Ikaalinen

 

Ikaalinen (Swedish: Ikalis) is a Finnish city located in the province of Pirkanmaa. The municipality is home to 6,894 people and covers an area of 843.40 km2, of which 92.99 km2 are water bodies. The population density is 9.19 inhabitants / km2. The neighboring municipalities of Ikaalinen are Hämeenkyrö, Jämijärvi, Kankaanpää, Parkano, Sastamala and Ylöjärvi. The former neighboring municipalities are Kuru, Suodenniemi and Viljakkala.

Ikaalinen uses the coat of arms of the former countryside. It was designed by Pentti Papunen, and it was confirmed in 1956. The coat of arms of the store, confirmed in 1961, was also written by Papunen.

Ikaalinen is known for the Ikaalinen Spa, the international summer Sata-Häme Soi festival and the once successful Ikaalinen baseball team. Ikaalinen has been and still is a place of education, trade and administration.

The Ikaalinen parish belongs to the diocese of Tampere and the county of Hämeenkyrö.

 

Geography

Ikaalinen's city center, ie the former church village and township, the current Vanhakauppala district, is located on a peninsula on the shores of Lake Kyrösjärvi. The area of ​​the municipality extends in an east-west direction on both sides around the northern end of the lake. Lake Kyrösjärvi as well as the entire municipality is part of the Kokemäenjoki watershed. Most of Ikaalinen belongs to the Kyrösjärvi water area, but some lakes in the eastern part of the municipality flow into Lake Näsijärvi. Ikaalinen is located in the middle of the old Upper Satakunta, and for centuries, until the 1990s, it belonged to the province of Satakunta and the provinces of Turku and Pori. In that case, due to the growing influence of Tampere, the municipalities of Upper Satakunta became part of the province of Pirkanmaa and the province of Häme. Traffic in the area is mainly directed to Tampere, and there is talk in the region of the Upper Satakunta dialect of the Häme dialects. Among the neighboring municipalities of Ikaalinen are also the northern Parkano and the western Kankaanpää, which belonged to the former Suur-Ikaalinen. Other large neighboring municipalities are southern Hämeenkyrö and eastern Ylöjärvi. It is more than 50 kilometers from Tampere to Ikaalinen.

Statistics Finland's population forecast (new 9/2012):
2020: 7,173 as.
2030: 7 192 as.
2040: 7 189 as.

Seitseminen National Park extends to the northern part of Ikaalinen from the Ylöjärvi (former Kuru) side. The highest terrain in the city, almost 200 meters above sea level, is located in the northeastern part of the village of Juhtimäki. The southern part of Ikaalinen is dominated by the Hämeenkangas ridge section, the highest point of which is the Vatulanharju, which extends 188 meters above sea level. The ridge section continues west to Kankaanpää and east to Hämeenkyrö.