Kurikka

Kurikka
—  Town  —
Kurikan kaupunki

Coat of arms
Location of Kurikka in Finland
Coordinates:
Country Finland
Region Southern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region Seinäjoki sub-region
Founded 1868
Government
 • Town manager Paavo Tyrväinen
Area(2011-01-01)[1]
 • Total 913.45 km2 (352.7 sq mi)
 • Land 905.66 km2 (349.7 sq mi)
 • Water 7.79 km2 (3 sq mi)
Area rank 121st largest in Finland
Population (2011-01-31)[2]
 • Total 14,575
 • Rank 78th largest in Finland
 • Density 16.09/km2 (41.7/sq mi)
 • Demonym Kurikkalainen (Finnish),
From Kurikka (English), Kurikkalaanen (Local dialect)
Population by native language[3]
 • Finnish 98.8% (official)
 • Swedish 0.3%
 • Others 0.9%
Population by age[4]
 • 0 to 14 15.8%
 • 15 to 64 64.1%
 • 65 or older 20.1%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5] 18%
Website www.kurikka.fi

Kurikka is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The population of Kurikka is 14,575 (31 January 2011)[2] and the municipality covers an area of 905.66 km2 (349.68 sq mi) of which 7.79 km2 (3.01 sq mi) is inland water (1 January 2011).[1] The population density is 16.09 /km2 (41.7 /sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Kurikka is recognized not only as a dynamic town of trade and business activities but also as an important hub of agriculture. Tens of small to medium sized furniture manufacturers create design furniture to the Northern European market. Kurikka is at the same time comfortably small and big enough, with excellent services nearby, and a very nice nature surrounding the whole town.

In Kurikka, you can live in a modern fashion in the town centre or in a peaceful countryside setting. The spirit of the town includes a lot of entrepreneurship and activity, features typical of South Ostrobothnia – and also more and more international elements. Kurikka has a very advanced public school system including elementary, high school and secondary grade education and high quality health care system provided by the municipality.

The town of Kurikka is financially very stable. Kurikka is one of the biggest shareholders in the Finnish energy giant Fortum as well as in Neste Oil, one of Northern Europe's biggest oil companies. The political scene of the town is dominated by the Finnish Centre because of the agricultural roots and past of the town.

Famous people having their origins in Kurikka include Jorma Ollila, Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell chairman of the board and Juha Mieto, a former cross country skier.

The municipality of Jurva was consolidated to Kurikka on 1 January 2009.

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kurikka Kurikka] at Wikimedia Commons