Kouvola, Kymenlaakso, Finland

History | Sports

🇫🇮 Kouvola is a city and municipality in south-eastern Finland. It is located on the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso and 134 km north-east of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is one of the capital centres and is the largest city in the Kymenlaakso region.

Kouvola covers an area of 2,883 square km (1,113.25 sq mi) of which 325.06 km²(125.51 sq mi) is water. The population density is 31.46 inhabitants per square kilometre (81.5/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. 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 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.

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.

Kouvola, Kymenlaakso, Finland 
<b>Kouvola, Kymenlaakso, Finland</b>
Image: kallerna

Kouvola has a population of over 84,200 people. Kouvola also forms the centre of the wider Kymenlaakso region which has a population of over 174,167 people.

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

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Kouvola has links with:

🇭🇺 Balatonfüred, Hungary 🇩🇪 Mülheim, Germany 🇩🇪 Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany 🇷🇺 Vologda, Russia
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Kouvola is: -153.3,-60.867

Locations Near: Kouvola 26.7,60.8667

🇫🇮 Kotka 26.946,60.467 d: 46.5  

🇫🇮 Mikkeli 27.277,61.693 d: 96.9  

🇫🇮 Lahti 25.662,60.983 d: 57.6  

🇫🇮 Porvoo 25.67,60.396 d: 76.7  

🇫🇮 Lappeenranta 28.183,61.067 d: 83.1  

🇪🇪 Rakvere 26.362,59.349 d: 169.8  

🇫🇮 Jyväskylä 25.748,62.243 d: 161.1  

🇪🇪 Jõhvi 27.417,59.35 d: 173.3  

🇫🇮 Vantaa 25.033,60.283 d: 111.8  

🇫🇮 Helsinki 24.933,60.167 d: 124.1  

Antipodal to: Kouvola -153.3,-60.867

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 15187.9  

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 15279.5  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 14648  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 14576.5  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 11052.2  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 10938.6  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 10921.7  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 10919.5  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 10919.2  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 10869.4  

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