Varkaus

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Finnish.  (September 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

*   * Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
* Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
* You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is `Content in this edit is translated from the existing Finnish Wikipedia article at [[:fi:Varkaus (kaupunki)]]; see its history for attribution.`
* You may also add the template `{{Translated|fi|Varkaus (kaupunki)}}` to the talk page.
* For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

|

Town in Northern Savonia, Finland

Varkaus

Town

Varkauden kaupunki
Varkaus stad

Varkaus in July 2006

Coat of arms

Location of Varkaus in Finland

Coordinates: 62°19′N 027°53.5′E﻿ / ﻿62.317°N 27.8917°E﻿ / 62.317; 27.8917
Country|  Finland
Region| Northern Savonia
Sub-region| Varkaus
Market town| 1929
City rights| 1961
Government

• Town manager| Hannu Tsupari
Area

(2018-01-01)[1]

• Total

| 524.48 km2 (202.50 sq mi)
• Land| 385.62 km2 (148.89 sq mi)
• Water| 138.45 km2 (53.46 sq mi)
• Rank| 206th largest in Finland
Population

(2025-06-30)[2]

• Total

| 19,603
• Rank| 58th largest in Finland
• Density| 50.84/km2 (131.7/sq mi)
Population by native language

[3]

• Finnish| 93.6% (official)
• Swedish| 0.2%
• Others| 6.2%
Population by age

[4]

• 0 to 14| 12%
• 15 to 64| 56.4%
• 65 or older| 31.6%
Time zone| UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)| UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Website| varkaus.fi
Illustration in Finland framstäldt i teckningar edited by Zacharias Topelius and published 1845-1852.

Varkaus, before 1929 known as Warkaus, is a Middle-Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region, between the city of Kuopio and the town of Savonlinna.

The municipality has a population of 19,603 (30 June 2025)[2] and covers an area of 524.48 square kilometres (202.50 sq mi) of which 138.45 km2 (53.46 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 50.84 inhabitants per square kilometre (131.7/sq mi).

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. In old Finnish 'Varkaus' meant strait, and this city is located in the lake district on straits between two parts of Lake Saimaa. An extension of the Saimaa Canal passes through the town.

## History

[edit]

Varkaus was born in the late 19th century as an industrial community of the A. Ahlström paper mills. It was a part of the municipalities of Leppävirta and Joroinen until 1929 when Varkaus became a market town. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918 the town was taken over by the Reds, but because of its isolated location in rural Finland, it was soon taken by the Whites on the Battle of Varkaus 19–21 February. The whites proceeded to execute every tenth Red soldier.

The municipality of Kangaslampi was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005.

## Sport

[edit]

The bandy team Warkauden Pallo-35, or just WP-35, plays in the highest division, Bandyliiga, and has become Finnish champions 16 times.

Varkaus Speedway Stadion is a motorcycle speedway on the northern outskirts of the town off the Tykkitie road, adjacent to the motorcycle racing and karting facilities.[6] The Speedway circuit is one of the oldest in Finland and held the final of the Finnish Individual Speedway Championship three times.[7]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Onni Hiltunen (1895–1971), politician
* Jukka Keskisalo (born 1981), steeplechaser
* Antti Kupiainen (born 1954), mathematical physicist
* Esa Pakarinen (1911–1989), actor and musician
* Esa Pakarinen Junior (born 1947), actor
* Piia Pantsu (born 1971), equestrian rider
* Lassi Parkkinen (1917–1994), speed skater
* Erkki Pulliainen (born 1938), biologist and politician
* Pekka Siitoin (1944–2003), occultist and neo-Nazi
* Petri Varis (born 1969), ice hockey forward

## Parts of the town of Varkaus

[edit]

* Kaura-aho
* Käpykangas
* Kuoppakangas
* Kosulanniemi
* Lehtoniemi
* Puurtila
* Taipale
* Luttila
* Könönpelto
* Kangaslampi
* Kurola
* Hasinmäki
* Häyrilä
* Päiviönsaari
* Peltola

## Twin towns — sister cities

[edit]

Varkaus is twinned with:

* Lu'an, China
* Nakskov, Denmark
* Rjukan, Norway
* Sandviken, Sweden

* Petrozavodsk, Russia
* Rüsselsheim, Germany
* Pirna, Germany
* Zalaegerszeg, Hungary

|

## See also

[edit]

* Soisalo

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
2. ^ a b "Population increased most in Uusimaa in January to June 2025". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2025-07-24. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2025-07-24.
3. ^ "Number of foreign-language speakers exceeded 600,000 during 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2025-04-04. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2025-04-05.
4. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
5. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
6. ^ "Use of Tracks". Varkaus Racing Team. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
7. ^ "Speedway Individual Finnish Championship". Speedway Sanomat. Retrieved 13 February 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Varkaus at Wikimedia Commons
* Varkaus travel guide from Wikivoyage
* Town of Varkaus – Official website

Places adjacent to Varkaus

|  | Leppävirta | Heinävesi (North Karelia)

|
|

|  |
Joroinen |

Varkaus

|  |
| Joroinen, Rantasalmi (South Savo) | Savonlinna (South Savo)

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities of North Savo

Municipalities|

* Iisalmi
* Joroinen
* Kaavi
* Keitele
* Kiuruvesi
* Kuopio
* Lapinlahti
* Leppävirta
* Pielavesi
* Rautalampi
* Rautavaara
* Siilinjärvi
* Sonkajärvi
* Suonenjoki
* Tervo
* Tuusniemi
* Varkaus
* Vesanto
* Vieremä

Former municipalities|

* Iisalmen maalaiskunta
* Juankoski
* Karttula
* Kuopion maalaiskunta
* Maaninka
* Muuruvesi
* Nilsiä
* Riistavesi
* Säyneinen
* Varpaisjärvi
* Vehmersalmi

* North Savo
* Finland

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Israel
* Finland

Geographic|

* MusicBrainz area

Other|

* IdRef

This Eastern Finland location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template