Sastamala is a Finnish city in the province of Pirkanmaa, near the provincial border of Satakunta. The city has a population of 24,139 inhabitants (April 30, 2015) and an area of 1,531.75 km², of which 1,429.04 km² is land and 102.71 km² is inland water (January 1, 2015). Sastamala is the largest municipality in Pirkanmaa and its neighbors are Huittinen, Hämeenkyrö, Ikaalinen, Kankaanpää, Kokemäki, Nokia, Pori, Punkalaidun, Ulvila, Urjala and Vesilahti.
Sastamala is located on both sides of the Kokemäenjoki watercourse in
the southwest corner of Pirkanmaa. The municipality is divided by
Kokemäenjoki, Liekovesi, Rautavesi and Kulovesi. Other important
stagnant waters in the municipality area are Houhajärvi, Ylistenjärvi,
Kiikoisjärvi and Mouhijärvi.
There are 11 Natura sites in
Sastamala: Lake Kuorsumaan, Lavijärvi-Palojärvi rocks,
Puurijärvi-Isosuo, Kiikoinen forest, Kilpijoki beach, Kiimajärvi,
Kilpikoski, Vehmaanniemi, Pirunvuori, Hanhijärvi-Keskinen-Tapiolanjärvi
and Ekojärvi.
Urban areas
At the end of 2017, Sastamala had
24,820 inhabitants, of which 16,754 lived in agglomerations, 7,816 in
sparsely populated areas, and the places of residence of 250 were
unknown. Sastamala's agglomeration rate is 68.2%.
There are a total of 161 villages in Sastamala, and two thirds of the
municipality's population live in rural areas and villages. The villages
are organized into more than 40 village associations. The village
division was created with the great division in the 18th century, and
thus does not fully correspond to the current situation. For example,
Illo and Putaja are located on the lands of other villages and cannot be
found in the list.
Districts of the central area
Hoppu, Iisa,
Kalliala, Kaukola, Ketola, Lousaja, Marttila, Myllymaa, Nokkakylä,
Nuupala, Näntölä, Ojansuu, Parviala, Pitkämäki, Raivio, Roismala,
Ruoksamo, Sastamala, Sileekallio, Sylvää, Tyrväänkylä, Varila,
Vinkinmäki, Vinkki, Vinkkilä
According to the 2018 regional distribution, Sastamala has the
following parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland:
Sastamala Parish (formerly Vammala Parish)
Karku Chapel Congregation
Keikyä chapel congregation
Kiika Chapel Congregation
Kiikoinen
chapel congregation
Mouhijärvi Chapel Congregation
Suodenniemi
Chapel Congregation
Among the congregations of the Finnish Orthodox
Church, the Tampere Orthodox congregation operates in the Sastamala
region.
Among the member congregations of the Pentecostal Church
of Finland, the Äetsä Pentecostal congregation operates in Sastamala.
Kiikoinen Pentecostal Congregation, Mouhijärvi Pentecostal Congregation
and Vammala Pentecostal Congregation operate as independent Pentecostal
congregations in Sastamala.
Former parishes
In the following
list, parishes that were abolished in historical time in the current
area of the city of Sastamala are mentioned.
Karku parish
(combined with Tyrvää parish to become Vammala parish in 2004)
Keikyä
parish (joined to Sastamala parish in 2009)
Kiika parish (joined to
Sastamala parish in 2009)
Kiikoinen parish (joined to Sastamala
parish in 2013)
Mouhijärvi parish (joined to Sastamala parish in
2009)
Suodenniemi parish (joined to Vammala parish in 2007)
Tyrvää
parish (combined with Karku parish to become Vammala parish in 2004)
Culture
Finland's book capital
Sastamala has a long
tradition in literature. One of the biggest themed events is the Old
Literature Days organized in the city center in the summer. In July
2011, the Finnish book museum Pukstaavi was also opened in
Sastamala, which promotes Finnish book culture and reading.
Pukstaavi is a national museum that tells about the cultural history
and social significance of the Finnish book in a general sense. At
the beginning of 2013, the city of Sastamala declared itself the
book capital of Finland. From now on, the city has annually chosen
Kirjapää of the year. The first Kirjapääs of the year are authors
Mauri Kunnas 2013 and Marko Vesterbacka 2014, administrative
director Hannu Nikkilä 2015 and bookseller Sirkka-Liisa "Samu" Leino
2016.
Sastamala medieval church
St. Olav's Church in Tyrvää
Ski
center Ellivuori
Pirunvuori
Mr. Hakkarainen's house
Kulttuuritalo Jaatsi, Akseli Gallen-Kallela's childhood home
Lakeside
Golf Disabled
Vammala Car and Tractor Museum
Marski saloon car at
Stormi Shell gas station
From Otamussi
Sarkia Museum
Äetsa
power plant
Keikyä Homeland Museum
Kokmäenjoki
Rautavesi,
Liekovesi and Kulovesi
Finnish book museum Pukstaavi
Villa Royal
Days of Old Literature
Sastamala Gregoriana
Häijän Market
Evangelical gospel celebrations have been organized in Sastamala in 2015
and 2022.
The mound's tomb with its swords, dating to the 300th century in
Rammimäki, Vammala, is reminiscent of the prosperous armed burials
of younger Roman times in coastal areas. It is also the only inland
tomb corresponding to the coastal burial tradition at that time.
During the Merovingian period, cemeteries became more common in the
Sastamala area, which contributes to population growth and
population density. The parish of Sastamala was a large parish
belonging to the historical province of Satakunta.
The name
Sastamala first appeared in the form Sastamall in a letter from King
Birger Maununpoja from 1300 or 1303.
The new city of
Sastamala was born at the beginning of 2009, when Vammala,
Mouhijärvi and Äetsä merged. Earlier in 1973, Tyrvää and Karkku were
connected to Vammala. The municipality of Äetsä had re-formed when
Kiika and Keikyya merged in 1981. Suodenniemi joined Vammala in 2007
and Kiikoinen joined the new Sastamala in 2013.
The coat of
arms of Sastamala is the coat of arms of the former municipality of
Karku, designed by Lauri Ahlgrén.
The mayor of Sastamala since 2013 is Jarkko Malmberg. From August
2021, Pertti Hakanen from the center will be the chairman of the city
board, and Jari Andersson from the coalition will be the chairman of the
city council.
The Sastamala city council has 43 members. The
distribution of seats after the 2021 municipal elections is as follows
by party:
Coalition, 11 seats
Center, 10 places
SDP, 8 seats
Basic Finns, 7 places
Left Alliance, 2 seats
Greens, 2 seats
Christian Democrats, 2 seats
RKP 1 place
Economic
In 2015,
there were 8,426 jobs in the municipality. Of them, 8.5 percent were in
primary production (agriculture, forestry, and fisheries), 63 percent in
services, and 27 percent in processing. The share of the unemployed in
the workforce was 12.3 percent.
Partnos, a building design
company, Teknikum, which manufactures rubber and plastic products, and
Vexve, which manufactures flap valves for district heating, pay the most
corporate tax.
Highway 11 between Tampere and Pori and highway 12 between Tampere
and Rauma pass through Sastamala. National road 44 runs from Kiika to
Kauhajoki via Kankaanpää. There are also numerous regional roads from
the city to Hämeenkyrö, Punkalaitume, Vesilahti, Nokia and Lavia.
The Tampere–Pori railway also passes through Sastamala. Trains stop
in the city at Vammala and Karku railway stations.
The nearest
airports to Sastamala are Tampere-Pirkkala Airport and Pori Airport.
Distances from the central drive
To former municipal centers
Kiikoinen 25 km
Lake Mouhijärvi 25 km
Suodenniemi 35 km
Äetsa
15 km
To other cities
Helsinki 190 km
Huittinen 25 km
Hämeenlinna 100 km
Kankaanpää 70 km
Nokia 35 km
Pori 75 km
Rauma 90 km
Tampere 50 km
Turku 115 km