Akaa (Swedish: Ackas) is a Finnish city located in the province
of Pirkanmaa. The city is home to about 16,500 people and the
population is growing. Aka covers an area of 314.38 km2, of which
21.12 km2 are water bodies. The population density is 56.2
inhabitants / km2. Aka's neighboring municipalities are Hämeenlinna,
Lempäälä, Urjala, Valkeakoski and Vesilahti.
The city of Akaa
was born when the city of Toijala and the municipality of Viiala
merged on January 1, 2007, and from the beginning of 2011 Kylmäkoski
also joined Aka. Before that, a municipality called Akaa had existed
until 1946, when its church village and its surrounding areas were
formed into an independent Toijala township and the rest of the
municipality was connected to Kylmäkoski, Viiala and Sääksmäki.
The city's administrative center and town hall are in the center
of Toijala, and the municipal office services are also available in
the church village of Viiala. There are two railway stations:
Toijala railway station and Viiala railway station. The distance
between Toijala and Viiala is about eight kilometers. Aka's main
traffic is located on Hämeentie, which leads from the center of
Toijala to Matomäki in Viiala.
Aka has good transport
connections and also industry. The railways between Riihimäki and
Tampere and Turku and Toijala connect in Toijala, and the railway
station is also in Viiala. The current alignment of Highway 3 runs
through Akaa, and after its construction, a shopping center has been
established along the road.
There is a large mummy factory in
Aka and the city hosted the World Mummy Eating Championships in 2005
and 2007. The city has the Evangelical Lutheran Aka congregation, in
addition to which there are two Pentecostal congregations, the
Toijala Saalem Pentecostal Church and the Viiala Pentecostal Church,
the Toijala Adventist Church of the Finnish Adventist Church, and
the Viiala and Toijala Jehovah's Witness Congregations.
In
the alphabet, Akaa ranks first among Finnish municipalities. Akaa's
name, unlike many other names of Finnish municipalities that end in
a long vowel, bends when expressing locality in domestic places, so
that something is in Aka and comes from Aka.
The former municipality of Akaa (Swedish: Ackas) once comprised the
main part of the area of the current city of Akaa. As a municipality, it
originated from the 1870 Akaa keepers' meeting. As a parish, Akaa became
independent from Sääksmäki in 1483, and Urjala was later separated from
it in 1589 and Kylmäkoski in 1895. In 1932, parts of Akaa were
incorporated into the new municipality of Viiala, which at the same time
also included parts of Lempäälä and Vesilahti.
The municipality
of Akaa was abolished in 1946, when the independent township of Toijala
was formed from its church village. The rest of the municipality was
joined to Kylmäkoski, Viiala and Sääksmäki.
Viiala was an old
industrialist. In 1956 Viiala Osakeyhtiö founded Finland's first
chipboard factory in Viiala. The factory's production ended in 1978,
when it was owned by Oy Wilh. Schauman Ab. Until the recession of the
1990s, three large factory employers operated in Viiala: a file factory,
a plywood factory and a leather factory. Of these, the Viiala file
factory moved its operations abroad in 1996 through business
acquisitions. The leather factory went bankrupt in 1995, and at the end
of 2004, UPM-Kymmene closed the Viiala plywood factory.
At the
beginning of 2007, Toijala and Viiala merged to form the new town of
Aka. Kylmäkoski was also involved in the municipal merger negotiations
at that time, but its joining was only realized at the beginning of
2011. The coat of arms of Akka was designed by heraldist Kari J.
Tähtinen in 2006.
Congregations
According to the 2018 regional
distribution, Akaaa has the following parishes of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Finland:
Church of Akka
Kylmäkoski Chapel
Congregation
Among the congregations of the Finnish Orthodox Church,
the Tampere Orthodox congregation operates in the Akaa region.
Among the member congregations of the Pentecostal Church of Finland in
Akaa, the Pentecostal congregation of Akaa operates. Viiala's
Pentecostal congregation operates as an independent Pentecostal
congregation in Akaaa.
Former parishes
In the following list,
parishes dissolved in historical time in the current area of the city of
Akka are mentioned.
Kylmäkoski parish (joined to Aka parish in
2007)
Viiala parish (joined to Akaa parish in 2007)
In the years
1946–2006, the territory of the Akaa parish was the city of Toijala and
the so-called municipally part of Kylmäkoski. "Remnant Akka".
Town council
The largest parties in Akaa are the Social Democratic
Party of Finland and the National Coalition.
Seat distribution in
the 2021–2025 season:
SDP 10
Constitution 10
Basic Finns 6
Center 4
Greens 2
Left Alliance 2
Christian Democrats 1
A total of 35 places. In the 2021 municipal elections, the largest party
in Akaa was SDP. The chairman of the city council is Saila Kallioinen of
SDP and the vice-chairman is Jaakko Leinonen of the Coalition.
The city government is headed by Sami Rajala (Kokooomus), the first
vice-chairman is Heli Einola–Virtanen (Perussuomalaiset) and the second
vice-chairman is Mervi Pulkkinen (Center). The other members of the city
council are Hanni Joronen (Greens), Hannu Järvinen (SDP), Arttu Käpylä
(Basic Finns), Inka Loppi (SDP), Janita Puomila (Kokooomus), Harri Rämö
(SDP), Maija Toivonen (Kokooomus) and Jouni Vaittinen (Center ).
Mayor
The current mayor of Akaa is Antti Peltola. Peltola was chosen
for the position almost unanimously in January 2019 and he started his
position at the beginning of April 2019.
Parliamentary elections
2019
In the 2019 parliamentary elections, SDP (28.5%),
Perussuomalaiset (20.0%) and the coalition (16.7%) received the most
votes in Akaaa. The Greens received 7.9%, the Center 7.6%, the Left
Alliance 7.5% and the Christian Democrats 4.6% of the votes.
In
Akaaa, the support of the Social Democrats was the third strongest among
the municipalities in the Pirkanmaa electoral district, after
Valkeakoski and Mänttä-Vilppula, where the Social Democrats received
30.4% of the votes in both.
Toijala
The central area of Toijala is the largest of Aka's
urban areas. Valtatie 3 passes by Toijala and there is a railway
crossing station, in addition there is a rail connection to
Valkeakoski. It is about 41 kilometers from Toijala to Tampere. A
small inland harbor is also located in Toijala. Fläkt Woods Oy and
the mammite factory Kymppi-Maukkaat Oy, located in the Kurvola
district, should be mentioned from Toijala's industry. The
settlement in Toijala is wider than Viiala and larger than its area.
Toijala is an area close to nature and green like Viialak,
Nahkialanlampi with its parks is a popular recreation area.
Toijala's main street is Valtatie. On the east side of Toijala
before the center, as part of Seututiät 303, there is a long
straight line called the T-line. In addition, in the center of
Toijala, there is the Miljoonas bridge that crosses the railway.
Toijala has also named streets in honor of its well-known residents,
Holkerintie and Ylpöntie. The traffic arrangements in the center of
Toijala have been renewed in the 21st century, the last being the
market area.
Neighborhoods
Lentilä, Fox nests, Junkkari,
Pätsiniemi, Savikko, Rautala, Torkko, Nahkiala, Kilsa, Palkinpää,
Kurvola, Kirkkokangas, Kurkela, Hayänkangas, Luhtaniitty,
Siniänmäki, Pappila
Vialia
The church village of Viiala is
more densely populated than the urban agglomerations of Akaa and it
is built on the banks of Tarpianjoki. It is located in the northern
part of Akka, north of Highway 9. There is also a train station in
Viiala. Its history is colored by the industrial development of the
area in the 20th century, when a significant part of the population
were workers. Viiala is indeed a strongly left-wing locality. It has
recently become a profitable area for immigration. Haihunkoski,
located in the center, is Viiala's most notable natural attraction.
The main street is Keskuskatu. The Viiala church was completed in
1950 and stylistically represents the clear functionalism of its
time. The newest public building built during Viiala's still
independent period is the library completed in 2006, which is
located next to the church on the other side of Keskuskatu.
Neighborhoods
Varrasniemi, Oopakka, Sallinkulma, Lallinmäki,
Koivisto, Hukari, Haihunkoski, Tillihaka, Vakkinen, Matomäki,
Alkkula, Riitiälä, Kolikkoinmäki, Heinäsuo, Mortti, Lyhteenkulma,
Hirvialho
Cold rapids
When the municipality of Kylmäkoski
joined Akaas at the beginning of 2011, Akaas' cityscape was also
completed in the countryside and small villages. The Kylmäkoski area
includes the southwestern part of Akaa, south of the Toijala and
Viiala settlements. The Kylmäkoski region is an old agricultural
area and a fairly sparsely populated region. Kylmäkoski church
village is located along Valtatie 9. Kylmäkoski is not a
particularly industrialized region and the livelihoods are mainly
agriculture and trade. The largest industrial and business area in
Kylmäkoski is Tipuri, where the prison is also located.
Villages
Akkala, Alpila, Haanoja, Hautaa, Jokihaavisto,
Järvihaavisto, Järviö, Kaulo, Kuhavuori, Kurisjärvi, Kuusjoki,
Kylmäkoski church village, Kylmäkoski station, Käyrälä, Lontila,
Maunula, Mellola, Mustue, Nauli, Onnia, Pappila, Poutala, Raidisto,
Riisikkala, Savikoski, Saviniemi, Sontula, Sotkia, Taipale, Vuoltee.
The sports club Kylmäkoski Veikot operates in Akaan Kylmäkoski. In futsal, the club's representative team plays at the men's main league level in the Futsal League under the name Akaa Futsal. The volleyball club Akaa-Volley operates in Akaan Viiala. The club's representative team was promoted to the championship league in the spring of 2017.
Jarkko Ahola, musician (Toijala)
Aki Ajo, founder and director of
Ajo Motorsport (Toijala)
Tuomo Halonen, founder of Elecster Oyj
(Toijala)
Juho Hellberg, factory worker (Toijala)
Harri Holkeri,
Prime Minister (Toijala)
Jaakko Holkeri, lawyer and CEO (Toijala)
Sasu Hovi, hockey goalie (Toijala)
Henri Johansson, floorball World
Cup gold medalist (Toijala)
Esa Kalervo, visual artist (Akaa)
Jouni Keronen, tango king of 1998 (Toijala)
Eeles Landström, pole
vaulter, Olympic bronze Rome 1960 (Viiala)
Veikko Lapinleimu, Master
of Science in Engineering, writer and factory worker (Toijala)
Ville
Lehtinen, soccer player (Toijala)
Pentti Lumikangas, printmaker
(Kylmäkoski)
Juhani Merimaa, CEO of rock club Tavastia (Toijala)
Joni Mikkonen, volleyball player (Viiala)
Emma Millard, hurdler
(Toijala)
Mimi and Kuku, children's music duo (Viiala)
Johanna
Nordling, sports journalist (Toijala)
Arto Nyberg, journalist
(Viiala)
Timo Peltomaa, ice hockey player (Toijala)
Kimmo
Pohjonen, musician (Viiala)
Raul Reiman, lyricist/composer
Tenho
Saurén, actor (Viiala)
Petter Setälä, soccer player (Toijala)
Aki
Sirkesalo, singer, songwriter (Toijala)
Harri Säteri, hockey goalie
(Toijala)
Lauri Tihinen, volleyball player (Viiala)
Tuomas
Tihinen, volleyball player (Viiala)
Noora Toivo, sprinter (Toijala)
Alpo Tuomisto, artist (Viiala)
Satu Tuomisto, Miss Finland 2008
(Viiala)
Keijo Virtamo, encyclopedist (Akaa)
Arvo Ylppö, archivist
(Akaa)