Kankaanpää is a city in Finland, located in the province of
Satakunta. Kankaanpää belongs to the North Satakunta region. The
city has a population of 11,234 and an area of 704.74 km2, of
which 15.11 km2 are water bodies. The population density is 16.29
inhabitants / km2.
The coat of arms was designed by Carolus
Lindberg and confirmed in 1951.
Kankaanpää is home to the
Kankaanpää Rehabilitation Center, the Kuninkaanlähti underground
swimming pool and caravan area, as well as the Niinisalo garrison,
where the Pori Brigade, among others, operates.
The wooden
church in Kankaanpää was designed by architect C. L. Engel and was
completed in 1839. In addition, Niinisalo has a parish house
completed in 1965. Other notable buildings are the town hall (1967),
the parish center (1971) and the sports center (1970−1975) designed
by Kaija and Heikki Siren, which includes a swimming pool, as well
as the Kankaanpää Office Center (1992) and the Kankaanpää Art School
(1995) designed by the Architect Kouvo & Partanen. In 2000, the City
of Kankaanpää was awarded the Finnish Association of Architects'
SAFA Award for long-term and exemplary activities for an
aesthetically high-quality and sustainable environment.
The
neighboring municipalities of Kankaanpää are Honkajoki, Ikaalinen,
Jämijärvi, Karvia, Parkano, Pomarkku, Pori, Sastamala and Siikainen.
The former neighboring municipalities are Ikaalinen countryside,
Lavia and Suodenniemi.
The municipality of Honkajoki will
join the city of Kankaanpää at the beginning of 2021.
Taidekehä, located in Kankaanpää, is a gradually expanding ensemble
of more than a hundred works of art permanently placed in the urban
milieu. You can get to know the Art Circle by walking the Art Trail or
even jogging around the circle. Taidekehä has more than a hundred works
that have been created through the cooperation of the art school, the
city and the art association.
Kankaanpää is also home to the
visual arts unit of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences, which is
better known as Kankaanpää art school. The educational institution has a
long and impressive history, which starts from the art of the 1950s and
60s, when Kankaanpää was already a vibrant center of visual arts.
The Kankaanpää city museum is located in Niinisalo, in a former
school building. Along with the cultural history department, the whole
includes the art and garrison museum departments.
Since 1997, the
national youth theater event Ramppikuume has been organized in
Kankaanpää for young people aged 13–20. Along with the city, the
organizer is the Federation of Youth Clubs of Finland.
A play
produced by the Veneskoski village association or the Kankaanpää Youth
Society is performed annually in the Veneskoski summer theater.
"Hörhiäinen" is the name of the people of Kankaanpäälä for an active and
energetic local resident who brings about good activities and works for
the common good. He is a symbol of the well-being of the clothier.
Hörhiäinen of the year is always chosen in connection with the Hörhiäis
Week organized at the end of August.
Due to its roots in Hämälä,
the traditional drink of Kankaanpää is sahti, and the traditional food
is ristavelli, or pea soup made with rye flour. In Kankaanpää, in the
1980s, sheep's fiddle and mashed potatoes were named as other keepers'
dishes. In Kankaanpää, an own sahti society was founded in the 21st
century to promote the preservation and development of the tradition.
Kankaanpää has been a significant center of craft culture. Wood and
leather craftsmanship refined into a nationally significant
concentration of the shoe industry.
The Kankaanpää dialect
belongs to the Hämälä dialects.
Several Stone Age artefacts have been found in different parts of
Kankaanpää, but only a few Bronze and Iron Age artefacts have been
found. On the other hand, no permanent prehistoric residences have been
found. Permanent settlement in the area started from the east in the
16th century, when a dozen new houses were formed. In the following
century, the population did not grow, but in the 18th century it began
to become denser, as happened elsewhere in Pohjois Satakunta. In 1805,
the population of Kankaanpää was 2,028 people, and in 1850 it more than
doubled, to 4,568 people.
Kankaanpää used to belong (see Kyrö
pitäjä) to Ikaalis, which was formed as a preaching house in 1737.
Kankaanpää became its own parish in 1841, and Hongonjoki (now Honkajoki)
and Karvia were later separated from it. In the 1930s, the construction
of a railway and the establishment of a garrison in Kankaanpää promoted
Kankaanpää's rise to a versatile service center in its region.
Kankaanpää became a town in 1967 and a town in 1972. Kankaanpää was part
of the ancient holdings of Kyrö before the separation of Ikaalist Kyrö
in the 1640s. The center of Kyrö was Hämeenkyrö-Viljakkala. Kankaanpää
belongs to the Ylä-Satakunta dialect area, which belongs to the Hämälä
dialects.
During the civil war, Kankaanpää was the headquarters
of the white Satakunta front and the headquarters of the Pori regiment.
There were no major battles in the area of the municipality.
After the last wars, Hiitola immigrants settled in Kankaanpää.
Kankaanpää has previously investigated the possibility of a municipal
union with Parkano and Jämijärvi. The proposed merger would have meant
the transfer of Kankaanpää from the province of Satakunta to the
province of Pirkanmaa. These three municipalities have been part of
Ikaalisten's parent company, Ikaalisten Kyrö. In Kankaanpää, Jämijärvi
and Parkano, an opinion poll about the union of municipalities was
organized in November 2011. The response rate was 32% in Kankaanpää. Of
the respondents, approx. 60% opposed, 20% supported and 20% could not
say their position. Various positions have been presented regarding the
final result. The merger report lapsed after Parkano withdrew from the
project. Since then, two reports have been made: more broadly between
the current Pohjois Satakunta and bilaterally between Lavia. Both
projects failed for the time being. Lavia was subject to the forced
annexation of the Municipalities in Crisis Act on economic grounds and
was annexed to Pori by the decision of the Government.
Kankaanpää is located in the northern part of Satakunta province and
partially borders Pirkanmaa province. Kankaanpää's terrain is mostly
quite low and the height differences are small. However, the eastern
part is dominated by the clearly higher range of ridges formed by
Hämeenkanka and Pohjankanka. Hämeenkangas reaches almost 140 meters
above sea level at its highest point. The highest point of Pohjankanka
in the Kankaanpää area is the Pukkiharsto ridge, which reaches a height
of 152 meters in the middle of the shooting range. There are extensive
bogs on both sides of the ridge, some of which are used as peat
production areas. Swamps are mainly of the so-called cream oases, which
are characterized by a convex central part and alternating dry räme and
watery neva parts. The edges of the bogs are reeds and ravens, which
gradually turn into forests.
The ridgeline also forms a
significant watershed. From its western side, the waters partly flow
directly into Karvianjoki, and some circulate through Karhijärvi in
Lavia. From the eastern side of the ridge, the waters flow through
Jämijärvi to Kyrösjärvi and further through Siuro to Kulovete and
Kokemäenjoki. The most prominent lakes in Kankaanpää are Lake
Venesjärvi, Lake Ruokojärvi, Lake Verttuunjärvi and Lake Valkiajärvi.
In Kankaanpää, the climate is extreme in terms of temperature, but very humid in terms of rainfall. Kankaanpää's Niinisalo has indeed been found to be one of the rainiest places in Finland, as for example in the growing season of 1995 it rained a total of 571 mm. The growing season in Kankaanpää lasts from the beginning of May to around October 10, and the accumulation of its effective heat sum is on average about 1100 °C per day.
Highway 23 from Pori via Parkano to Jyväskylä and national road 44
from Sastamala to Kauhajoki cross outside the center of Kankaanpää.
Regional road 261 from Niinisalo to Ikaalisi is also important in terms
of traffic, where it connects to highway 3 leading to Tampere. The road
from Parkano to Pori was built in 1823 (current highway 23). It is 52
kilometers from Kankaanpää to Pori and 90 kilometers to Tampere.
The important Kyrönkanka road from Häme to Ostrobothnia passed through
Kankaanpää in the olden days (from around 1600). The road still exists
and is mostly freely passable in Hämeenkanka. On the other hand, in
Pohjankanka, the road partly runs through a shooting range. The
Kyrönkankaantie road from Hämeenkyrö to Kauhajoki is an old
thoroughfare, which was one of the main roads of the kingdom and at one
time the only summertime connection from Hämeenlinna to Vaasa. The road
has functioned both as a post road and as a military road during the war
of the mace, big hatred and the Finnish wars. At first, the fairway was
created in the Middle Ages in connection with the overland transport of
parcels. Already at that time, it must have passed roughly the same
point as where we find it on the oldest maps from the 1650s.
The
Pori–Haapamäki railway, which was completed in 1938, also runs through
Kankaanpää, but its importance decreased substantially after the
completion of the new Tampere–Seinäjoki railway in the early 1970s. The
station building of the Kankaanpää railway station, designed by
architect Thure Hellström, was completed in 1933, when the train service
from Pori to Kankaanpää began, and according to the same drawings, the
Parkano (now Kairokoski) (1934) and Virtai (1936) railway stations were
built on the same track section. In the Kankaanpää area, in addition to
the Kankaanpää and Niinisalo stations, the Veneskoski and Hapuoja
stoppages were located. Passenger train traffic on the line was
discontinued in 1981 and the track section between Kankaanpää and Pori
was completely decommissioned in 1985. The maintenance of the track
section between Kankaanpää and Niinisalo was stopped in 2001. There are
occasional military transports on the track between Niinisalo and
Parkano. Currently, the nearest train station for passenger traffic is
located on the Tampere–Seinäjoki line in Parkano.
Ala-Honkajoki, Hapua, Jyränkylä, Korvaluoma-Karhusaari, Kyynärjärvi,
Narvi, Niinisalo, Santaskylä, Taulunoja, Venesjärvi, Veneskoski, Verttuu
and Vihteljärvi.
Training opportunities
Kankaanpää switched to
the basic school system at the beginning of the fall semester in 1974.
There are six basic elementary schools in the town, including a special
school and one middle school. High school education is offered by the
Kankaanpää joint high school and vocational education is offered by
Sataedu Kankaanpää.
It is also possible to complete university
studies in Kankaanpää. The traditional Kankaanpää art school, or SAMK
Kuvataide Kankaanpää unit, has been graduating artists for over fifty
years. Nowadays, you can graduate from SAMK with both AMK and Ylempi AMK
(Master) degrees. Kankaanpää University has a very diverse educational
offer and various study opportunities. Studying can be done full-time,
alongside work, with a learning contract or by completing a
demonstration degree. Cooperation with the universities of Eastern
Finland, Jyväskylä and Turku also enables open university courses to be
completed at Kankaanpää University.
Kankaanpää Music College is
an educational institution run by the city of Kankaanpää, founded in
1965, which provides basic art education in accordance with the
extensive music curriculum in the area of eight municipalities
(Honkajoki, Jämijärvi, Kankaanpää, Karvia, Pori, Merikarvia, Pomarkku
and Siikainen).
Civic college activities are carried out by
Petäjä-opisto, which is a regional civic college in the municipalities
of Honkajoki, Kankaanpää, Karvia, Kihniö, Parkano and Pomarku.
Kankaanpää's traditional sport is baseball. The local men's club is
known as Kankaanpään Maila or KaMa. The women's baseball team is called
Majuttaret.
Other clubs from Kankaanpää are Kankaanpää Swimmers,
Kankaanpää Orienteering, Kankaanpää Seudun Leisku and Kankaanpää
Athletes, Kankaanpää Gymnasts, Kankaanpää Ice Bears, Kankaanpää Pallo
and Kankaanpää Shooting Athletes. More associations are listed by hobby
form on the city's website.
Congregations
According to the
2018 regional distribution, Kankaanpää has the following parishes of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland:
Kankaanpää parish
From
2019, the congregation also operates in the area of Honkajoki and
Jämijärvi municipalities.
Among the congregations of the Finnish
Orthodox Church, the Tampere Orthodox congregation operates in the
Kankaanpää region. Out of the church's internal revival movements,
evangelism and revivalism work in the locality.
The Pentecostal
congregation of Kankaanpää with approximately 210 members and the
Pentecostal congregation of Honkajoki operate as independent Pentecostal
congregations in Kankaanpää. Kankaanpää's Free Congregation, which
belongs to the Free Church of Finland, also operates in Kankaanpää.