Hamina

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Coat of Arms of Hamina

The Town Hall in Hamina

Hamina (Swedish: Fredrikshamn) is one of Finland's most important harbours. The town was chartered in 1653 at the proposal of Count Peter Brahe, Governor-General of Finland. Its original name was Veckelax Nystad (Newtown of Veckelax), according to the surrounding countryside, but in 1720s the town was renamed after King Frederick I of Sweden, Landgrave of Hesse.

The population of the main town is approximately 5,000. The municipality of Hamina includes the town and has a population of about 22,000 inhabitants in an area of 630.65 km². Hamina is unilingually Finnish speaking.

The port specialises in forest products and transit cargo to Russia.

The town of Hamina is surrounded by a star-shaped fortress. Construction of the fortress began in 1723 after the Great Northern War, when the territories east of Hamina had been ceded to Russia, and completed after the Finnish War at the beginning of the 19th century. As the important foreign trade town of Viipuri was surrendered to Russians in 1721, this town (newly renamed in honour of the King) was intended to replace it. The town, thus far a small domestic trade port with restricted trade, was granted extensive privileges including foreign trade.

In 1743 Hamina was surrendered to Russians, after the Russo-Swedish War, 1741-1743, and the town of Loviisa was the next Swedish candidate for an Eastern-Finnish trade centre. Hamina became a Russian frontier town, for which a fortress was desirable.

The corners of the fortress form six bastions, named after towns in Finland. The Central Bastion was added at the end of the 18th century, and is currently used for cultural events.

The Treaty of Fredrikshamn (1809), by which Sweden ceded Finland, along with parts of the provinces of Laponia and Västerbotten and the Åland Islands, was signed in Hamina. Thus Sweden was split and the eastern half, along with previously conquered territories including Hamina (Old Finland), was formed into the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire.