Seinäjoki
Seinäjoki (Finnish: [ˈsei̯næˌjoki] ⓘ; lit. "Wall River"; Latin: Wegelia, formerly Swedish: Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Vaasa, 178 kilometres (111 mi) north of Tampere, 193 kilometres (120 mi) west of Jyväskylä and 324 kilometres (201 mi) southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960. In 2005, the municipality of Peräseinäjoki was merged into Seinäjoki, and in the beginning of 2009, the neighbouring municipalities of Nurmo and Ylistaro were consolidated with Seinäjoki. Seinäjoki is one of the fastest growing regional centers in Finland.
Seinäjoki | |
|---|---|
City | |
| Seinäjoen kaupunki Seinäjoki stad | |
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Coat of arms | |
Location of Seinäjoki in Finland | |
| Coordinates: 62°47.5′N 022°50.5′E | |
| Country | Finland |
| Region | South Ostrobothnia |
| Sub-region | Seinäjoki sub-region |
| Charter | 1868 |
| Market town | 1931 |
| Town | 1960 |
| Government | |
| • City manager | Jaakko Kiiskilä |
| Area (2018-01-01) | |
| • City | 1,469.23 km2 (567.27 sq mi) |
| • Land | 1,431.77 km2 (552.81 sq mi) |
| • Water | 37.59 km2 (14.51 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 52.78 km2 (20.38 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 48th largest in Finland |
| Population (2023-12-31) | |
| • City | 66,157 |
| • Rank | 16th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 46.21/km2 (119.7/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 46,639 |
| • Urban density | 883.6/km2 (2,289/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 96.3% (official) |
| • Swedish | 0.2% |
| • Others | 3.5% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 17.1% |
| • 15 to 64 | 62.5% |
| • 65 or older | 20.4% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Website | www |
The city hall, city library, Lakeuden Risti Church and other public buildings were designed by Alvar Aalto. Seinäjoki was historically called Östermyra in Swedish. Today this name, which never was official, is very seldom used even among the Swedish speakers. Seinäjoki Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Ilmajoki, 11 kilometres (10 mi) south of the Seinäjoki city centre. Seinäjoki railway station in city center was opened in 1883 and until 1897 it carried the name Östermyra station.