Mikkeli
Mikkeli
S:t Michel | |
---|---|
Town | |
Mikkelin kaupunki S:t Michels stad | |
Population by age | |
• 0 to 14 | 13.9% |
• 15 to 64 | 58.9% |
• 65 or older | 27.2% |
Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
Website | www.mikkeli.fi |
Mikkeli (Finnish:
Mikkeli is located on the shores of
During
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2023) |
The earliest signs of human life in Mikkeli are the Astuvansalmi rock paintings in Ristiina, dating back to 4100-2000 BCE.[11] The Astuvansalmi is the largest rock painting site in the Nordic countries.[12]
The peace
On January 23, 1597, more than 200 peasant rebels were killed in the parsonage of Kenkävero in part of the larger
Mikkeli was granted town rights in 1838.[14] The provincial government of the province of Mikkeli that had been established in 1831, moved from Heinola to Mikkeli in 1843.
In 1918, during the Civil War, the headquarters of the White Army were established in Mikkeli.[15] Mikkeli was located in a conservative farming area and it was a White stronghold, but elements of the Russian Army garrison in the area supported the Reds. A major engagement was fought around the railway station at Mäntyharju, about 20 km (12 mi) to the south of Mikkeli, when the Whites blocked a Red thrust coming north out of Kouvola. During the Winter War and Continuation War, the headquarters of the Finnish Army was located in Mikkeli.[16] The Army staff made their base in a local secondary school. At the site of that school is the small Päämajamuseo (Finnish for 'Headquarters Museum') containing photographs and memorabilia of the era. As a result of serving as the headquarters of the army that was based there, Mikkeli was bombed heavily, but since there was almost no high-rise development at the time the damage was quickly repaired. Architecturally, most of pre-war Mikkeli doesn't exist anymore.
Wartime Mikkeli is identified with
One of the main museums in the town is the Jalkaväkimuseo (Finnish for 'Infantry Museum'), located in one of the former army barracks, close to the University of Applied Sciences.[17] It contains exhibits from the four wars in Finland's modern history – the Civil, Winter, Continuation and Lapland Wars. The museum also contains an exhibit dedicated to Finnish war hero Lauri Törni.[18]
In 1986, there was a
In 1997, there was a province reform, which made Mikkeli the capital of the new province of
Geography
The centre of Mikkeli is located on a low rise, near the shore of a bay of Lake
Demographics
Population
The city of Mikkeli has 51,916 inhabitants, making it the 18th most populous municipality in Finland. The Mikkeli region has a population of 68,298. In Mikkeli, 4.6% of the population has a foreign background, which is below the national average.[20]
The city's population density is 20.37 inhabitants per square kilometre (52.8/sq mi).[3]
Year | Population |
---|---|
1990 | 54,404
|
1995 | 55,563
|
2000 | 55,222
|
2005 | 54,728
|
2010 | 54,455
|
2015 | 54,665
|
2020 | 52,583
|
Languages
Mikkeli is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality. The majority of the population - 49,531 people or 95.3% - speak Finnish as their first language. In Mikkeli, 85 people, or 0.2% of the population, speak Swedish.[20] 4.5% of the population of Mikkeli have a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish.[20] As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 30 different languages are spoken in Mikkeli. The most common foreign languages are Russian (1.3%), Arabic (0.4%), Estonian (0.3%) and Farsi (0.3%).[20]
Immigration
Population by country of birth (2022)[20] | ||
Nationality | Population | % |
---|---|---|
Finland | 49,928 | 95.5 |
Soviet Union | 427 | 0.8 |
Russia | 254 | 0.5 |
Estonia | 134 | 0.3 |
Sweden | 107 | 0.2 |
Thailand | 102 | 0.2 |
Vietnam | 86 | 0.2 |
Afghanistan | 82 | 0.2 |
Syria | 65 | 0.1 |
Iraq | 61 | 0.1 |
Turkey | 60 | 0.1 |
Other | 974 | 1.8 |
In 2022, there were 2,411 persons with a migrant background living in Mikkeli, or 4.6% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 2,352, or 4.5% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Mikkeli was 1,508.[22] Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union, Russia, Estonia and Thailand.[20]
The relative share of immigrants in Mikkeli'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 2022, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 73.1% of the population of Mikkeli. Other religious groups accounted for 1.9% of the population. 25.0% of the population had no religious affiliation.[20]
Education
A central campus of South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) is located in Mikkeli and is a major employer in the city. Its history dates back to 1965, when Mikkeli was selected as the site for a new higher education college specializing in professional, engineering and vocational studies, enrolling its first class of students in 1969 while situated in an old Russian Army barracks on the outskirts of town. Purpose-built accommodations have since been added, but the old buildings are still in use, with the student union located in the "Officers' Club" building. The Polytechnic changed its name to Mikkeli University of Applied Sciences in 2006 and merged in the beginning of 2017 with Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences to constitute a new university: South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk).
Several other universities also have operations in Mikkeli. The Mikkeli University Consortium includes units from
Traffic
Mikkeli has a fast road connection to the Helsinki metropolitan area through Finnish national road 5 and Finnish national road 4, which is a four lane highway. Mikkeli has a railway station on the Savonia railway with five trains to and from Helsinki, daily. There are also bus connections to neighboring cities and municipalities and a small local bus transit network within the city limits. Mikkeli also has its own airport, which however has had no scheduled commercial flights since 2005.
Culture
Mikkeli boasts its own concert hall, which is a world class facility built in 1988 to commemorate Mikkeli's 150th anniversary as a town. The concert hall is the home of
Tourism
Mikkeli is a major holiday resort within the
Due to Mikkeli's role as the headquarter city in World War II, the town has several museums dedicated to that period of time. These museums include the Infantry museum, the Lokki Communications Center, and the Headquarters museum.[28]
The annual trotting event St Michel ravit is Mikkeli's largest event with approximately 20 000 spectators.
Hotels are concentrated in the center of Mikkeli. In other areas, there are rental cottages scattered in the smaller villages and countryside.
Sport
Mikkelin Kampparit plays in the highest bandy division.[30] In 2012, they became Finnish champions for the first time.[31]
Mikkeli has two major football teams, Mikkelin Palloilijat (MP) and Mikkelin Pallo-Kissat (MiPK). Both of them have played in the Finnish premier league, currently MP is playing on the second highest level and MiPK on the third highest. The former EU commissioner Olli Rehn used to play for MP for 13 years (youth teams 1968–78, first team 1979–82).[32]
Notable people
International relations
Twin towns and sister cities
Mikkeli is
Notes
References
- ^ "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
- ^ "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ a b "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. November 14, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
- ^ Gråsten, Hanna (October 17, 2019). "Näkökulma: Keskustan 18 maakunnan unelma säröilee – Ministeritkin hääräävät savolaisten herruustaistelussa" [Perspective: The Centre's dream of 18 provinces is shattered, ministers battle over Savonian autonomy]. Iltalehti (in Finnish). Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ISBN 9789522660923.
- ^ Nurmi, Lauri (April 9, 2024). "IL:n tiedot: Mikkeli on saamassa Nato-alaesikunnan". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ Shepelenko, Mikael (April 10, 2024). "Venäjän media havahtui Mikkeliin perustettavaan Nato–pisteeseen: "Korkean valmiuden päämaja"". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ Sonko, Alona (April 10, 2024). "NATO to establish new HQ in southern Finland — 140 km from Russia". The New Voice of Ukraine. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- from the original on September 14, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ "Astuvansalmi leads you to the ancient mysteries of Lake Saimaa". Visit Mikkeli. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ISBN 978-3-8258-1633-9.
- ISBN 978-1-1358-2987-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4529-1239-4.
- ISBN 978-1-7815-8099-8.
- ^ "Museum Exhibitions". Jalkaväkimuseo. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-4678-3743-9. Retrieved September 14, 2023.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-1-74104-771-4. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Number of foreign-language speakers grew by nearly 38,000 persons". Statistics Finland. May 31, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ "Persons with foreign background". Statistics Finland. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
- ^ "Population structure 2000-2022, urban-rural classification". Statistics Finland. May 26, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
- ^ "LUT University". MUC. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ "International Business, Bachelor (BScBA, Mikkeli) and Master of Science (Otaniemi) in Economics and Business Administration". Aalto University. August 17, 2018. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ a b "Mikkeli Music Festival in brief". Mikkelin Musiikkijuhlat. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
- ^ Visulahti Travel Centre & Theme Park
- ^ "Katso lista! Nämä ovat suomalaisten 15 suosituinta mökkipaikkakuntaa". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ "Museums - Visitmikkeli". www.visitmikkeli.fi. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ "Jukurit HC Oy". Mestis. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
- ^ "Suomen jääpalloliitto". Finland's Bandy Association. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
- ^ Kampparit new Finnish Champions in bandy Archived April 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Olli Rehn - Personal Profile". European Commission. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ "Harri Kirvesniemi". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ "Mikko Kolehmainen". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ "Olli Kolehmainen". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
- ^ "BANK OF FINLAND - Erkki Liikanen". Bank of Finland. Archived from the original on April 28, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
- ^ "Olli Rehn CV". EC webpage.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ystävyyskaupungit ja -kunnat". mikkeli.fi. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ "Vennskapsbyer". kommune.no. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2014.