Nokia is a Finnish city located in the province of Pirkanmaa. The
city has a population of 34,294 and covers an area of 347.83 km², of
which 59.53 km² are water bodies. The population density is 119
inhabitants / km². Nokia's neighboring municipalities are
Hämeenkyrö, Pirkkala, Sastamala, Tampere, Vesilahti and Ylöjärvi.
Nokia's coat of arms was designed by Gustaf von Numers and confirmed
in 1951. Nokia is the second largest municipality in Pirkanmaa after
Tampere.
Nokia is an industrial city and the starting point
for some Finnish brands, the most famous of which are the former
conglomerate and the current telecommunications company Nokia and
the clothing manufacturer Nanso.
Nature
Nokia's landscape is dominated by
Pyhäjärvi, Nokianvirta and Kulovesi. Pyhäjärvi is the central lake
in the Kokemäenjoki watershed, where the waters of the Vanajavesi
route join to the south and the Näsijärvi route to the north.
Pyhäjärvi flows down the Nokianvirta, which flows in a deep gorge
valley, into Kulovesi, where the waters of the Ikaalinen route from
the northwest flow down to Siuronkoski. At the western border,
Kulovesi also receives water from the direction of Mouhijärvi in
the Leukaluiden Strait and on the southern shore to the bottom of
Sarkolanlahti, the Lanajoki River, which originates from the lakes
in the western part of Vesilahti. The smaller lakes in the Nokia
area are Vihnusjärvi, Kalliojärvi, Ylinenjärvi and Alinenjärvi to
the north of the Nokianvirta and Lake Teernijärvi to the south.
The surface area of the Nokia area is very variable and the
terrain elevation differences are quite large in many places. The
highest terrain in the city is on the cliff north of Lake Ruokejärvi
(188 m above sea level). Until the 1970s, Kivipyykkivuori (163 m
above sea level), located south of Kulovesi, was the confluence of
the borders of Nokia, Suoniemi and Tottijärvi. The farmlands in the
central and western parts of the city are concentrated in a narrow
strip of water on the banks of the water. Nokia is part of the core
area of the Pirkkala grove center, but with the settlement, the
groves have largely disappeared. The shoreline conditions in the
Nokian stream were largely destroyed by rising water levels. In the
remaining grove forests, among other things, elm and walnut bush
grow.
Occasional Stone Age artefacts have been
found in the Nokia area, but permanent settlement was not
established until the Iron Age. Several Iron Age cemeteries, the
oldest of which date back to the beginning of the 5th century, have
been found along the shores of the water body from Kulovesi to
Pyhäjärvi. It has been concluded that the settlement has entered the
Nokia area along the Kokemäenjoki River from its downstream
direction. Siuro Castle Hill is one of the ancient castles along the
Kokemäenjoki River. Emäkoski was the center of medieval
Suur-Pirkkala.
During the Mallet War, at the turn of the year
1596–1597, Nokia was confronted by the blankets and nests led by
Klaus Fleming and the peasants led by Jaakko Ilka (Battle of Nokia).
A monument designed by Gabriel Engberg was erected on the
battlefield in 1933.
Emäkoski was inaugurated in the 18th
century, which created a lot more farmland in the area, but in the
middle of the 19th century the rapids themselves still used only
three small mills. Engineer Fredrik Idestam built a wood grinder,
Nokia's first industrial plant, on the edge of the rapids in 1868.
The wood grinder was transformed into a limited company in 1871,
when it was renamed Nokia Oy. The company began producing paper in
1880, and in 1885 Finland's first sulphite pulp mill was built in
connection with it. A sawmill, a mill and a brick factory also
operate in connection with the factories. A decisive step forward
for the factories was the completion of the Tampere-Pori railway in
1895; For Nokia Oy's own transports, the track had been opened until
Tampere as early as 1893. Industrial activity intensified further
when Suomen Gummitehdas Oy moved from Helsinki to Nokia in 1903.
Kumitehdas began producing car tires in 1932 and manufacturing
winter car tires in 1937, the first in the world. In 1921, Nokian
Kutomo Oy (now Nanso Group Oy) began operations. In 1941, SOK's
Nokia mill was completed.
The former Pitkäniemi manor was
opened in 1900 by a mental hospital, which operated under the name
of the Pitkäniemi care facility until 1932. In 1955, the hospital
was transferred from the state to the ownership of the Pohjois-Häme
mental hospital district formed by 28 municipalities. Today, it is
owned by the Pirkanmaa Hospital District as part of Tampere
University Hospital.
In 1922, the municipality of Pirkkala was divided into North and
South Pirkkala when the border crossed in Pyhäjärvi, over which
there was no road connection at that time. In 1937, Pohjois-Pirkkala
was divided when Pispala was annexed to Tampere and the remaining
part of the municipality was formed into a township.
Pohjois-Pirkkala changed its name to Nokia in 1938 and at the same
time Etelä-Pirkkala took back the name of the old mother, Pirkkala,
which it still has. The first town plan for the Nokia store was
approved in 1941. After the delay caused by the wars, the
development of the store gained momentum in the late 1940s. In 1940,
Nokia had 10,066 inhabitants, in 1950 it had a population of 15,376
and in 1960 it had a population of 18,410.
After the Winter
War, the Jaakkima Joint School was transferred to Nokia from the
territory ceded to the Soviet Union, which changed its name to the
Nokia Joint School. The school became the university’s leading
college in 1950. With the transition to the elementary school
system, the college became Nokia High School in 1976. The Emäkoski
Co-educational School, owned by the city, was founded in 1957, where
high school classes began in 1962. The Vocational School, originally
owned by Nokia Oy, was transferred to the then shop in 1956. Nokia
Workers' College began operations in 1945.
In the 1940s, a
whole new community emerged from scratch on Nokia's then western
border when Valmet Oy's Linnavuori plant was established. It was
decided to locate the plant in facilities to be mined inside the
mountain. Construction began in 1942 and production began in 1946.
The plant initially manufactured aircraft engines, but also played a
major role in war reparations supplies as a manufacturer of marine
and locomotive engines and compressors. Production of diesel engines
for tractors began in 1957, and later engines for machine tools and
boats, machine tools, aggregates and engine sprayers were added.
The Melo hydropower plant was completed in Nokianvirta in 1971,
using the entire waterfall height from Pyhäjärvi to Kulovesi
(approximately 19.5 meters). At the same time, the old power plant,
built a little higher and built in 1913, was demolished.
In
the 1970s, Nokia's area increased many times over when the then
municipalities of Tottijärvi and Suoniemi were incorporated.
After the last wars, Nokia was inhabited by settlers from Lake
Pyhäjärvi (Vpl).
Etymology of the name
The word nois
(plural nokiit, genitive nokia) has been claimed to mean sable fur,
which would indicate that Nokia was a key trading place where sable
furs were the most valuable commodity. Recent research, however, has
speculated that sabers would not have belonged to the Finnish fauna,
even in ancient times. Nokia would mean beaver. On the other hand,
it is thought to have originally meant black- or dark-furry animals,
which would explain its connection to the word soot - in comparison
to the watershed designation ferret.
The word nokia often
appears in the name of water bodies, so it may have meant a nesting
place for a fur animal.