Lappeenranta, South Karelia Region, Finland

History | Geography | Economy | Tourist Industry | Places and events | Sport | Transport | Jouko sub-urban routes | Education

🇫🇮 Lappeenranta is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about 30 km (19 miles) from the Russian border. It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in south-eastern Finland, and because of that, it is also one of the most significant urban centres in the whole Saimaa region, along with the towns of Imatra, Mikkeli and Savonlinna. Lappeenranta is the 13th largest city in Finland, and incorporates the previous municipalities of Lappee and Lauritsala, Nuijamaa, Joutseno, and Ylämaa.

Lappeenranta is known as an international university city in Finland with Lappeenranta University of Technology and Saimaa University of Applied Sciences which together have approximately 13,000 students from 68 countries. Lappeenranta is also a commercial centre of South-East Finland and the meeting point of the EU and Russia, 215 km (134 mi) from both Helsinki and Saint Petersburg. Its location on the southern shore of Lake Saimaa makes the city the region's centre for tourism.

Lappeenranta is the second most visited city by Russian tourists in Finland after Helsinki and it competes with Helsinki for the largest share of tax-free sales in Finland. Lappeenranta is a model for renewable energies and a clean living environment. Lappeenranta was the only Finnish city among the 14 finalists in the international Earth Hour City Challenge 2014, organized by WWF. Opened in 1918, Lappeenranta Airport, located in the centre of the city, is the oldest airport still in operation in Finland. The city's main employers include: City of Lappeenranta, Fazer, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Nordkalk, Paroc, Outotec, South Karelia Social and Health Care District, The Armed Forces, UPM-Kymmene, & VR Group.

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History The village of Kauskila, located about eight km to the south of downtown Lappeenranta, was among the most significant Karelian population centres in South Karelia during the middle ages. Kauskila has been continuously inhabited for approximately 2,000 years.

Lappeenranta's original core settlement, Lapvesi, later Lappee, was originally formed around a headland jutting into Lake Saimaa, the site of the present fortress. The public market was established here, which became so important as a trading place that general Governor Count Per Brahe the Younger proposed that the Swedish government should grant town privileges to Lapvesi. The town was chartered in 1649 by Queen Christina of Sweden. At the time, Lapvesi was an important port for tar.

Between 1721 and 1743, Lappeenranta was the capital of Kymmenegård and Nyslott County and during this period the Swedes built the fortress out in stages.

In 1741, the Battle of Villmanstrand was fought between the Swedish and Russian armies in the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743. The battle ended in a Russian victory. The town was pillaged, wooden structures including the provincial chancellery were burnt and the ecclesiastical archives damaged. Lappeenranta, along with a portion of Old Finland, was ceded by Sweden to Russia per the Treaty of Turku. Following the creation of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809, Old Finland (including Lappeenranta) was joined to the Grand Duchy in 1812 as a gesture of goodwill by Alexander I of Russia.

Lappeenranta incorporated the neighbouring municipalities of Lappee and Lauritsala on 1 January 1967, Nuijamaa on 1 January 1989, Joutseno on 1 January 2009, and Ylämaa on 1 January 2010.

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Geography Located on the southern shore of Lake Saimaa, Lappeenranta's neighboring municipalities on the Finnish side are Imatra, Lemi, Luumäki, Miehikkälä, Ruokolahti and Taipalsaari, and on the Russian side, the neighbors are Seleznjovo, Svetogorsk and Kamennogorsk.

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Economy The city's main employers are the: • City of Lappeenranta • Fazer • Lappeenranta University of Technology • Nordkalk • Paroc • Metso Outotec • South Karelia Social and Health Care District • The Armed Forces • UPM-Kymmene • VR Group.

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Tourist Industry Lappeenranta is known as a summer city, mostly due to its closeness to the Lake Saimaa. Europe's 4th largest lake. The eponymous GoSaimaa (www.gosaimaa.com) provides all the touristic activities in the area. In addition, its inland location means that summers tend to be warmer and winters colder than along the coastal areas.

Lappeenranta does have a healthy winter tourism industry. Various cabins around Lake Saimaa, as well as numerous snowmobiles, Nordic skating, floating in the river, reindeer rides, paragliding, skiing and sledding tracks draw a fair number of winter visitors.

The proximity of the Russian border is increasingly evident in the number of Russian tourists visiting the city. In fact, Lappeenranta is closer to Saint Petersburg (195 km or 121 miles) than it is to Helsinki, the capital of Finland (220 km or 140 miles). The presence of Russian tourists is noticeable by the many Russian registered cars on the streets and the use of Cyrillic letters in signs of some shops.

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Places and events • The old fortress, with a number of museums, cafés and the oldest Russian Orthodox church in Finland. • St. Mary's Church of Lappee, an 18th-century wooden church in the centre of the city. • The harbour area, with cruises to Vyborg and the nearby Saimaa Canal. • The central market place, where you can enjoy the local specialities, such as meat pies known as "Atomi" (atom) or "Vety" (hydrogen). • The Night of The Fortess, a two-day cultural festival held in early August. • The Lappeenranta Ballet Gala in late August. • The annual Lappeenranta National Singing Contest. • The biggest sand castle in Finland is built next to Port of Lappeenranta every summer. • There are three private cinema theatres in Lappeenranta: Kino-Aula, Nuijamies and Finnkino. • Major league home games in ice-hockey (SaiPa), basketball (Namika Lappeenranta) and other sports. • The IIHF World Championship Under 18, in 2014 • Unlimited Racing Event, on 27 and 29 June 2014

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Sport Lappeenranta has several sports teams playing in top levels of Finnish sports leagues.

SaiPa is an Ice hockey team playing in the highest level in Finland, SM-liiga. SaiPa was fourth in the national Ice hockey league in the season of 2013–2014. 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship - Tournament was played Kisapuisto Ice Hall, Lappeenranta & Imatra Ice Hall during 17–27 April 2014. United States won the tournament, Czech Republic was second and Canada was the third.

Lappeenrannan NMKY is a basketball team playing in the highest level in Korisliiga and have won two championships in 2005 and 2006.

NST plays floorball in the Salibandyliiga and Rajaritarit is an American football team in the Vaahteraliiga.

Lappeenrannan Veiterä, or just Veiterä, plays in Bandyliiga and has been Finnish champions five times, including in 2017. They have been the champions for women and for girls born in 1995 and 1998. The city hosted the first ever Women's Bandy World Championship in 2004 and in 2014 the tournament was again played in Lappeenranta. The Old Boys World Cup is annually hosted in town, in 2017 for the seventh time.

In women's sports Catz Lappeenranta plays basketball and Pesä Ysit plays Finnish baseball, both in the top leagues of the nation. Catz has won Finnish national basketball championship four times in a row.

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Transport Lappeenranta is connected to neighbouring cities and municipalities by road. The city is located 215 km (134 mi) from Helsinki and 195 km (121 mi) from St. Petersburg. From Lappeenranta, the distance to Joensuu, the capital of North Karelia, is 233 km (145 mi) along Highway 6.

There are multiple daily train departures to destinations within Finland from the Lappeenranta and Joutseno stations and to Russia from Vainikkala station. The Allegro train service operating between Helsinki and St. Petersburg stops in Vainikkala, a village in Lappeenranta. The journey time to Helsinki is about 2 hours and St. Petersburg about 1.5 hours.

During the summer, when Lake Saimaa and the Saimaa Canal are accessible by water, there is a visa-free connection by ship from Lappeenranta to Vyborg, Russia.

The regionally owned Lappeenranta Airport is located west of the city center. The airport predominantly serves charter flights to southern Europe, the Canary Islands and Madeira.

The public transport is by bus and is called Jouko. The Jouko-buses are pink-colored and they serve 12 sub-urban lines (1, 1Z, 2, 2H, 3, 3K, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12 and 47) and 21 regional lines (100, 101, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 120, 121, 130, 131, 200, 201, 300, 301, 500, 601, 602, 603, 610, 620). Jouko has Waltti-travel card, to which you can charge a 30-day season ticket (travel zones A-D) or a value tickets, which works also in other finnish cities which do have the Waltti-ticket system. Other ways to buy a ticket in Jouko-buses are single tickets (payment with cash or credit card), mobile-tickets (PayIQ, etc.) and 24-hour ticket. Jouko has also own route-guide (https://lappeenranta.digitransit.fi/), where you can plan a route, see timetables and also see all the Jouko-buses in the map. You can also view delays, exceptions, and other releases. Jouko sub-urban transport is operated by Savonlinja. Regional lines are operated by Savonlinja, Rantanen, Vento and Mikkonen. The bus fleet consists of low-floor city buses, and the bus models are Scania Lahti Scala (9 units) (ones in Jouko-traffic built in 2010 and 2012), Volvo 8900 (7 units) (ones in Jouko-traffic built in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019) and Scania Citywide (3 units) (CNG-powered ones built in 2018 and diesel-powered one built in 2020).

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Jouko sub-urban routes • 1 University-Sammonlahti-Kourula-Leiri-City center-Central hospital-Lauritsala-Kanavansuu-Kiiskinmäki • 1Z University-Sammonlahti-Kourula-Leiri-City center • 2 Kivisalmi-Voisalmi-City center-Harapainen-Lauritsala-Hakali-Hovinpelto (on sundays via central hospital) • 2H Hovinpelto-Hakali-Lauritsala-Central hospital-Railway station-Leiri-City center • 3 Kivisalmi-Kariniemi-Pikisaari-City center-Railway station-Leiri • 3K Kivisalmi-City center-Leiri-Railway station-Family Center • 4 Mäntylä-Leiri-City center-Kiviharju-Karhuvuori • 5 University-Sammonlahti-Kourula-Leiri-City center-Lepola-Railway station • 7 Mustola-Hakali-Lauritsala-Central hospital-City center • 8 Kariniemi-Pikisaari-City center-Leiri-Huhtiniemi-Kourula-Ruoholampi-Rutola • 12 University-City center/Kivisalmi-City center/City center-Karhuvuori-Lauritsala-Hovinpelto-Mustola-Kiiskinmäki/Kiiskinmäki-Kanavansuu-Lauritsala-City center • 47 Mäntylä-Leiri-City center-Kiviharju-Karhuvuori-Lauritsala-Mustola

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Education Lappeenranta is known as an international university city in Finland with LUT University and LAB University of Applied Sciences which together have approximately 13,000 students from 68 countries. Lappeenranta is also a commercial centre of South-East Finland and the meeting point of the EU and Russia, 215 km (134 mi) from both Helsinki and St. Petersburg.

Lappeenranta has numerous schools at almost all levels of education, including the LUT University, LAB University of Applied Sciences, located in a shared Skinnarila campus of around 8000 students, the Army Academy (branch of the Finnish Defence Forces), South Karelia Vocational College and South Karelia Adult Education Centre.

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Lappeenranta, South Karelia, Finland 
Lappeenranta, South Karelia, Finland
Image: Adobe Stock konstan #169883880

Lappeenranta has a population of over 72,000 people. Lappeenranta also forms one of the centres of the wider South Karelia region which has a population of over 127,757 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Lappeenranta see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Lappeenranta has links with:

🇺🇦 Chernihiv, Ukraine 🇳🇴 Drammen, Norway 🇷🇺 Klin, Russia 🇩🇰 Kolding, Denmark 🇺🇸 Lake Worth Beach, USA 🇸🇪 Örebro, Sweden 🇪🇪 Rakvere, Estonia 🇩🇪 Schwäbisch Hall, Germany 🇮🇸 Stykkishólmur, Iceland 🇭🇺 Szombathely, Hungary 🇷🇺 Vyborg, Russia
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Lappeenranta is: -151.817,-61.067

Locations Near: Lappeenranta 28.1833,61.0667

🇷🇺 Vyborg 28.776,60.705 d: 51.4  

🇫🇮 Mikkeli 27.277,61.693 d: 84.8  

🇫🇮 Kotka 26.946,60.467 d: 94.7  

🇷🇺 Sosnovy Bor 29.083,59.883 d: 140.5  

🇫🇮 Kouvola 26.7,60.867 d: 83.1  

🇪🇪 Narva 28.19,59.375 d: 188.1  

🇷🇺 Kingisepp 28.616,59.371 d: 190.1  

🇪🇪 Jõhvi 27.417,59.35 d: 195.5  

🇫🇮 Kuopio 27.693,62.893 d: 204.7  

🇷🇺 Kronstadt 29.787,59.988 d: 148.6  

Antipodal to: Lappeenranta -151.817,-61.067

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 15171.5  

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 15218.4  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 14595.4  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 14522.6  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 11026.6  

🇨🇱 Coyhaique -72.067,-45.567 d: 14816.9  

🇨🇱 Port Montt -72.933,-41.467 d: 14510.8  

🇨🇱 Puerto Montt -72.933,-41.467 d: 14510.8  

🇨🇱 Punta Arenas -70.91,-53.162 d: 15374.8  

🇨🇱 Valdivia -73.233,-39.8 d: 14380.8  

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