Imatra

Imatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland. Imatra is dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border with Russia.

Imatra
Town
Imatran kaupunki
Imatra stad
Imatra Travel Center
Coat of arms
Coordinates: 61°11′N 028°46′E
Country Finland
Region South Karelia
Sub-regionImatra sub-region
Charter1948
Government
 • Town managerKai Roslakka
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total191.28 km2 (73.85 sq mi)
 • Land154.99 km2 (59.84 sq mi)
 • Water36.29 km2 (14.01 sq mi)
Area rank274th largest in Finland
Population
 (2020-07-31)[2]
 • Total26,329
 • Rank40th largest in Finland
 • Density169.88/km2 (440.0/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish97% (official)
 • Swedish0.1%
 • Others2.9%
Population by age
 • 0 to 1413.8%
 • 15 to 6464.1%
 • 65 or older22.1%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Municipal tax rate[5]19.5%
ClimateDfc
Websitewww.imatra.fi
The dam of Imatra

On the other side of the border, 7 kilometres (4 mi) away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of Svetogorsk. St Petersburg is situated 210 km (130 mi) to the southeast, Finland's capital Helsinki is 230 km (140 mi) away and Lappeenranta, the nearest Finnish town, is 37 km (23 mi) away. Imatra belongs to the administrative province of Southern Finland and the region of South Karelia.

The main employers are pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso Oyj, the Town of Imatra, engineering steel manufacturer Ovako Bar Oy Ab, and the Finnish Border Guard. As of October 2003, the total number of employees was 12,423.[6] As of December 2004, 1,868 employees were employed by the Town of Imatra.

The town manager of Imatra is Kai Roslakka. The town's nicknames include Imis, Ibiza and Nahkalippis City (Leather Baseball Cap City).

History

An Art Nouveau or Jugend style castle, currently known as Imatran Valtionhotelli, was built near the rapids in 1903 as a hotel for tourists from the Russian Imperial capital Saint Petersburg.

During the Continuation War, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim met with Adolf Hitler in secrecy near the town for the former's 75th birthday.

Imatra was founded in 1948 on the territory of three municipalities – Jääski, Ruokolahti and Joutseno. Finland ceded 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union after the Winter War. Jääski lost 85% of its territory and it was decided that a new municipality, Imatra, should be established on the remaining 15% of Jääski and some areas of Ruokolahti and Joutseno. This is why the Imatra coat of arms has three flashes – in honour of those previous municipalities that granted areas to it. It gained its municipal charter in 1971.

Sport

PaSa Bandy is a bandy club in Imatra.

Imatra is the birthplace of National Hockey League players Jussi Markkanen and Petteri Nokelainen.

In motorsport history, Imatra is best known for its road races (former TT-race) from 1963 to 1986. From 1962 to 1982 it was the home of the Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix. Racing on the Imatra road circuit ended after fatal accident during the 1986 European Championship event.[7] Racing resumed in 2016 as an International Road Racing Championship event.

There is an annual indoor rowing race at Imatra, which attracts competitors from across Finland.[8]

Transport
National road 6
The old railway bridge over Mansikkakoski

The national road 6, running from Koskenkylä in Loviisa to Kajaani via Kouvola, Lappeenranta, and Joensuu passes through Imatra. Also in Imatra is a crossing point over the Russian border, which is also the ending point of primary road 62 from Mikkeli.

The Kouvola–Joensuu railway passes through Imatra, and the Imatra railway station serves both passenger and freight transport. From the rail yard of this station is a fork onto the railway towards Kamennogorsk via Vyborg. The planning of the initiation of regular international passenger traffic between Imatra and Saint Petersburg is currently underway.[9]

The closest airport to Imatra is the Lappeenranta Airport, which is used by Ryanair on several routes as well as irregular passenger flights to the Canary Islands and cargo flights to Russia. The Immola Airfield is also present, serving the Finnish Border Guard as well as hobbyist aviation activities.

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

Twin towns — Sister cities

Imatra is twinned with:[10]

  • Passport entry stamp from the border checkpoint
  • Passport exit stamp from the border checkpoint
Imatrankoski rapids, September 20th 2012

See also

References
  1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. "Suomen virallinen tilasto (SVT): Väestön ennakkotilasto [verkkojulkaisu]. Heinäkuu 2020" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  3. "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  4. "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  6. "Imatra". Imatra. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  7. "Imatra (Finland): love and death in a cold GP climate" (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-07-16.
  8. "Concept FinnRowing Oy Race Results" (in Finnish). 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  9. http://yle.fi/uutiset/kannakselle_uusi_junarata_-_venaja_turvaa_suomenlahden_oljysatamien_kuljetukset/7356559
  10. "Ystävyyskaupungit" (in Finnish). Imatran kaupunki. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2015-01-23.

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