Loimaa

Loimaa (Finnish: [ˈloi̯mɑː]; historical Swedish: Loimijoki) is a town and municipality of Finland.

Loimaa
Town
Loimaan kaupunki
Loimaa stad
Loimaa Municipal office building
Loimaa Municipal office building
Coat of arms of Loimaa
Coat of arms
Location of Loimaa in Finland
Location of Loimaa in Finland
Coordinates: 60°51′N 023°03.5′E
Country Finland
RegionSouthwest Finland
Sub-regionLoimaa sub-region
Market town1921
Town privileges1969
Government
 • Town managerJari Rantala
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total851.93 km2 (328.93 sq mi)
 • Land847.97 km2 (327.40 sq mi)
 • Water3.96 km2 (1.53 sq mi)
 • Rank92nd largest in Finland
Population
 (2023-09-19)[2]
 • Total15,418
 • Rank71st largest in Finland
 • Density18.18/km2 (47.1/sq mi)
Population by native language
[3]
 • Finnish95.5% (official)
 • Swedish0.2%
 • Others4.3%
Population by age
[4]
 • 0 to 1413.6%
 • 15 to 6455.7%
 • 65 or older30.7%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code
32200
ClimateDfc
Websitewww.loimaa.fi

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of 15,418 (19 September 2023)[2] and covers an area of 851.93 square kilometers (328.93 sq mi) of which 3.96 km2 (1.53 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 18.18 inhabitants per square kilometer (47.1/sq mi).

Loimaa's neighboring municipalities are Huittinen, Humppila, Koski Tl, Marttila, Oripää, Punkalaidun, Pöytyä, Somero, Säkylä and Ypäjä.

History

First mentions of Loimaa come from the year 1439 but a parish was founded in the area already a decade earlier. The town was founded in its current form in 1876 as the railway between Turku and Toijala was completed.[5]

A legend of Prättäkitti is heavily associated with Loimaa.

The town of Loimaa merged with Loimaan kunta (literally "Municipality of Loimaa") on January 1, 2005 and with the municipalities of Alastaro and Mellilä on January 1, 2009.

The name Loimaa comes from the river Loimijoki which flows through the town.

Politics

After the 2021 municipal election the municipal council of Loimaa is as follows:[6]

Party Share of votes (%) Seats
Centre Party 27.4 11
National Coalition Party * 17.4 6
Finns Party 15.1 6
Our Loimaa 12.6 5
Left 11.4 4
Social democrats 11.3 4
Christian democrats * 1.6 1

* The National Coalition Party and Christian Democrats formed an electoral alliance for the election.

Culture

A local speciality is piapo, a version of kama.[7]

Rompepäivät (lit. "junk days") is an annual event that takes place in August. It brings together trunk show enthusiasts selling both old and new merchandise as well as food and entertainment. The trunk show is located at the historic market square of Loimaa, now known as Peltoinen, and draws in 8,000–10,000 visitors.[8]

The local newspaper is called Loimaan Lehti. It first started publishing in 1915 and today comes out three times a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.[9]

Subdivisions and villages

Alastaron-Mäenpää, Eura, Haara, Haaroinen, Haitula, Hartoinen, Hattula, Hirvikoski, Hurskala, Ilmarinen, Inkilä, Joenperä, Juva, Karhula, Karsattila, Kartanonmäki, Kauhanoja, Kemppilä, Kesärlä, Klockarla, Koenperä, Kojonkulma, Krekilä, Kuninkainen, Kurittula, Kuttila, Köyliö, Lappijoki, Levälä, Lähde, Metsämaa, Mäenpää, Niemi, Niinijoki, Onkijoki, Pahikainen, Pappinen, Peltoinen, Piltola, Puujalkala, Raikkola, Seppälä, Sieppala, Suopelto, Torkkala, Vesikoski, and Vilvainen.

Sights
Mill of Vesikoski in the shores of river Loimijoki. Visible in the background are old industrial buildings.

Sports

The city is home to the Bisons Loimaa basketball club, 2012 and 2013 Champion of the Korisliiga. The club regularly qualifies for international competitions. It plays its home games at the Loimaa Sports Center and on some occasions moves to the Energia Areena. The city is also home to the Hurrikaani Loimaa volleyball club, regularly qualifies for international competitions such as CLvolleyM and SM-league.

Religion
The church of Loimaa Proper in Hirvikoski

The most popular religion among the inhabitants is the Evangelical Lutheranism: 4/5 of the local population is a member of the Loimaa Congregation, this has existed since 1420's.[10] In total there are six lutheran churches scattered around the municipality's area.[11]

The following Christian revival movements inside Lutheranism are represented in Loimaa:

Other Christian denominations are Pentecostalists who are represented by a local association (Finnish Elävät Virrat ry) since 2018.[15] The Evangelical Free Church of Finland has an office in Loimaa, although it's managed from Forssa.[16] Inside the Finnish Orthodox Church Loimaa belongs to the congregation of Turku and an Orthodox mass is held regularly in Loimaa.[17]

Apart from Christian denominations, Loimaa also hosts a Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witnesses.[18][19] There's also a Buddhist meditation center (Mahayana and Vajrayana) ran by the Buddhist Dharma Center in its Tibet Art Center, which has bee a registered as a religious association since 1998.[20]

Notable people

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland

Twin towns — sister cities

Loimaa is twinned with the following towns.

Loimaa, Skien, Uddevalla, Thisted and Mostfellsbær form the oldest Nordic network of twin towns, which is still active.[22]

References
  1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,587,841 at the end of August 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  3. "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. "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 2 May 2021.
  5. "Loimaa Paas poiketen! HD". YouTube (in Finnish). 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  6. "Yle - Result service - Loimaa - Varsinais-Suomen vaalipiiri - Municipal Elections 2021 - Yle.fi". vaalit.yle.fi. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  7. "Ruoka". Loimaa-Seura (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  8. "Rompeloimaa". Rompepäivät (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  9. "Yhteystiedot". Loimaan Lehti (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  10. "Loimaan seurakunta". Loimaan seurakunta (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  11. "Churches". Loimaa. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  12. "Yhteystiedot". Forssa-Loimaan Rauhanyhdistys ry (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  13. "Suomen Luterilainen Evankeliumiyhdistys ry". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  14. "Hyvän Paimenen luterilainen seurakunta järjestäytyi Loimaalla". Lähetyshiippakunta. 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  15. "Yhteystiedot". Elävät Virrat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  16. "Maakuntatyö - Forssan vapaaseurakunta". www.forssanvapaaseurakunta.fi. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  17. "Jumalanpalvelukset muilla paikkakunnilla". Turun ortodoksinen seurakunta (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  18. "Etsi kokous". apps.jw.org. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  19. "Jehovan todistajat". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  20. "Buddhalainen Dharmakeskus". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  21. "Loimaan kaupungin ja Staraja Russan ystävyystoiminta jäihin". Loimaan Lehti (in Finnish). 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  22. "Ystävyyskaupungit". Loimaan kaupunki (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Loimaa.

Media related to Loimaa at Wikimedia Commons

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