page_title: Kouvola
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kouvola / History
caption_attribution_description: Suomi: Kouvolan rautatieaseman ratapiha marraskuussa 2019
context_page_description: Kouvola is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located on the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso and 134 kilometres northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is one of the capital centers and is the largest city in the Kymenlaakso region.
  The city has a population of 83,149 and covers an area of 2,883.30 square kilometres of which 325.06 km² is water. The population density is 32.5 inhabitants per square kilometre.
  Kouvola is bordered by the municipalities of Hamina, Heinola, Iitti, Kotka, Lapinjärvi, Loviisa, Luumäki, Miehikkälä, Mäntyharju, Pyhtää and Savitaipale.
  Kouvola have been often deemed “the most useless” or “the ugliest” city in Finland.
context_section_description: 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, Savo was built from Kouvola to the north and Kotka line south of Kouvola, resulting in Kouvola becoming one of the busiest railway junctions in Finland.
  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 Vyborg Province in 1922-1945 but in 1940 and 1944, most of Vyborg 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.
caption: Kouvola railway station in 2019
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