Lapua
Lapua (Swedish: Lappo) is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located next to the Lapua River in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 14,438 (31 January 2011)[2] and covers an area of 750.77 square kilometres (289.87 sq mi) of which 13.67 km2 (5.28 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 19.59 inhabitants per square kilometre (50.7 /sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Events in history
Battle of Lapua was fought between Swedish and Russian forces near the outskirts of the town on 14 July 1808 as part of the Finnish War. Lapua is the seat of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Lapua. The Lapua Cathedral, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, was built in 1827. In 1930's radical anti-communist Lapua Movement was founded and named after the town.
Lapua State Cartridge Factory
Lapua is also home to a large ammunition factory, which commenced operations in 1927 as the State Cartridge Factory. This factory was the primary supplier of ammunition to the Finnish Army during the Winter War and World War II. An explosion occurred in a warehouse of this factory on 13 April 1976, resulting in the deaths of 40 mainly female employees. Sixty children lost a parent in the disaster. This is the worst accidental disaster in Finland's modern history. After the explosion, the factory was relocated 5 kilometres (3 mi) away from the town centre and continues production today as part of the Nordic Ammunition Group (Nammo) as Nammo Lapua. The original site of the factory and the surviving buildings are now an arts centre, a library and a theater.
Notable persons
See Also
References
External links
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lapua Lapua] at Wikimedia Commons
|
|
Municipalities |
|
|
|
Former municipalities |
|
|
|
|