Nokia, Finland

Nokia is a town and municipality of Finland on the banks of the Emäkoski River in the region of Pirkanmaa and the province of Western Finland, some 15 kilometers to the west of Tampere. It has a population of about 28 500 (October 2004).

History

Nokia has been around long enough that even its name is obscure. The most probable theory is that it comes from Old Finnish nois (pl. nokia), meaning a type of dark-coated marten found in the area to this day, and the animal is thus enshrined on the Nokia coat of arms. In modern Finnish, on the other hand, noki means "soot" and nokia would mean "soots", but using the plural makes little sense in either language.

Nokia was the setting of one of the largest battles in the Club War, a 1596 peasant uprising against Swedish feudal lords. The peasants, unsurprisingly armed with clubs, took up residence in Nokia Manor and won several skirmishes against the feudal cavalry, but were decisively defeated by Klaus Fleming on January 1–2, 1597. Thousands of clubmen were slain and their fled leader, Jaakko Ilkka, was captured a few weeks later and executed. The Club War was the last major peasant revolt in Finland, and it permanently consolidated the hold of the nation state. Much later, in the Finnish Civil War (1918), Nokia (along with neighboring Tampere) was a Communist stronghold and saw some combat.

Nokia the company was founded in Nokia by Fredrik Idestam in 1865 as a pulp mill for manufacturing paper. The company no longer has any operations in Nokia.

Present

Today's Nokia is famous for its spa, factory shops, waterways, and events. Nokia also enjoys good road and air connections.

Statistics

• Population: 28,090 (2003)
• Area: 347.80 km²
  • of which is water: 58.71 km²
• Population density: 97.2 inhabitants/km²

External Links

• Nokia Town
• Travel guide to Nokia, Finland from Wikitravel