# Kouvola

Kouvola (Finnish pronunciation:) is a city in Finland and the administrative capital of Kymenlaakso. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country. The population of Kouvola is approximately 78,000. It is the 12th most populous municipality in Finland, and the 17th most populous urban area in the country.
Kouvola is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, 62 kilometres (39 mi) kilometers east of Lahti, 87 kilometres (54 mi) west of Lappeenranta and 134 kilometres (83 mi) northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is one of the capital centers and is the largest city in the Kymenlaakso region.
The urban area of Kouvola in the city centre itself is home to about 47,000 people. The city covers an area of 2,883.30 square kilometres (1,113.25 sq mi) of which 325.06 km$^2$ (125.51 sq mi) is water. The population density is 30.65 inhabitants per square kilometre (79.4/sq mi). Kouvola is bordered by the municipalities of Hamina, Heinola, Iitti, Kotka, Lapinjärvi, Loviisa, Luumäki, Miehikkälä, Mäntyharju, Pyhtää and Savitaipale. Kouvola has over 450 lakes and, together with Mäntyharju, the Kouvola area includes the Repovesi National Park.
Kouvola, which had population growth as late as the 1980s, has suffered a loss of migration since the 1990s. Over time, the loss has only deepened, so that at the end of the 2010s Kouvola was Finland's worst migration loss area. Natural demographics have also trended downward; in 2017, more than 450 more people died in the city than new ones were born. Currently, the population of Kouvola is decreasing annually by about 800 inhabitants. The reasons for the emigration are thought to be largely due to job losses in the region.

## History

The village of Kouvola has been inhabited since the Middle Ages, and it has belonged alternately to the churches of Hollola, Iitti and Valkeala. However, the actual development did not start until the 1870s when the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg line was built and Kouvola became a railway junction. Kouvola railroad built Kymin mill founder Axel Wilhelm Wahren railway administration by on application, on the basis of the track engineers decided to recommend the creation of a fifth-end position in a half mile east of the variable alert Otava with acceptance on sandy soil on fabric. In the next decade, the Savonia railway was built from Kouvola to the north and the Kotka line to the south, resulting in Kouvola becoming one of the busiest railway junctions in Finland. Over time, Kouvola developed into an important pulp-producing, paper-milling and printing centre and even had a leading industrial engineering sector.
In 1918, conflict between the Red and White factions raged heavily during the Finnish Civil War. More than 200 people were killed in the area during the fighting.
As a result of the railway, Kouvola was heavily built. In 1922 it was separated from the municipality of Valkeala and gained commercial rights immediately the following year. The city of Kouvola was established in 1960. Kouvola was annexed to Viipuri Province in 1922–1945 but in 1940 and 1944, most of Viipuri County was ceded to the Soviet Union, and the remaining areas were formed into Kymi Province in 1945. Kouvola had also become an administrative center; As the capital of Kymen County, it operated from 1955 until the 1997 county reform.
In January 2009, the six municipalities of Kouvola, Kuusankoski, Elimäki, Anjalankoski, Valkeala and Jaala were consolidated, forming the new municipality of Kouvola. Kouvola has also assumed the slogan Kymijoen kaupunki (the town of Kymijoki) previously used by Anjalankoski.

## Culture

* The name itself derives from Old Finnish kouvo, meaning bear. The arms are Sable, an escarbuncle Or, base wavy Argent.
* Verla factory, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located near Kouvola.
* The newspapers Kouvolan Sanomat and Keskilaakso are published in Kouvola.
* The third biggest Amusement park in Finland, called Tykkimäki is located in Kouvola.

### Province History of Kouvola

* Viipuri Province (1922–1945)
* Kymi Province (1945–1997)
* Southern Finland Province (1997–2009)
* Kymenlaakso (2009–)

## Sports

Kouvola is the hometown of the Sudet sports club, which became Finnish champions in bandy six consecutive times, and they have a football team which is playing at the fourth highest level, Kolmonen, despite Sudet being one of the oldest football clubs in Finland. KooKoo is the most successful ice hockey team in Kymenlaakso. It plays in the Finnish top league, SM-liiga. Kouvolan Pallonlyöjät (KPL) is a baseball team based in Kouvola and known for Pesäpallo. KPL was won five Finnish championships and it plays in the Finnish top league, Superpesis. Kouvot is a basketball team based in Kouvola. the team plays in the highest level Korisliiga and has won four Finnish championships.
MyPa is one of the most successful football clubs in Finland and the 1990s was the golden era. MyPa is played 23 seasons in the Finnish top football league Veikkausliiga. MyPa are based in the industrial village of Myllykoski, part of the city of Kouvola. The club became inactive in professional football after having ceased operations in 2015 due to financial difficulties. In 2017, MyPa returned and started again from the fourth highest tier but has quickly risen to the second highest level, Ykkönen, where it is now playing. Kouvola also has a Palomäki Ski Jump Center, very close to the city, where young people and other sports enthusiasts can go to jump on a ski jump.

## Local government

City Council of Kouvola :
| Party | Seats |
| Social Democratic Party | 16 |
| National Coalition Party | 13 |
| Centre Party | 9 |
| Green League | 6 |
| Finns Party | 5 |
| Christian Democrats | 4 |
| Sitoutumattomat (Independent) | 2 |
| Left Alliance | 2 |
| Suur-Kouvolan sitoutumattomat | 2 |

## Climate

Kouvola has humid continental climate (Dfb).The city has four distinct seasons, the amount of precipitation is relatively uniform throughout the year. The driest season is spring. Summers are generally relatively warm as the city is considered to be one of the hottest cities in Finland as it has had the most days with "helle" (temperatures above 25 °C or 77 °F) since 2000. Winters are cold and long, colder than cities located in the coastal areas of Finland because of its location further inland, meaning the marine effect doesn't affect the city as much than those nearer the sea and specially those nearer the southwestern coasts of the Finnish side of Gulf of Finland. This also means that the summers are warmer due to it being further inland as the sea effect is making the summer temperatures slightly cooler in coastal areas. The average annual temperature is 5.4 °C (41.7 °F). The highest ever recorded temperature in the station was 34.5 °C (94.1 °F), on July 28, 2010. The lowest ever recorded was −37.3 °C (−35.1 °F). The city has a significant rainfall throughout the year and even in the driest month the precipitation stays over 30 millimetres (1.2 in) a month. The average duration of sunshine per year is 1,658 hours. Kouvola Utti airport weather station has on average somewhat lower average temperatures than in the city.
Climate data for Kouvola Utti airport, normals 1991–2020, extremes 1960–present :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 7.6 (45.7) | 8.7 (47.7) | 15.6 (60.1) | 24.9 (76.8) | 30.2 (86.4) | 32.2 (90.0) | 34.5 (94.1) | 33.0 (91.4) | 28.7 (83.7) | 17.7 (63.9) | 11.9 (53.4) | 9.7 (49.5) | 34.5 (94.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −3.4 (25.9) | −3.4 (25.9) | 1.3 (34.3) | 8.3 (46.9) | 15.9 (60.6) | 20.2 (68.4) | 22.9 (73.2) | 20.8 (69.4) | 14.9 (58.8) | 7.5 (45.5) | 2.1 (35.8) | −1.1 (30.0) | 8.8 (47.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.1 (21.0) | −6.4 (20.5) | −2.3 (27.9) | 3.7 (38.7) | 10.6 (51.1) | 15.2 (59.4) | 18.0 (64.4) | 16.1 (61.0) | 10.8 (51.4) | 4.7 (40.5) | 0.1 (32.2) | −3.5 (25.7) | 5.1 (41.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −9.1 (15.6) | −9.7 (14.5) | −6.3 (20.7) | −0.8 (30.6) | 4.7 (40.5) | 10.0 (50.0) | 13.0 (55.4) | 11.6 (52.9) | 7.1 (44.8) | 2.0 (35.6) | −2.2 (28.0) | −6.0 (21.2) | 1.2 (34.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −37.3 (−35.1) | −34.9 (−30.8) | −29.3 (−20.7) | −17.5 (0.5) | −6.4 (20.5) | −0.5 (31.1) | 3.0 (37.4) | −0.1 (31.8) | −5.4 (22.3) | −14.9 (5.2) | −22.3 (−8.1) | −35.0 (−31.0) | −37.3 (−35.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 54 (2.1) | 45 (1.8) | 42 (1.7) | 31 (1.2) | 41 (1.6) | 63 (2.5) | 69 (2.7) | 71 (2.8) | 63 (2.5) | 72 (2.8) | 66 (2.6) | 64 (2.5) | 681 (26.8) |
| Average precipitation days | 12 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 121 |
| Source: FMI climatologial normals for Finland 1991-2020 ||||||||||||||
Climate data for Kouvola Anjala (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1959–present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 7.6 (45.7) | 8.8 (47.8) | 16.1 (61.0) | 23.8 (74.8) | 29.8 (85.6) | 32.4 (90.3) | 33.5 (92.3) | 31.9 (89.4) | 27.5 (81.5) | 19.2 (66.6) | 13.4 (56.1) | 9.7 (49.5) | 33.5 (92.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.7 (27.1) | −2.6 (27.3) | 2.1 (35.8) | 8.9 (48.0) | 16.2 (61.2) | 20.5 (68.9) | 23.2 (73.8) | 21.3 (70.3) | 15.4 (59.7) | 8.2 (46.8) | 2.8 (37.0) | −0.5 (31.1) | 9.4 (48.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −5.3 (22.5) | −5.7 (21.7) | −2.0 (28.4) | 4.0 (39.2) | 10.4 (50.7) | 15.0 (59.0) | 17.9 (64.2) | 16.0 (60.8) | 10.9 (51.6) | 5.1 (41.2) | 0.7 (33.3) | −2.7 (27.1) | 5.4 (41.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −8.4 (16.9) | −9.1 (15.6) | −6.0 (21.2) | −0.6 (30.9) | 4.2 (39.6) | 9.4 (48.9) | 12.3 (54.1) | 11.1 (52.0) | 6.8 (44.2) | 2.2 (36.0) | −1.6 (29.1) | −5.3 (22.5) | 1.3 (34.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −37.3 (−35.1) | −36.0 (−32.8) | −33.5 (−28.3) | −22.5 (−8.5) | −8.2 (17.2) | −3.0 (26.6) | 1.4 (34.5) | −3.1 (26.4) | −7.9 (17.8) | −16.3 (2.7) | −23.3 (−9.9) | −36.6 (−33.9) | −37.3 (−35.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 52 (2.0) | 45 (1.8) | 40 (1.6) | 32 (1.3) | 38 (1.5) | 64 (2.5) | 66 (2.6) | 76 (3.0) | 61 (2.4) | 72 (2.8) | 67 (2.6) | 64 (2.5) | 677 (26.7) |
| Average precipitation days | 12.0 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 118 |
| Source 1: https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/336063 ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: https://kilotavu.com/asema-taulukko.php?asema=101194 ||||||||||||||

## Demographics
### Population

The city of Kouvola has 78,399 inhabitants, making it the 12th most populous municipality in Finland. In Kouvola, 5.4% of the population has a foreign background, which is below to the national average.

### Languages

Population by mother tongue (2023)
Kouvola is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. There are 279 Swedish speakers in Kouvola, or 0.4% of the population. As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 40 different languages are spoken in Kouvola. The most commonly spoken foreign languages are Russian (1.9%), Estonian (0.5%), Arabic (0.3%) and Ukrainian (0.2%).

### Immigration

Population by country of birth (2022) :
| Nationality | Population | % |
| Finland | 73,735 | 95.3 |
| Soviet Union | 1,116 | 1.4 |
| Estonia | 321 | 0.4 |
| Russia | 235 | 0.3 |
| Sweden | 210 | 0.3 |
| Thailand | 190 | 0.2 |
| Turkey | 123 | 0.2 |
| Somalia | 112 | 0.1 |
| Iraq | 93 | 0.1 |
| China | 71 | 0.1 |
| Philippines | 54 | 0.1 |
| Other | 1,075 | 1.4 |
As of 2023, there were 4,221 persons with a migrant background living in Kouvola, or 5.4% of the population. The number of residents who were born abroad was 4,112, or 5.2% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Kouvola was 2,609. Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Russia and Sweden.
The relative share of immigrants in Kouvola's population is below to the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.

### Religion

In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 69.2% of the population of Kouvola. Other religious groups accounted for 2.0% of the population. 28.8% of the population had no religious affiliation.

## International relations
### Twin towns and sister cities

Kouvola is twinned with:
* Balatonfüred, Veszprém County, Hungary
* Vologda, Vologda Oblast, Russia
* Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

## Regionalization

| Region Committee | Population | Area km$^2$ | Population Density |
| Kouvola central (1) | 30,185 | 44.88 | 672.57 |
| Kuusankoski (2) | 20,647 | 692.07 | 29.83 |
| Anjalankoski (3) | 15,000 | 752.92 | 19.92 |
| Valkeala (4) | 11,433 | 1003.72 | 11.39 |
| Elimäki (5) | 7,900 | 391.74 | 20.17 |
| 5 region Committee | 85,165 | 2,885.33 | 29.52 |
Jaala is only one does not form its own regional committee, but is part of the Kuusankoski regional committee.

## Notable people

* Aleksanteri Hakaniemi (Singer and YouTuber)
* Ari Koivunen (Heavy metal singer)
* Arto Bryggare (Former hurdling athlete)
* Atso Askonen (Former ice hockey player)
* Hannu Salama (Finnish author)
* Jari Lindström (Finnish politician)
* Jarkko A. Immonen (Current ice hockey player)
* Juhani Aaltonen (Jazz saxophonist and flautist)
* Jukka Lemmetty (Author and illustrator)
* Kaarle Viikate (Finnish musician and metal band Founder of the Viikate)
* Niilo Halonen (Former ski jumper)
* Roope Tonteri (Finnish snowboarder)
* Timo Lahti (Speedway rider)
* Timo Susi (Former ice hockey player)
* Toni Gardemeister (Professional rally driver)
* Ville Nousiainen (Cross-country skier)

## Gallery

* Kouvola railway station
* Kouvola's City Hall
* Ratamokeskus, Health facility
* Pohjolatalo, an office building in the center of Kouvola
* Kymi River
* A paifang in Kouvola
* Veturi, Shopping center
* Lumon arena