Loimaa

Loimaa
Loimaa
Town
	Loimaan kaupunki; Loimaa stad
	Loimaa Municipal office building
	Coat of arms
	Location of Loimaa in Finland
	Coordinates: 60°51′N 023°03.5′E / 60.850°N 23.0583°E
Country	Finland
Region	Southwest Finland
Sub-region	Loimaa sub-region
Market town	1921
Town privileges	1969
Government
• Town manager	Jari Rantala
Area (2018-01-01)
• Total	851.93 km2 (328.93 sq mi)
• Land	848.09 km2 (327.45 sq mi)
• Water	3.96 km2 (1.53 sq mi)
• Rank	92nd largest in Finland
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	15,420
• Rank	71st largest in Finland
• Density	18.18/km2 (47.1/sq mi)
Population by native language
• Finnish	94.2% (official)
• Swedish	0.2%
• Others	5.6%
Population by age
• 0 to 14	13.6%
• 15 to 64	55.7%
• 65 or older	30.7%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code	32200
Climate	Dfc
Website	www.loimaa.fi

Loimaa (Finnish: [ˈloi̯mɑː]; historical Swedish: Loimijoki) is a town and municipality of Finland.

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of 15,420 (31 December 2023)^[2] and covers an area of 851.93 square kilometers (328.93 sq mi) of which 3.96 km² (1.53 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 18.18 inhabitants per square kilometer (47.1/sq mi).

Loimaa's neighboring municipalities are Huittinen, Humppila, Koski Tl, Marttila, Oripää, Punkalaidun, Pöytyä, Somero, Säkylä and Ypäjä.

History

First mentions of Loimaa come from the year 1439 but a parish was founded in the area already a decade earlier. The town was founded in its current form in 1876 as the railway between Turku and Toijala was completed.^[5]

A legend of Prättäkitti is heavily associated with Loimaa.

The town of Loimaa merged with Loimaan kunta (literally "Municipality of Loimaa") on January 1, 2005 and with the municipalities of Alastaro and Mellilä on January 1, 2009.

The name Loimaa comes from the river Loimijoki which flows through the town.

Politics

After the 2021 municipal election the municipal council of Loimaa is as follows:^[6]

Party	Share of votes (%)	Seats
Centre Party	27.4	11
National Coalition Party *	17.4	6
Finns Party	15.1	6
Our Loimaa	12.6	5
Left	11.4	4
Social democrats	11.3	4
Christian democrats *	1.6	1

* The National Coalition Party and Christian Democrats formed an electoral alliance for the election.

Culture

A local speciality is piapo, a version of kama.^[7]

Rompepäivät (lit. "junk days") is an annual event that takes place in August. It brings together trunk show enthusiasts selling both old and new merchandise as well as food and entertainment. The trunk show is located at the historic market square of Loimaa, now known as Peltoinen, and draws in 8,000–10,000 visitors.^[8]

The local newspaper is called Loimaan Lehti. It first started publishing in 1915 and today comes out three times a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.^[9]

Subdivisions and villages

Alastaron-Mäenpää, Eura, Haara, Haaroinen, Haitula, Hartoinen, Hattula, Hirvikoski, Hurskala, Ilmarinen, Inkilä, Joenperä, Juva, Karhula, Karsattila, Kartanonmäki, Kauhanoja, Kemppilä, Kesärlä, Klockarla, Koenperä, Kojonkulma, Krekilä, Kuninkainen, Kurittula, Kuttila, Köyliö, Lappijoki, Levälä, Lähde, Metsämaa, Mäenpää, Niemi, Niinijoki, Onkijoki, Pahikainen, Pappinen, Peltoinen, Piltola, Puujalkala, Raikkola, Seppälä, Sieppala, Suopelto, Torkkala, Vesikoski, and Vilvainen.

Sights

Alpo Jaakola Statue Park
Heikintalo bison farm
The church of Loimaa Proper
Loimaa regional museum
Mill of Krekilä
Sarka, The Finnish Museum of Agriculture
Mill of Vesikoski
Loimaa railway station

Sports

The city is home to the Bisons Loimaa basketball club, 2012 and 2013 Champion of the Korisliiga. The club regularly qualifies for international competitions. It plays its home games at the Loimaa Sports Center and on some occasions moves to the Energia Areena. The city is also home to the Hurrikaani Loimaa volleyball club, regularly qualifies for international competitions such as CLvolleyM and SM-league.

Religion

The most popular religion among the inhabitants is the Evangelical Lutheranism: 4/5 of the local population is a member of the Loimaa Congregation, this has existed since 1420's.^[10] In total there are six lutheran churches scattered around the municipality's area.^[11]

The following Christian revival movements inside Lutheranism are represented in Loimaa:

Forssa-Loimaan Rauhanyhdistys (Conservative Laestadianism): based in Loimaa.^[12]
The Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland (evangelical movement)^[13]
Hyvän Paimenen luterilainen seurakunta (Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland): founded in Loimaa in 2016.^[14]

Other Christian denominations are Pentecostalists who are represented by a local association (Finnish Elävät Virrat ry) since 2018.^[15] The Evangelical Free Church of Finland has an office in Loimaa, although it's managed from Forssa.^[16] Inside the Finnish Orthodox Church Loimaa belongs to the congregation of Turku and an Orthodox mass is held regularly in Loimaa.^[17]

Apart from Christian denominations, Loimaa also hosts a Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witnesses.^[18]^[19] There's also a Buddhist meditation center (Mahayana and Vajrayana) ran by the Buddhist Dharma Center in its Tibet Art Center, which has bee a registered as a religious association since 1998.^[20]

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

Loimaa is twinned with the following towns.

Uddevalla, Sweden
Skien, Norway
Jõhvi, Estonia
Staraya Russa, Russia (discontinued until further noted due to Russian invasion of Ukraine)^[21]
Mosfellsbær, Iceland
Thisted Municipality, Denmark

Loimaa, Skien, Uddevalla, Thisted and Mostfellsbær form the oldest Nordic network of twin towns, which is still active.^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 26 April 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
^ "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.
^ ^a ^b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
^ "Loimaa Paas poiketen! HD". YouTube (in Finnish). 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
^ "Yle - Result service - Loimaa - Varsinais-Suomen vaalipiiri - Municipal Elections 2021 - Yle.fi". vaalit.yle.fi. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
^ "Ruoka". Loimaa-Seura (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
^ "Rompeloimaa". Rompepäivät (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
^ "Yhteystiedot". Loimaan Lehti (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
^ "Loimaan seurakunta". Loimaan seurakunta (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Churches". Loimaa. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Yhteystiedot". Forssa-Loimaan Rauhanyhdistys ry (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Suomen Luterilainen Evankeliumiyhdistys ry". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Hyvän Paimenen luterilainen seurakunta järjestäytyi Loimaalla". Lähetyshiippakunta. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Yhteystiedot". Elävät Virrat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Maakuntatyö - Forssan vapaaseurakunta". www.forssanvapaaseurakunta.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Jumalanpalvelukset muilla paikkakunnilla". Turun ortodoksinen seurakunta (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Etsi kokous". apps.jw.org. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Jehovan todistajat". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Buddhalainen Dharmakeskus". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "Loimaan kaupungin ja Staraja Russan ystävyystoiminta jäihin". Loimaan Lehti (in Finnish). 2 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
^ "Ystävyyskaupungit". Loimaan kaupunki (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.

External links

Media related to Loimaa at Wikimedia Commons

Town of Loimaa – Official website

[total_area-1] "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.

[population_count-2] "Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 26 April 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 29 April 2024.

[demography-3] "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.

[tax_rate-4] "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.

[5] "Loimaa Paas poiketen! HD". YouTube (in Finnish). 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2020.

[6] "Yle - Result service - Loimaa - Varsinais-Suomen vaalipiiri - Municipal Elections 2021 - Yle.fi". vaalit.yle.fi. Retrieved 7 September 2021.

[7] "Ruoka". Loimaa-Seura (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[8] "Rompeloimaa". Rompepäivät (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[9] "Yhteystiedot". Loimaan Lehti (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[10] "Loimaan seurakunta". Loimaan seurakunta (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[11] "Churches". Loimaa. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[12] "Yhteystiedot". Forssa-Loimaan Rauhanyhdistys ry (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[13] "Suomen Luterilainen Evankeliumiyhdistys ry". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[14] "Hyvän Paimenen luterilainen seurakunta järjestäytyi Loimaalla". Lähetyshiippakunta. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[15] "Yhteystiedot". Elävät Virrat (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[16] "Maakuntatyö - Forssan vapaaseurakunta". www.forssanvapaaseurakunta.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[17] "Jumalanpalvelukset muilla paikkakunnilla". Turun ortodoksinen seurakunta (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[18] "Etsi kokous". apps.jw.org. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[19] "Jehovan todistajat". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[20] "Buddhalainen Dharmakeskus". www.uskonnot.fi. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[21] "Loimaan kaupungin ja Staraja Russan ystävyystoiminta jäihin". Loimaan Lehti (in Finnish). 2 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2023.

[22] "Ystävyyskaupungit". Loimaan kaupunki (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.

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Loimaa

History

Politics

Culture

Subdivisions and villages

Sights

Sports

Religion

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns — sister cities

References

External links

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