Nykarleby

Nykarleby, or Uusikaarlepyy in Finnish, is a town of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality is bilingual, with the majority speaking Swedish (90%) and the minority Finnish (8%).

The largest employers in the town are Prevex (member of KWH Group), a packaging and piping products manufacturer, Westwood, which manufactures wooden staircases, and in the village of Jeppo, KWH Mirka, a coated abrasives manufacturer.^[1] A Swedish-speaking art school (Svenska Konstskolan) is located in Nykarleby town.

[edit] History

The town is located at the mouth of the Lapua river. Thus, its original Finnish name was Lapuan Joensuu "mouth of Lapua river". The municipality was founded in 1607 by merging parts of Pedersöre and Vöyri into a new parish. In 1620, the small village of Lepua was chartered as a city, with the Swedish name Nykarleby, which means "New Karleby", and the Finnish name is a Finnicized version of the same. The town was chartered in the same year as the nearby city of Kokkola, or in Swedish, Gamlakarleby (later, Karleby).

In the Finnish War in 1808, the Battle of Jutas fought there between Swedish and Russian troops.

Zacharias Topelius, an important author in Finland, was born in Nykarleby.

In 1995, the small, idyllic town was ranked as "the happiest city in Finland" in a controversial article in Helsingin Sanomat, the leading newspaper of Finland.^[2]

[edit] References

^ Nykarleby :: Historiikki
^ Helsingin Sanomat Kuukausiliite, January 1995. [1]. Externally referred to in: Asiakastieto. Luottolista 2000. [2]

[edit] External links

	Municipalities of Ostrobothnia
	Isokyrö \| Jakobstad \| Kaskinen \| Korsholm \| Korsnäs \| Kristinestad \| Kronoby \| Laihia \| Larsmo \| Malax \| Nykarleby \| Närpes \| Oravais \| Pedersöre \| Vaasa \| Vähäkyrö \| Vörå-Maxmo
	Ostrobothnia Region \| Western Finland \| Finland