Kokkola Kokkola (Finnish)Karleby (Swedish) Stadium

Kokkola (Finnish: [ˈkokːolɑ]; Swedish: Karleby, Finland Swedish: [ˈkɑrleˌbyː]) is a town and municipality of Finland. The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 47,927 (31 March 2021) and covers an area of 2,730.80 square kilometres (1,054.37 sq mi) of which 1,286.61 km2 (496.76 sq mi) is water. The population density is 33.19 inhabitants per square kilometre (86.0/sq mi). Neighbour municipalities are Halsua, Kalajoki, Kannus, Kaustinen, Kronoby, Lestijarvi, Larsmo and Toholampi.

The municipality is bilingual with 84.2% being Finnish and 13.9% Swedish speakers.

Kokkola celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2020.

History

The town of Kokkola was chartered in 1620 by King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden when Finland was a part of the Swedish Empire and is one among the oldest towns in Finland. The king also decided that a tar barrel, with three burning flames coming from both the ends and the plug, should be used as the town seal, because of the tar trade at that time, for which Kokkola was founded as a shipping port. Anders Chydenius (1729-1803) who was one of the leading politicians of Sweden-Finland, was a keen supporter of economic freedom and fought in the Swedish Parliament for free foreign trade and further social reforms. In 1765 the Swedish Parliament granted the city of Kokkola the staple rights. Kokkola also became an important shipbuilding centre in Finland. As a result of tar trade and shipbuilding industry, Kokkola was for a time one of the richest towns in Finland.

An interesting historical affair, known as the Skirmish of Halkokari, occurred at the town on 6 June 1854 during the Aland War, part of the Crimean War. Royal Marines from HMS Vulture and HMS Odin tried to come ashore to deal with public property in the town "in accordance with the usages of war". The marines were repelled by local defenders armed with hunting rifles supported by troops, artillery and possibly Russian advisors and military. One of th