Kauhajoki

Coat of arms of Kauhajoki.

Kauhajoki church

Kauhajoki is a municipality of Finland.

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 14,596 (2003) and covers an area of 1,315.46 km² of which 15.68 km² is water. The population density is 11.1 inhabitants per km².

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

During the Winter War Kauhajoki hosted the Finnish parliament.

[edit] Sports

Some internationally successful Kauhajokian sports figures include:

Jouko Salomäki, the 1984 Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, was born in Kauhajoki.
Kaarlo Maaninka, the 1980 Olympic silver and bronze medalist in long distance running, lives in Kauhajoki. He also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu during his career.
Vesa Hietalahti, the 2003 World Championships silver medalist in biathlon, was born and lives in Kauhajoki. He also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu throughout his career.
Heli Koivula-Kruger, the 2002 European Championships silver medalist in triple jump, was born in Kauhajoki. She also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu throughout her career.