Kauhajoki

Kauhajoki
Town
Kauhajoen kaupunki

Kauhajoki church

Coat of arms

Location of Kauhajoki in Finland
Coordinates: 62°25′N 022°11′E / 62.417°N 22.183°E / 62.417; 22.183Coordinates: 62°25′N 022°11′E / 62.417°N 22.183°E / 62.417; 22.183
Country Finland
Region Southern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region Suupohja sub-region
Charter 1868
Town privileges 2001
Government
 • Town manager Keijo Kuja-Lipasti
Area (2011-01-01)[1]
 • Total 1,315.56 km2 (507.94 sq mi)
 • Land 1,299.10 km2 (501.59 sq mi)
 • Water 16.46 km2 (6.36 sq mi)
Area rank 86th largest in Finland
Population (2016-03-31)[2]
 • Total 13,860
 • Rank 80th largest in Finland
 • Density 10.67/km2 (27.6/sq mi)
 • Demonym Kauhajokinen (Finnish)
Population by native language[3]
 • Finnish 98.7% (official)
 • Swedish 0.2%
 • Others 1.1%
Population by age[4]
 • 0 to 14 16.4%
 • 15 to 64 65.2%
 • 65 or older 18.4%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5] 21%
Website www.kauhajoki.fi

Kauhajoki (literally “Scoop River”) is a town and municipality of Finland. The city is unilingually Finnish.

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Kauhajoki is 13,860 (31 March 2016)[2] and the municipality covers an area of 1,299.10 km2 (501.59 sq mi) of which 16.46 km2 (6.36 sq mi) is inland water (1 January 2011).[1] The population density is 10.67/km2 (27.6/sq mi).

History

Permanent settlement in the Kauhajoki area began in the 16th century and in 1584 chapel was built in Kauhajoki.

During the Winter War between 1939–1940, Kauhajoki hosted the Finnish parliament.

2008 vocational college shooting

On 23 September 2008, a school shooting at a vocational college in the city left 11 dead, including the gunman, and another woman wounded. The incident was the second school shooting in less than a year in Finland, the other being the Jokela school shooting in November 2007, in which nine people including the gunman died. Before that, only one other school shooting had taken place in the country's history, in Rauma in 1989, leaving two people dead.[6]

Sports

Some internationally successful Kauhajokian sports figures include:

Kauhajoki is also known about basketball club Kauhajoen Karhu, which plays in the Finnish first-tier league Korisliiga.

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. ↑ "School Shootings Rare in Finland". YLE. 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

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