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Mikkeli

Coordinates:61°41′20″N27°16′19″E/ 61.689°N 27.272°E/61.689; 27.272
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Mikkeli
S:t Michel
Town
Mikkelin kaupunki
S:t Michels stad
Mikkeli
Coat of arms of Mikkeli
Coat of arms
Map
Map
Map
Mikkeli within Etelä-Savo, Finland and Eurasia
Coordinates:61°41′20″N27°16′19″E/ 61.689°N 27.272°E/61.689; 27.272
CountryFinland
RegionEtelä-Savo
Sub-regionMikkeli
Charter1838
Government
• TypeCouncil-manager
• BodyCity Council
• ChairmanOskari Valtola (NCP)
• City Board ChairwomanPirjo Siiskonen
• MayorJanne Kinnunen
Area
(2018-01-01)[1]
• Total3,229.57 km2(1,246.94 sq mi)
• Land2,548.35 km2(983.92 sq mi)
• Water424.7 km2(164.0 sq mi)
• Rank23rd largestin Finland
Population
(2024-08-31)[2]
• Total51,965
• Rank18th largestin Finland
• Density20.39/km2(52.8/sq mi)
Population by native language
[2]
•Finnish94.4% (official)
•Swedish0.2%
• Others5.4%
Population by age
[3]
• 0 to 1413.9%
• 15 to 6458.9%
• 65 or older27.2%
Time zoneUTC+02:00(EET)
• Summer (DST)UTC+03:00(EEST)
Websitewww.mikkeli.fi

Mikkeli(Finnish:[ˈmikːeli];Swedish:S:t Michel;Latin:Michaelia;Russian:Mikhel) is acityinFinlandand the regional capital ofSouth Savo.It is located in theFinnish Lakeland.The population of Mikkeli is approximately 52,000, while thesub-regionhas a population of approximately 68,000. It is the 18th most populousmunicipalityin Finland, and the 19th most populousurban areain the country.

Mikkeli is located on the shores ofLake Saimaa.Mikkeli is currently located in the South Savo region. However, historically, the city was part of theMikkeli Provinceuntil 1997 and then theEastern Finland Provincefrom 1997 to 2009. Mikkeli covers an area of 3,229.57 square kilometres (1,246.94 sq mi), of which 424.7 km2(164.0 sq mi) is water. Mikkeli is one of the largest towns in the South Savo region and one of the concentrations in the region'shospital districts,along withSavonlinna.[5]

DuringWorld War II,Mikkeli served as the headquarters for theFinnish Defence Forces.The town's coat of arms features a pair of crossedMarshal Mannerheim's batons in recognition of this, and the town was awarded theCross of Liberty,4th Class, which is displayed alongside the coat of arms.[6]After Finland joinsNATO,there are plans to establish a sub-staff ofground forcesworking under the military alliance in Mikkeli.[7][8][9]

History

[edit]
Astuvansalmi rock paintings

The earliest signs of human life in Mikkeli are theAstuvansalmi rock paintingsinRistiina,dating back to 4100-2000 BCE.[10]The Astuvansalmi is the largest rock painting site in the Nordic countries.[11]

The peacetreaty of Nöteborgin 1323, with which thepogost(church parish) ofSavilahtiwas transferred from the control ofNovgorodtoSweden,is the oldest written record of the settlement in the present region of Mikkeli. The locality received its present name Mikkeli afterArchangelMichaelby the early 16th century at the latest.[12]

On January 23, 1597, more than 200 peasant rebels were killed in the parsonage of Kenkävero in part of the largerCudgel War.In the war waged by KingGustav III of Swedenagainst Russia, theBattle of Porrassalmitook place a few miles south of Mikkeli on June 13, 1789. In the battle the Swedes (Finns) victoriously defended their positions against superior numbers of Russians.

Mikkeli was granted town rights in 1838.[13]The provincial government of the province of Mikkeli that had been established in 1831, moved fromHeinolato Mikkeli in 1843.

In 1918, during theCivil War,the headquarters of theWhite Armywere established in Mikkeli.[14]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 ofKouvola.During theWinter WarandContinuation War,the headquarters of the Finnish Army was located in Mikkeli.[15]The Army staff made their base in a local secondary school. At the site of that school is the smallPäämajamuseo(Finnishfor '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 withMarshalC. G. E. Mannerheim,the supreme commander of theFinnish Defence Forcesand later President of Finland. His personal railway carriage, which he used as a command post during the war, is parked in a siding at Mikkeli Station. It is possible to look inside the carriage through its windows at any time, but public entry to the carriage is permitted only once a year, on Mannerheim's birthday (June 4). The carriage was the venue of Mannerheim's famous 1942 meeting withHitlernearImmola,during which their private conversation was secretly recorded; photographs of this meeting are on display in the carriage. Mannerheim was a regular diner at the Mikkelin Klubi, where his favourite drink wasschnapps.

One of the main museums in the town is theJalkaväkimuseo(Finnishfor 'Infantry Museum'), located in one of the former army barracks, close to the University of Applied Sciences.[16]It contains exhibits from the four wars in Finland's modern history – the Civil, Winter, Continuation andLapland Wars.The museum also contains an exhibit dedicated to Finnish war heroLauri Törni.[17]

In 1986, there was ahostage crisisin Mikkeli when a bank robber drove fromHelsinkiwith three hostages and parked there. When the police shot at the hostage taker's car he detonated explosives contained inside, killing himself and one hostage.

In 1997, there was a province reform, which made Mikkeli the capital of the new province ofEastern Finland.In a separate reform, therural municipality of Mikkeliwhich had surrounded the town and the municipality ofAnttolawere consolidated into Mikkeli in early 2001. The municipality ofHaukivuoriwas consolidated with Mikkeli on January 1, 2007, and likewise withRistiinaandSuomenniemiin 2013.

Geography

[edit]
Map of urban Mikkeli

The centre of Mikkeli is located on a low rise, near the shore of a bay of LakeSaimaa.[18]There are several small lakes in and around the town. The lakes of the eastern parts of the town belong to the water system ofRiver Vuoksi.In the west, the town reaches Lake Puula; this lake belongs to the water system ofRiver Kymijoki.

Demographics

[edit]

Population

[edit]

The city of Mikkeli has 51,965 inhabitants, making it the 18th most populous municipality in Finland. TheMikkeli regionhas a population of 68,271. In Mikkeli, 5.5% of the population has a foreign background, which is below the national average.[19]

The city'spopulation densityis 20.39 inhabitants per square kilometre (52.8/sq mi).[2]


Population size of Mikkeli (and merged municipalities) 1990–2020[20]
Year Population
1990
54,404
1995
55,563
2000
55,222
2005
54,728
2010
54,455
2015
54,665
2020
52,583

Languages

[edit]

Population by mother tongue (2023)[19]

Finnish (94.4%)
Russian (1.4%)
Ukrainian (0.5%)
Arabic (0.4%)
Estonian (0.3%)
Farsi (0.3%)
English (0.2%)
Other (2.4%)

Mikkeli is a monolingualFinnish-speakingmunicipality. The majority of the population - 49,022 people or94.4% - speak Finnish as their first language. In Mikkeli, 87 people, or0.2% of the population, speakSwedish.[19]5.4% of the population of Mikkeli have amother tongueother than Finnish or Swedish.[19]AsEnglishand 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 areRussian(1.4%),Ukrainian(0.5%),Arabic(0.4%) andEstonian(0.3%)[19]

Immigration

[edit]
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

As of 2023,there were 2,855 persons with a migrant background living in Mikkeli, or 5.5% of the population.[note 1]The number of residents who were born abroad was 2,781, or 5.4% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Mikkeli was 1,925.[19]Most foreign-born citizens came from the formerSoviet Union,Russia,EstoniaandThailand.[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

[edit]

In 2023, theEvangelical Lutheran Churchwas the largest religious group with 71.4% of the population of Mikkeli. Other religious groups accounted for 1.9% of the population. 26.7% of the population had no religious affiliation.[22]

Education

[edit]
South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

A central campus ofSouth-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 toMikkeli University of Applied Sciencesin 2006 and merged in the beginning of 2017 withKymenlaakso University of Applied Sciencesto 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 fromUniversity of Helsinki,Aalto University(formerly Helsinki School of Economics),University of Eastern FinlandandLappeenranta University of Technology.[23]Aalto offers a highly ranked Bachelor of Science degree in international business, taught in English, which draws students and faculty from around the world.[24]

Traffic

[edit]
Mannerheim's carriage

Mikkeli has a fast road connection to theHelsinki metropolitan areathroughFinnish national road 5andFinnish national road 4,which is a four lane highway. Mikkeli has arailway stationon theSavonia railwaywith 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 ownairport,which however has had no scheduled commercial flights since 2005.

Culture

[edit]

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 ofSt. Michel Stringschamber orchestra, and also provides the main venue for the annualMikkeli Music Festival,which attracts musicians and audiences from across Europe.[25]TheMariinsky Opera,led byValery Gergiev,performs there regularly.[25]

Tourism

[edit]
A swimming pools and water slides inVisulahti

Mikkeli is a major holiday resort within theFinnish lakelandarea. A well-known and populartravel centreandtheme parkVisulahtiis in Mikkeli, located in the shores of Lake Saimaa.[26]Mikkeli is a popular area for summerhouses due to its vast amount of lakes; in 2020, there were over 10,000 summer houses in Mikkeli, the second most in Finland increasing the population during the summer months.[27]A major part of tourism is based on nature and especially lakes.

Due to Mikkeli's role as the headquarter city inWorld 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

[edit]
Jukuritice hockey match atIkioma Areena.

Jukuritis an ice hockey team from Mikkeli, which competes in the Finnish premier league,Liiga.The team has won sixMestis(second highest league) championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2015).[29]

Mikkelin Kampparitplays in the highestbandydivision.[30]In 2012, they became Finnish champions for the first time.[31]

Mikkeli has two major football teams,Mikkelin Palloilijat(MP) andMikkelin 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 commissionerOlli Rehnused to play for MP for 13 years (youth teams 1968–78, first team 1979–82).[32]

Notable people

[edit]

International relations

[edit]
See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland

Twin towns and sister cities

[edit]

Mikkeli istwinnedwith:

Notes

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

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018"(PDF).National Land Survey of Finland.RetrievedJanuary 30,2018.
  2. ^abc"Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,625,011 at the end of August 2024".Population structure. Statistics Finland. September 24, 2024.ISSN1797-5395.RetrievedSeptember 25,2024.
  3. ^"Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020".StatFin.Statistics Finland.RetrievedMay 2,2021.
  4. ^ab"Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023".Tax Administration of Finland. November 14, 2022.RetrievedMay 7,2023.
  5. ^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).Archivedfrom the original on December 8, 2022.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  6. ^Iltanen, Jussi (2013).Suomen kuntavaakunat. Kommunvapnen i Finland[Finnish municipal coats of arms] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Karttakeskus. pp. 133–134.ISBN9789522660923.
  7. ^Nurmi, Lauri (April 9, 2024)."IL:n tiedot: Mikkeli on saamassa Nato-alaesikunnan".Iltalehti(in Finnish).RetrievedApril 10,2024.
  8. ^Shepelenko, Mikael (April 10, 2024)."Venäjän media havahtui Mikkeliin perustettavaan Nato–pisteeseen:" Korkean valmiuden päämaja "".Iltalehti(in Finnish).RetrievedApril 10,2024.
  9. ^Sonko, Alona (April 10, 2024)."NATO to establish new HQ in southern Finland — 140 km from Russia".The New Voice of Ukraine.RetrievedApril 10,2024.
  10. ^Seitsonen, Oula (January 2005)."Shoreline displacement chronology of rock paintings at Lake Saimaa, eastern Finland".Before Farming.2005(1): 6.doi:10.3828/bfarm.2005.1.4.ISSN1476-4253.Archivedfrom the original on September 14, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  11. ^"Astuvansalmi leads you to the ancient mysteries of Lake Saimaa".Visit Mikkeli.Archivedfrom the original on June 4, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  12. ^Korpela, Jukka (2008).The world of Ladoga: society, trade, transformation and state building in the eastern Fennoscandian forest zone c. 1000-1555.Nordische Geschichte.Münster:LIT Verlag.p. 85.ISBN978-3-8258-1633-9.
  13. ^Hall, Thomas (December 16, 2003).Planning and Urban Growth in Nordic Countries.Routledge.p. 71.ISBN978-1-1358-2987-2.
  14. ^Upton, Anthony F. (1980).The Finnish Revolution: 1917-1918.University of Minnesota Press. p. 489.ISBN978-1-4529-1239-4.
  15. ^Carruthers, Bob (May 2012)."10".Hitler's Forgotten Armies: Combat in Norway and Finland.Bookzine Company Limited.ISBN978-1-7815-8099-8.
  16. ^"Museum Exhibitions".Jalkaväkimuseo.Archivedfrom the original on April 16, 2021.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  17. ^Nargele, Dominik George, Lt. Col., USMC (Ret.) (2008).Terror Survivors and Freedom Fighters.Bloomington, IL:AuthorHouse. p. 35.ISBN978-1-4678-3743-9.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^Symington, Andy; Dunford, George (2009).Finland(6th ed.).Footscray, Vic.:Lonely Planet.p. 145.ISBN978-1-74104-771-4.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  19. ^abcdef"Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years".Population structure. Statistics Finland. April 26, 2024.ISSN1797-5395.RetrievedApril 29,2024.
  20. ^abc"Number of foreign-language speakers grew by nearly 38,000 persons".Statistics Finland. May 31, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 12,2023.
  21. ^"Persons with foreign background".Statistics Finland.RetrievedSeptember 18,2023.
  22. ^Key figures on population by region, 1990-2023Statistics Finland
  23. ^"LUT University".MUC.Archivedfrom the original on September 24, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  24. ^"International Business, Bachelor (BScBA, Mikkeli) and Master of Science (Otaniemi) in Economics and Business Administration".Aalto University.August 17, 2018.Archivedfrom the original on September 19, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  25. ^ab"Mikkeli Music Festival in brief".Mikkelin Musiikkijuhlat.Archivedfrom the original on January 29, 2023.RetrievedSeptember 14,2023.
  26. ^Visulahti Travel Centre & Theme Park
  27. ^"Katso lista! Nämä ovat suomalaisten 15 suosituinta mökkipaikkakuntaa".www.iltalehti.fi(in Finnish).RetrievedAugust 6,2020.
  28. ^"Museums - Visitmikkeli".www.visitmikkeli.fi.RetrievedAugust 6,2020.
  29. ^"Jukurit HC Oy".Mestis.Archived fromthe originalon February 8, 2014.RetrievedJune 1,2014.
  30. ^"Suomen jääpalloliitto".Finland's Bandy Association.RetrievedJune 1,2014.
  31. ^Kampparit new Finnish Champions in bandyArchivedApril 19, 2014, at theWayback Machine
  32. ^"Olli Rehn - Personal Profile".European Commission.RetrievedApril 28,2014.
  33. ^"Harri Kirvesniemi".Sports Reference.Archived fromthe originalon April 17, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 15,2018.
  34. ^"Mikko Kolehmainen".Sports Reference.Archived fromthe originalon April 17, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 15,2018.
  35. ^"Olli Kolehmainen".Sports Reference.Archived fromthe originalon April 17, 2020.RetrievedFebruary 15,2018.
  36. ^"BANK OF FINLAND - Erkki Liikanen".Bank of Finland.Archived fromthe originalon April 28, 2014.RetrievedApril 27,2014.
  37. ^"Olli Rehn CV".EC webpage.
  38. ^abcdef"Ystävyyskaupungit ja -kunnat".mikkeli.fi.Archived fromthe originalon April 29, 2014.RetrievedApril 28,2014.
  39. ^"Vennskapsbyer".kommune.no.Archived fromthe originalon March 4, 2016.RetrievedApril 26,2014.
[edit]
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