Place:Kouvola

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Kouvola is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, 62 kilometres (39 mi) kilometers east of Lahti, 87 kilometres (54 mi) west of Lappeenranta and 134 kilometres (83 mi) northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is one of the capital centers and is the largest city in the Kymenlaakso region.

The urban area of Kouvola in the city centre itself is home to about 47,000 people.[1] The city covers an area of [convert: invalid number] of which [convert: invalid number] is water.[2] The population density is [convert: invalid number]. 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.[3]

Kouvola, which had population growth as late as the 1980s, has suffered a loss of population due to migration since the 1990s. Over time, the loss has only deepened, so that at the end of the 2010s Kouvola had the highest rate of population loss by migration in Finland. Natural demographics have also trended downward; in 2017, more than 450 more people died in the city than new ones were born.[4][5][6] Currently, the population of Kouvola is decreasing annually by about 800 inhabitants.[7] The reasons for the emigration are thought to be largely due to job losses in the region.[5][6] The city has placed expectations for economic recovery on various projects, such as the TikTok data center planned for Koria village.[8]

History

Coat of arms of Kouvola
(1952–2008)
(2009-)

In the Middle Ages, the Kouvola region were borderlands between the provinces of Uusimaa, Häme and Karelia. The Kymijoki River served as the border river between Swedish Empire and the Russian Empire from 1743 to 1809.

The village of Kouvola has been inhabited since the Middle Ages, and it has belonged alternately to the parishes of Hollola, Iitti and Valkeala. However, the actual development did not start until the 1870s when the Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway line was built and Kouvola became a railway junction.[3] 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.[3]

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 Viipuri Province in 1922–1945 but in 1940 and 1944, most of Viipuri 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.[9]

In March 2026, two Ukrainian drones fell in Kouvola. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told the media that the drones likely came from Ukraine, which has been conducting attacks on Russian territory along the border with Finland.[10][11]

Culture

  • The language spoken in the Kouvola area is based on the Southeastern Häme dialect, which belongs to the Häme dialects.
  • The name itself derives from Old Finnish kouvo, meaning bear.[12] The arms are Sable, an escarbuncle Or, base wavy Argent.
  • Verla factory, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located near Kouvola.[3]
  • The newspapers Kouvolan Sanomat and Keskilaakso are published in Kouvola.
  • The third biggest Amusement park in Finland, called Tykkimäki is located in Kouvola.[3]

Province History of Kouvola

  • 23px Viipuri Province (1922–1945)
  • 23px Kymi Province (1945–1997)
  • 23px Southern Finland Province (1997–2009)
  • 20px Kymenlaakso (2009–)

Sports

Kouvola has multiple clubs that compete in the highest tier of various sports. KooKoo plays ice hockey in the men's Finnish top league SM-Liiga. Kouvolan Pallonlyöjät (KPL) is considered one of the best pesäpallo teams in the country, having won five championships in the Finnish men's top flight Superpesis. Kouvot is the city's basketball club that has won four top flight championships and currently plays in the men's Korisliiga, while the women's team Kouvottaret plays in the second tier I divisioona. Kuusankosken Puhti plays pesäpallo in the women's second tier Ykköspesis.

MyPa from the industrial village of Myllykoski now part of Kouvola achieved success in football during the 1990s and 2000s winning the Finnish men's top league Veikkausliiga once and the Finnish Cup three times, and is now playing in the fourth tier of Finnish football Kakkonen. Kouvolan Jalkapallo (KJP) is the biggest football youth team in Kouvola with over 800 members[13], while their adult men's and women's teams both play in the fifth tier, Kolmonen and Naisten Nelonen[14] respectively. Sudet was a multi-sports club from Vyborg and Helsinki that moved to Kouvola in 1962. They had achieved success in both bandy and football prior to the move, winning the men's bandy championship 14 times[15] and the Finnish football championship once. The club is currently active in Kouvola only in men's floorball, playing in the Finnish lower leagues, but their namesake Wiipurin Sudet is one of the top women's clubs in bandy, operating in Lappeenranta. Valkealan Kajo is a multi-sports club from Valkeala that has achieved success in volleyball, winning the women's championship in 1998.[16]

Kouvola is active in winter sports; It has the Palomäki Ski Jump Center for ski jumping, and multiple tracks for cross-country skiing throughout the town during the winter.[17] Orienteering is also popular in the summertime.

Local government

City Council of Kouvola
Party Seats
Social Democratic Party 16
National Coalition Party 13
Centre Party 9
Green League 6
Finns Party 5
Christian Democrats 4
Sitoutumattomat (Independent) 2
Left Alliance 2
Suur-Kouvolan sitoutumattomat 2

Climate

File:UPM Kymi Aerial Photo 07-2018.jpg
UPM Kymi (Paper mill)

Kouvola has humid continental climate (Dfb).The city has four distinct seasons, the amount of precipitation is relatively uniform throughout the year. The driest season is spring. Summers are generally relatively warm as the city is considered to be one of the hottest cities in Finland as it has had the most days with "helle" (temperatures above 25 °C or 77 °F) since 2000. Winters are colder than cities located in the coastal areas of Finland because of its location further inland, meaning the marine effect doesn't affect the city as much than those nearer the sea. This also means that the summers are warmer due to it being further inland as the sea effect is making the summer temperatures slightly cooler in coastal areas. The average annual temperature is 5.4 °C (41.7 °F). The highest ever recorded temperature in the station was 34.5 °C (94.1 °F), on July 28, 2010. The lowest ever recorded was −37.3 °C (−35.1 °F). The city has a significant rainfall throughout the year and even in the driest month the precipitation stays over 30 millimetres (1.2 in) a month. The average duration of sunshine per year is 1,658 hours. Kouvola Utti airport weather station has on average somewhat lower average temperatures than in the city.

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Script error: No such module "weather box".

Demographics

Population

Population size 1990–2025[19]
Year Population
1990
94,352
1995
94,138
2000
91,550
2005
89,924
2010
88,072
2015
85,855
2020
81,187
2025
77,625

Languages

Population by
mother tongue (2025)[19]

  Finnish (93.4%)
  Russian (2.0%)
  Ukrainian (0.6%)
  Estonian (0.5%)
  Swedish (0.4%)
  Arabic (0.3%)
  English (0.2%)
  Other (2.6%)

At least 40 different languages are spoken in Kouvola. The most commonly spoken foreign languages are Russian (2.0%), Ukrainian (0.6%), Estonian (0.5%) and Arabic (0.3%).[20]

The language spoken in the Kouvola area is based on the Southeast Häme dialect, which belongs to the Tavastian dialects.

Immigration

Population by country of birth (2025)[19]
Country of birth Population %
 Finland 72,825 93.8
 Soviet Union 1,346 1.7
 Estonia 354 0.5
 Ukraine 288 0.4
 Russia 246 0.3
 Sweden 220 0.3
 Thailand 200 0.3
 Turkey 182 0.2
 Philippines 117 0.2
 Somalia 113 0.1
Other 2,934 3.8

As of 2024, there were 4,731 persons with a foreign background living in Kouvola, or 6% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 4,608, or 6% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Kouvola was 3,008.[20] Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Russia and Ukraine.[20]

The relative share of immigrants in Kouvola's population is below to the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.

Religion

In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 69.2% of the population of Kouvola. Other religious groups accounted for 2.0% of the population. 28.8% of the population had no religious affiliation.[22]

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Kouvola is twinned with:[23]

  • Balatonfüred, 20px Veszprém County,  Hungary
  • Vologda, 20px Vologda Oblast,  Russia
  • Mülheim an der Ruhr, 20px North Rhine-Westphalia,  Germany
  • Poltava, 20px Poltava Oblast,  Ukraine

Regionalization

Kouvola regional councils.
Region Committee Population Area km2 Population Density
Kouvola central (1) 30,185 44.88 672.57
Kuusankoski (2) 20,647 692.07 29.83
Anjalankoski (3) 15,000 752.92 19.92
Valkeala (4) 11,433 1003.72 11.39
Elimäki (5) 7,900 391.74 20.17
5 region Committee 85,165 2,885.33 29.52

Jaala is only one does not form its own regional committee, but is part of the Kuusankoski regional committee.

Notable people

Map of territorial changes of Kouvola and Kuusankoski. Most of the area of old Kouvola was separated from Valkeala, except for the western parts of the city, which were separated from Kuusankoski.
  • Aleksanteri Hakaniemi (Singer and YouTuber)
  • Ari Koivunen (Heavy metal singer)
  • Arto Bryggare (Former hurdling athlete)
  • Atso Askonen (Former ice hockey player)
  • Hannu Salama (Finnish author)
  • Jari Lindström (Finnish politician)
  • Jarkko A. Immonen (Current ice hockey player)
  • Juhani Aaltonen (Jazz saxophonist and flautist)
  • Jukka Lemmetty (Author and illustrator)
  • Kaarle Viikate (Finnish musician and metal band Founder of the Viikate)
  • Niilo Halonen (Former ski jumper)
  • Roope Tonteri (Finnish snowboarder)
  • Timo Lahti (Speedway rider)
  • Timo Susi (Former ice hockey player)
  • Toni Gardemeister (Professional rally driver)
  • Ville Nousiainen (Cross-country skier)

Notes

  1. ↑ Statistics Finland classifies a person as having a "foreign background" if both parents or the only known parent were born abroad.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Taajamat väkiluvun ja väestöntiheyden mukaan 31.12.2019 . – Statistics Finland. (in Finnish)
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named total_area
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Kruk, Katherine (5 April 2012). "Kouvola – strategic and beautiful". Helsinki Times. https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/themes/themes/travel/1928-kouvola-strategic-and-beautiful.html. 
  4. ↑ "Kouvola suuren tuskan edessä" (in fi). YLE. 17 April 2018. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10158131. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Kaakkois-Suomen suurin kaupunki vaihtuu, jos väestöennuste toteutuu – Kouvolan väkiluku vähenee tuhansilla" (in fi). YLE. 30 September 2021. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12122177. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 el Kamel, Sonia; Hujanen, Touko (November 27, 2020). "Älkää lähtekö!" (in fi). Ylioppilaslehti. https://ylioppilaslehti.fi/2020/11/kouvolaan-piti-tulla-kaikkea-mahtavaa-mutta-rakennemuutos-kaupungistuminen-ja-globalisaatio-vesittavat-visioita-ylioppilaslehti-kavi-katsomassa-suomen-suurinta-muuttotappiota/. 
  7. ↑ Sormunen, Elli; Kilpinen, Emma (24 October 2024). "Kouvolassa väki vähenee, eikä kaupunki voi sitä pysäyttää – asukkaat toivovat Kouvolalle parempaa tulevaisuutta" (in fi). Yle. https://yle.fi/a/74-20119955. 
  8. ↑ "Kouvola welcomes TikTok data center, eyes economic boost". Daily Finland. 7 May 2025. https://www.dailyfinland.fi/business/43087/Kouvola-welcomes-TikTok-data-center-eyes-economic-boost. 
  9. ↑ "Kouvolan kaupunki". Website of Kouvola. http://www.kouvola.fi/. 
  10. ↑ Micheletti, Francesca (29 March 2026). "Two cross-border drones crash in Finland". Politico. https://www.politico.eu/article/two-cross-border-drones-crash-in-finland/. 
  11. ↑ McGrath, Ciaran (29 March 2026). "WW3 fears explode as NATO scrambles fighter jets over 'territorial violation'". Daily Express. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2187971/ww3-fears-explode-nato-scrambles-finland-russia. 
  12. ↑ Jäntti, Pasi. "Mikä on kouvo?" (in fi). Kaleva. http://www.kaleva.fi/karhu/kysy-karhuista/mika-on-kouvo/23892/. 
  13. ↑ "Kouvolan urheiluseurat vahtivat nyt tarkemmin etujaan kaupungin säästökuurien takia – katso video" (in fi). 2023-02-16. https://yle.fi/a/74-20018136. 
  14. ↑ "Tulospalvelu". https://tulospalvelu.palloliitto.fi/team/35213470/info. 
  15. ↑ "Bandyliiga mestarit". https://bandyliiga.fi/mestarit-1908-2021/. 
  16. ↑ "Lentopallon Mestaruusliiga 1997-98". https://women.volleybox.net/fi/women-lentopallon-mestaruusliiga-1997-98-o8153. 
  17. ↑ "Ladut ja kuntoradat" (in fi). https://www.kouvola.fi/vapaa-aika/liikunta/liikuntapaikat/ulkoliikunta/ladut-ja-kuntoradat/. 
  18. ↑ "FMI normals 1991-2020". fmi.fi. https://www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/ilmastollinen-vertailukausi. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Population growth slowed down in 2025". Statistics Finland. 2026-04-01. https://stat.fi/en/publication/cmg6f46k91y0e07w0qtdt6yl7. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named statistics-finland-population-2024-final
  21. ↑ "Persons with foreign background". Statistics Finland. https://www.stat.fi/tup/maahanmuutto/maahanmuuttajat-vaestossa/ulkomaalaistaustaiset_en.html. 
  22. ↑ Key figures on population by region, 1990-2023 Statistics Finland
  23. ↑ "Kansainvälinen Kouvola" (in fi). City of Kouvola. 20 May 2019. https://www.kouvola.fi/kouvolankaupunki/kouvola-tietoa/kansainvalinenkouvola/. 
  • The official website of Kouvola
  • Kouvola Tourist Office
  • Kouvola travel guide from Wikivoyage
  • h2g2.com on Kouvola

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