Wikipedia

Askola

For the Finnish athlete, see Arvo Askola. For the Finnish bishop, see Irja Askola.

Askola (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈɑskolɑ]) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of 4,667 (31 October 2024)[3] and covers an area of 218.03 square kilometres (84.18 sq mi) of which 5.61 km2 (2.17 sq mi) is water.[2] The population density is 21.97 inhabitants per square kilometre (56.9/sq mi). Monninkylä is the largest village of the municipality in terms of population (1,326 inhabitants).[7] Neighbouring municipalities are Myrskylä, Mäntsälä, Pornainen, Porvoo and Pukkila.

Askola
Municipality
Askolan kunta
Askola kommun
Askola church
Askola church
Coat of arms of Askola
Coat of arms
Location of Askola in Finland
Location of Askola in Finland
Coordinates: 60°31.7′N 025°36′E / 60.5283°N 25.600°E / 60.5283; 25.600
Country Finland
RegionUusimaa
Sub-regionPorvoo sub-region
Charter1896
Government
 • Municipal managerAnnu Räsänen[1]
Area
 (2018-01-01)[2]
 • Total
218.03 km2 (84.18 sq mi)
 • Land212.44 km2 (82.02 sq mi)
 • Water5.61 km2 (2.17 sq mi)
 • Rank260th largest in Finland
Population
 (2024-10-31)[3]
 • Total
4,667
 • Rank174th largest in Finland
 • Density21.97/km2 (56.9/sq mi)
Population by native language
[4]
 • Finnish92.3% (official)
 • Swedish3.8%
 • Others3.9%
Population by age
[5]
 • 0 to 1418.7%
 • 15 to 6461%
 • 65 or older20.2%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
ClimateDfb
Websitewww.askola.fi

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Askola is one of three municipalities in the Uusimaa region that do not have a Swedish name; the others are Nurmijärvi and Mäntsälä.

History

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The Askola parish was part of Porvoo until 1639, when it became a chapel parish, and finally became independent in 1896. The Askola church was completed in 1799.[8]

The coat of arms of the municipality seeks influence from the history of the parish; the millstone is reminiscent of the Askolas's many mills and famous breads, while the roses of the coat of arms refer to Finnish author Johannes Linnankoski, who was born and influenced in Askola, whose most famous work was The Song of the Blood-Red Flower.

Geography

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The Vakkola village

The most significant waters in Askola includes the River Porvoo flowing from the center of Askola between Orimattila and Porvoo, and eleven lakes in the eastern part of the municipality.[9]

There are no Natura 2000 sites in Askola, but instead five rock areas have been classified as nationally valuable.[10] In one of them, Kirnukallio, are the well-known Askola's glacial potholes.[11][12] The nationally valuable landscape area of the River Porvoo Valley also extends to the Askola side. Prestbacka Manor and Pappilanharju's natural reserve are also protected as cultural landscapes.[10]

Villages

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In 1967, Askola had 12 legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):[13]

Demographics

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In 2020, 18.7% of the population of Askola was under the age of 15, 61.0% were aged 15 to 64, and 20.2% were over the age of 65. The average age was 42.3, under the national average of 43.4 but above the regional average of 41.0. Speakers of Finnish made up 93.7% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 3.4%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 2.9%. Foreign nationals made up 1.8% of the total population.[14]

The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Askola from 1975-2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1975 3,630—    
1980 4,058+2.25%
1985 4,130+0.35%
1990 4,248+0.57%
1995 4,269+0.10%
YearPop.±% p.a.
2000 4,389+0.56%
2005 4,555+0.75%
2010 4,864+1.32%
2015 5,104+0.97%
2020 4,878−0.90%
Source: Statistics Finland[15]

Urban areas

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In 2019, out of the total population of 4,943, 2,636 people lived in urban areas and 2,251 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 56 people were unknown. This made Askola's degree of urbanization 53.9%.[16] The urban population in the municipality was divided between two urban areas as follows:[7]

# Urban area Population
1 Monninkylä 1,324
2 Askola parish village 1,312

Services

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Monninkylä school

Askola has four primary schools, and two secondary schools, as well as one vocational school.[17][18] Both secondary schools also receive students from the neighboring municipality of Pukkila, which does not have its own post-primary school education.[19]

The Askola's library operates in six locations: the church village, Monninkylä and four schools of the municipality.[20]

Public health care is provided at the Askola Health Center.[21]

There are only two Sale grocery stores in the municipality: one in the church village and the other in Monninkylä.[22][23] Locals have also wished the municipality a third grocery store from a competing chain, such as Kesko or Lidl.[24]

Politics

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Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Askola:

Economy

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In 2018, 8.1% of the workforce of Askola worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 36.2% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 53.1% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 6.7%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 23.0%.[25]

The ten largest employers in Askola in 2019 were as follows:[26]

  1. TerraWise Oy, 323 employees
  2. Municipality of Askola, 293 employees
  3. Hakevuori Oy, 37 employees
  4. Fimet Oy, 35 employees
  5. Eteva kuntayhtymä, 31 employees
  6. Kuljetusliike M. Lindberg Oy, 30 employees
  7. SimFors Oy, 28 employees
  8. Kymppirakenne Oy, 27 employees
  9. Oy Meyer vastus Ab, 25 employees
  10. Ginola Oy, 25 employees

People born in Askola

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References

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  1. ^ "Askola valitsi Annu Räsäsen". 12 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,635,560 at the end of October 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2024-11-19. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  4. ^ "Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2024-04-26. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  5. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Population in urban settlements and sparsely populated areas by age, sex and municipality, 2019". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-11-26. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  8. ^ Askolan kirkko Askolan Seurakunta (in Finnish)
  9. ^ Askolan luonto ja historia Archived 2016-04-02 at the Wayback Machine Askolan 4H
  10. ^ a b Luonnonsuojelu - Askola.fi (in Finnish)
  11. ^ The Potholes of Askola - Askolan Hiidenkirnut
  12. ^ Maailman ja Suomen Suuratlas, p 294. WSOY, Instituto Geografico Agostini, Novara, Igda; 1985. ISBN 951-0-12598-9. (in Finnish)
  13. ^ Erävuori, Jukka; Papunen, Pentti; Mäkinen, Vesa (1967). "Askola". Suomenmaa: maantieteellis-yhteiskunnallinen tieto- ja hakuteos. 1: Ahlainen–Hausjärvi. Helsinki: WSOY.
  14. ^ "Key figures on population by region, 1990-2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area, 1972-2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-05-25. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Degree of urbanisation by area, 2019". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-11-26. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  17. ^ Perusopetus Archived 2020-08-06 at the Wayback Machine - Askola.fi (in Finnish)
  18. ^ Lukio ja ammatillinen koulutus Archived 2020-07-31 at the Wayback Machine - Askola.fi (in Finnish)
  19. ^ Opetus - Pukkila.fi (in Finnish)
  20. ^ Kirjastot - Askola.fi (in Finnish)
  21. ^ Askolan kunta: Lääkärin tai hoitajan vastaanotto - Ajanvaraus Archived 2023-04-15 at the Wayback Machine - Suomi.fi (in Finnish)
  22. ^ Sale Askola - Foodie.fi (in Finnish)
  23. ^ Sale Monninkylä - Foodie.fi (in Finnish)
  24. ^ Tarvitseeko Askola kolmannen ruokakaupan? - Itäväylä (in Finnish)
  25. ^ "Municipal key figures 1987-2020 (with the 2021 regional division)". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 1 May 2021. (2018 and 2019)
  26. ^ "Kunnittainen toimipaikkatilasto" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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