Lapua. The Lapua Cathedral, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, was built in 1827. In the 1930s the radical anti-communist Lapua Movement was founded and named after the town.

Lapua State Cartridge Factory

Lapua is also home to a large ammunition factory, which commenced operations in 1927 as the State Cartridge Factory. This factory was the primary supplier of ammunition to the Finnish Army during the Winter War and World War II. An explosion occurred in a warehouse of this factory on 13 April 1976, resulting in the deaths of 40 employees, mainly females. Sixty children lost a parent in the disaster. This is the worst accidental disaster in Finland's modern history. After the explosion, the factory was relocated 5 kilometres (3 mi) away from the town centre and continues production today as part of the Nordic Ammunition Group (Nammo) as Nammo Lapua. The original site of the factory and the surviving buildings are now an arts centre, a library and a theater.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Lapua is twinned with:[6]

Notable persons

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Area by municipality as of 1 January 2011" (PDF) (in Finnish and Swedish). Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Ennakkoväkiluku sukupuolen mukaan alueittain, maaliskuu.2016" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  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. 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. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "Lapua info (statistics)". Lapua. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "Twin Cities". Rakvere. Retrieved 30 April 2014.

Media related to Lapua at Wikimedia Commons

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