Kurikka is a Finnish city located in the province of Southern
Ostrobothnia. Kurika has a population of 20,550 (30 June 2020) and
an area of 1,743.95 km² (1 January 2020), of which 1,724.67 km² of
land and 19.28 km² of inland waters.
The municipality of
Jurva joined Kurikka at the beginning of 2009, Jalasjärvi at the
beginning of 2016. Due to municipal associations, Kurikka is today
the largest city in the province of Southern Ostrobothnia in terms
of area and the second largest in terms of population. Kurikka is
also Finland's largest agricultural operator in terms of
agricultural income.
There is written evidence of Kurika's settlement since the 1540s.
When the conditions developed in Finland, industrialization also began
in Kurika at the beginning of the 20th century, on the outskirts of the
metal and wood industry. The Kurika chapel was founded in 1672. The
municipality became independent from Ilmajoki in 1868; it received
township rights in 1966 and became a city in 1977.
Kurikka
initially belonged to the Isonkyrö parish. Then it became a pulpit
belonging to the Ilmajoki chapel founded in 1516. In 1672, Kurikka,
which became a chapel, got its name from the Kurikka houses settled on
the east bank of the Kyrönjoki near the center of the region, the first
of which was built no later than the 15th century (Antti Kurikka 1480).
The first inhabitant of Kurika came to these wild forests from Lempäälä
or Pirkkala, where Kurika's house had already been before. The Kurika
municipality in Pirkkala is still a memory of that. Opposite the Kurika
church, on the other side of the river, is still the oldest remaining of
these Kurika stock houses, Wähä-Kurikka (now Rinta-Kurikka). It still
stands in the same place, high on the river bank above Kurikalhanti
(Meijerinlampi). The oldest basement parts of the house date back to
1400-1500. According to his travel diary, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden
spent a night in the house with his entourage during the winter of 1626
on his way around the Gulf of Bothnia to Stockholm. (Uppsala University
Library. The King's Travel Diary. Elars Collections)
Kurika's neighboring municipalities are Ilmajoki, Karvia, Kauhajoki,
Kihniö, Laihia, Maalahti, Närpiö, Parkano, Seinäjoki and Teuva.
The highest point in Kurika is Lehtivuori, located immediately to the
west of the city center, which is no less than 196 meters above sea
level. The neighboring Pikku Lehtivuori is also 191 m high.
Nature
Kurika's Natura sites include the Metsäkylä forest and
Isokorpi, known for their flying squirrels, the groves of Pitkämönluoma
and Pässilänvuori, as well as Levaneva, Haukilamminneva, Iso
Kakkurinneva, Kurpanneva and Mustasaarenneva, which are involved in the
bog protection program.
Water bodies
There are a total of 34
lakes in the Kurika city area, the largest of which are Kivi- and
Levalammi reservoirs, Liikapuro reservoir and Iso Madesjärvi.
The
groundwater area found in Kurika in 2010 is the largest in Finland. Its
research began in 2014. It is planned to take water from it to Kurika
and Vaasa, which gets its drinking water from surface water.
Villages
Jalasjärvi area Ahonkylä, Alavalli, Hirvijärvi, Ilvesjoki,
Jokipii, Keskikylä, kirkonkylä, Koskue, Luopajärvi, Sikakylä, Taivalmaa
and Ylivalli.
Jurva area Harjunkylä, Jyrynkylä, Järvenpää,
Kentta, Kesti, church village, Koskimäki, Metsäkylä, Niemenkylä,
Närvijoki, Rannankylä, Sarvijoki, Tainuskylä and Tupenkylä.
Kurika area Hakuni, Juonenkylä, Kakkuri, Kamppi, kirkonkylä, Korvenkylä,
Kurikankylä, Laulaja, Levi, Lohiluoma, Luomainkylä, Luopa, Lusankylä,
Mieto, Myllykylä, Oppaanmäki, Panttila, Pitkämönkylä, Polvenkylä,
Saarenkylä, Salonkylä, Syväojankylä, Säntti, Tuiskula, Varpahaikylä and
Viitala.
Business structure
Today there are several industrial companies in
the city. The largest employer is Fortaco Oy (formerly Velsa), which
manufactures machine cabins and assembles equipment. Fortaco has
approximately 250 employees in Kurika. Pohjanmaan Kaluste Oy and
Relicomp Oy also employ more than 100 people. 53.2% of the employed
workforce work in the service sector. Nevertheless, the share of
agriculture and forestry is 9.4% of the employed workforce.
The
city of Kurika owns approximately 4.7 million Neste shares. The city of
Kurika also owns approximately 6.2 million Fortum shares (information on
July 4, 2021). In July 2021, the total value of the shares was a little
over EUR 388 million.
Kurikka is located in a good location in terms of traffic: Kurikka has good road connections to, for example, Seinäjoki, Vaasa and Tampere. Europatie E12 (Valtatie 3) from Helsinki to Vaasa and national road 67 from Seinäjoki to Kaski pass through the city. At the western end of Kurika in Sarvijo, just past the city border, Europatie E8 (Valtatie 8) also runs from Turku to Oulu. In addition, the Suupohja line from Seinäjoki to Kaski passes through the city. Today, there is only freight traffic on the line, passenger traffic stopped in 1968. The nearest passenger railway stations from Kurika are Seinäjoki and Parkano.
Kurikan Ryhti operates in Kurika, whose sports are biathlon, skiing, football, archery, ice hockey, combat sports, volleyball, floorball, badminton, swimming and athletics. In addition, Rasti-Kurikka is a successful orienteering club. Kurikan Seibukan is a successful judo club. Kurika also has the Sports Club Kurikan Visa, whose activities are mainly focused on chess, darts and volleyball. Kurika punti klubi is a successful club focused on weightlifting. Kurika has an ice rink, a swimming pool, a tennis hall and a sports center with an athletics field, a soccer field, a tennis court, a fitness track and a sand artificial turf field. Kurika also has a multi-purpose center, Monnari, where you can practice archery in addition to normal indoor sports. In addition, there is a separate weightlifting and wrestling gym maintained by the clubs. On the Jurva side, there is a sports hall and a gym.