Lääne-Viru County : Estonia

Lääne-Viru County : Estonia
Lääne-Viru County, Western Virumaa or Western Vironia (Estonian: Lääne-Viru maakond or Lääne-Virumaa) is a County or maakond of Estonia. It is located in northern Estonia bordering to Ida-Viru, Järva, Jõgeva and Harju counties. Population of the county is 68,402 (1 January 2005). Regarding the size of population, West-Viru is the fifth largest county in Estonia.
Municipalities
There are 4 urban municipalities (est: linnad – towns) and 14 rural municipalities (est: vallad – parishes) in the county. (more…)

Toijala: Finland

Toijala is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of 8,305 (end of April 2004) and covers an area of 58.60 km² of which 7.72 km² is water. The population density is 163.2 (December 31, 2003) inhabitants per km².

Tampere (Tammerfors in Swedish): Finland

Tampere (Swedish name Tammerfors) is a city in southern Finland located between two lakes: Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres, the Tammerkoski rapids linking them have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity.
Tampere, with about 200,000 inhabitants in the city itself, and more than 300,000 including the neighbouring municipalities, is the second most important urban centre in Finland after the Helsinki region.
History
Tammerkoski, Tampere, December 2, 2002. (more…)

Suonenjoki: Finland

Suonenjoki is a municipality of Finland.
Suonenjoki is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 7,787 (2003) and covers an area of 862.21 km² of which 142.64 km² is water. The population density is 10.8 inhabitants per km².
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Suonenjoki is known of strawberries. It is also known as “the Strawberry Townâ€?. Lots of foreign people, mainly from Russia, come to Suonenjoki in summer to work in strawberry farms. That makes Suonenjoki the most international town of Finland at summer. . (more…)

Suolahti: Finland

Suolahti, is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located next to Lake Keitele in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region.
History
First mentions of Suolahti are from 16th century but the name became stable describing population of 100-150 village residents in the end of the last century. The village before that was known as Village of Paadentaipale. Opening of railroad 1898 industrialized Village of Suolahti and increased waterborne traffic in Keitele. Same year steam-mill started operating which was soon to be followed other indrustal facalities. This speeded up population and other city development. In first three decades of 20th century population increased to two thousand. It gained town status in a 1977.

Sortavala: Finland

Sortavala (Сортавала) is a town in the Russian Republic of Karelia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga.
History
Sortavala was founded by Sweden in 1632. In 1721 it was ceded to Russia and given the Russian name Serdobol. In 1812 it was made part of the Grand Duchy of Finland. After 1917 it became part of independent Finland. After the Winter War and the Moscow Peace Treaty, Sortavala was ceded to the Soviet Union, after belonging to Finland for about 150 years. Like most of Karelia, Sortavala was re-conquered and occupied by Finland during 1941–44 (the period of the Continuation War). After the war, Finns were evacuated and the city was resettled by Russians.
Until 1940, the Ladoga shore southwest of Sortavala had been one of the very few areas north of the Karelian Isthmus that was relatively densely populated by Karelians.

Somero: Finland

Somero is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of 9,680 ( 2004) and covers an area of 697.72 km sq.; of which 28.70 km sq.; is water. The population density is 14.5 inhabitants per km sq.;.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Some famous people that were either born in Somero or have lived there for significant time include: Rauli “Badding” Somerjoki, M.A. Numminen, Unto Mononen and Kaari Utrio. (more…)

Seinäjoki: Finland

Seinäjoki is a mid-sized town located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. The Town library, Lakeuden Risti church and central administrative buildings are designed by Alvar Aalto.
Seinäjoki is known for hosting two large summer events: Tangomarkkinat, which is a tango festival attracting more than 100,000 visitors annually, and Provinssirock, which is the biggest rock festival in Finland.
The asteroid 1521 Seinäjoki bears its name.
Sights
the cross of the plains (more…)

Savonlinna (Nyslott in Swedish): Finland

Savonlinna (Nyslott in Swedish, literally Newcastle) is a municipality of about 28,000 inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region.
St. Olaf’s Castle
The city was founded in the 17th century based around St. Olaf’s Castle. The castle was founded by Erik Axelsson Tott in 1475 in an effort to protect Savonia and to control the unstable border between the Kingdom of Sweden and its Russian adversary.
The city hosts the famous annual Savonlinna opera festival. The operas are performed on a stage built within the castle.
Statistics
Population: 27,536 (2003)
Area: 1,374.00 km²
of which is water: 551.74 km²
Population density: 33.5 inhabitants/km²

Salo: Finland

Salo is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of 24,794 (2003) and covers an area of 143.82 km² of which 0.43 km² is water. The population density is 172.9 inhabitants per km².
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Salo has existed as a small town since at least the 16th century, though it was very small and remote (the very name Salo means “uninhabited forest� in Finnish). Although it has long been a center of rural commerce, it wasn’t officially incorporated until 1960. Today its main claim to fame is its Nokia cellular phone developing and manufacturing plants. It could be considered as the original home town of Nokia phones.

Saarijärvi: Finland

Saarijärvi is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of 10,205 (2003) and covers an area of 1,030.37 km² of which 142.97 km² is water. The population density is 11.5 inhabitants per km².

Rovaniemi: Finland

Rovaniemi (Roavenjarga in Sami) is the administrative capital and the centre of commerce of Finland’s northernmost Province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its tributary, the Ounasjoki River. Due to its advantageous location it is the starting point of the Great Arctic Highway. The city is completely surrounded by Rovaniemen maalaiskunta (Rural municipality of Rovaniemi). The two municipalities will be joined into one on January 1, 2006. and the new municipality will have an area of 7 900 km² and an approximate population of 60 000.
The word Rovaniemi has often been considered to be of Lappish origin, as “roavveâ€? in Sami denotes a forested ridge or hill or the site of an old forest fire. In the dialects of southern Lapland, however, “rovaâ€? means a heap of stones, a rock or a group of rocks in a stretch of rapids, or even a sauna stove. (more…)

Rauma (Raumo in Swedish): Finland

Rauma is:
A town in Finland, see Rauma, Finland.
A municipality in Norway, see Rauma, Norway.
A river in Norway, see river Rauma.

Raisio: Finland

Raisio (Swedish Reso), city in south-western Finland and an important junction of major roads. The city has a population of 23 216 and is located in the province of Finland Proper, in the region of Western Finland, neighbouring the region’s capital, Turku. The city’s land area is 48.1 square kilometres, and it is landlocked other than for its southern tip, which has some hundreds of metres of coastline to the Bay of Raisio.
Economy
The city’s location on good traffic connections and near the region’s capital has contributed greatly to its growth. Its main industries are services, foodstuffs and chemical manufacturing. The largest employer in the city is the Raisio Group, a manufacturer of paper chemicals, foodstuffs, and health products. (more…)

Raahe (Brahestad in Swedish): Finland

Raahe (Brahestad in Swedish) is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 22,594 (2003) and covers an area of 535.65 km² of which 8.34 km² is water. The population density is 42.8 inhabitants per km².
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.