Askola

Askola () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of  () and covers an area of  of which  is water. The population density is . Monninkylä is the largest village of municipality in terms of population (1,326 inhabitants). Neighbouring municipalities are Myrskylä, Mäntsälä, Pornainen, Porvoo and Pukkila.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Askola is one of three municipalities in the Uusimaa region that do not have a Swedish name; the others are Nurmijärvi and Mäntsälä.

History 
The Askola parish was part of Porvoo until 1639, when it became a chapel parish, and finally became independent in 1896. The Askola church was completed in 1799.

The coat of arms of the municipality seeks influence from the history of the parish; the millstone is reminiscent of the Askolas's many mills and famous breads, while the roses of the coat of arms refer to Finnish author Johannes Linnankoski, who was born and influenced in Askola, whose most famous work was The Song of the Blood-Red Flower.

Geography 

The most significant waters in Askola includes the River Porvoo flowing from the center of Askola between Orimattila and Porvoo, and eleven lakes in the eastern part of the municipality.

There are no Natura 2000 sites in Askola, but instead five rock areas have been classified as nationally valuable. In one of them, Kirnukallio, are the well-known Askola's glacial potholes. The nationally valuable landscape area of the River Porvoo Valley also extends to the Askola side. Prestbacka Manor and Pappilanharju's natural reserve are also protected as cultural landscapes.

Villages 
In 1967, Askola had 12 legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):

 Askola
 Huuvari
 Juornaankylä
 Korttia
 Monninkylä
 Nalkkila
 Nieto
 Puharonkimaa
 Särkijärvi
 Tiilää
 Vahijärvi
 Vakkola

Demographics 
In 2020, 18.7% of the population of Askola was under the age of 15, 61.0% were aged 15 to 64, and 20.2% were over the age of 65. The average age was 42.3, under the national average of 43.4 but above the regional average of 41.0. Speakers of Finnish made up 93.7% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 3.4%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 2.9%. Foreign nationals made up 1.8% of the total population. 

The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Askola from 1975-2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

Urban areas 
In 2019, out of the total population of 4,943, 2,636 people lived in urban areas and 2,251 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 56 people were unknown. This made Askola's degree of urbanization 53.9%. The urban population in the municipality was divided between two urban areas as follows:

Services 

Askola has four primary schools, and two secondary schools, as well as one vocational school. Both secondary schools also receive students from the neighboring municipality of Pukkila, which does not have its own post-primary school education.

The Askola's library operates in six locations: the church village, Monninkylä and four schools of the municipality.

Public health care is provided at the Askola Health Center.

There are only two Sale grocery stores in the municipality: one in the church village and the other in Monninkylä. Locals have also wished the municipality a third grocery store from a competing chain, such as Kesko or Lidl.

Politics
Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Askola:

True Finns   32.1%
Centre Party   21.9%
National Coalition Party   16.1%
Social Democratic Party   14.8%
Green League   5.4%
Left Alliance   5.0%
Christian Democrats   1.8%
Swedish People's Party   1,6%

Economy 
In 2018, 8.1% of the workforce of Askola worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 36.2% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 53.1% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 6.7%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 23.0%. 

The ten largest employers in Askola in 2019 were as follows:

People born in Askola
Juho Laakso (1854–1915)
Erkki Peltonen (1861–1942)
Johannes Linnankoski (1869–1913)
Oskar Kumpu (1889–1935)

References

External links
 
Municipality of Askola – Official website

 
Populated places established in 1896
Municipalities of Uusimaa
Municipalities of Eastern Uusimaa