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| ==Economy== | ==Economy== | ||
| The city's main employers are the City of Lappeenranta, ], South Karelia Central Hospital, ], Paroc, Nordkalk, VR-Group, Cloetta Fazer, The Armed Forces, Larox and Pola. | The city's main employers are the City of Lappeenranta, ], South Karelia Central Hospital, ], Paroc, Nordkalk, VR-Group, ], The Armed Forces, Larox and Pola. | ||
| A large portion of Lappeenranta workers live in the neighboring municipalities, mainly ], ], ] and ]. Lappeenranta is connected to these municipalities by roads. | A large portion of Lappeenranta workers live in the neighboring municipalities, mainly ], ], ] and ]. Lappeenranta is connected to these municipalities by roads. | ||
Revision as of 14:17, 6 October 2006
Lappeenranta (or Villmanstrand in Swedish) is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about 30 km from the Russian border. It belongs to the province of Southern Finland and the region of South Karelia. With 59,000 inhabitants (December 31 2004) Lappeenranta is the eleventh-largest city of Finland.
History
The town was chartered in 1649 by Queen Christina of Sweden, legitimizing the trade at the then popular marketplace of Lapvesi.
Services
Education
Lappeenranta has numerous schools at almost all levels of education, including a University of Technology.
Traffic
Lappeenranta is connected to its neighbor cities and municipalities by road, with railways heading to south and north.
During the summer season, when Lake Saimaa and Saimaa Canal are accessible by ships, there is a ship connection from Lappeenranta to Vyborg, Russia.
There is also a mid-size airport at Lappeenranta, which on a busy day serves circa 30 aircraft per day, and in minimum, only a few.
Economy
The city's main employers are the City of Lappeenranta, UPM-Kymmene, South Karelia Central Hospital, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Paroc, Nordkalk, VR-Group, fazer, The Armed Forces, Larox and Pola.
A large portion of Lappeenranta workers live in the neighboring municipalities, mainly Joutseno, Taipalsaari, Lemi and Savitaipale. Lappeenranta is connected to these municipalities by roads.
Culture
Laila Hirvisaari (formely Laila Hietamies) has written a novel series about Lappeenranta and its people.
Kotiteollisuus is very popular finnish hard rock band coming from Lappeenranta.
Tourism
Lappeenranta is known as a summer city, mostly due to its closeness to the lake Saimaa. In addition, its inland location means that summers tend to be warmer and winters colder than in the shore parts of the country.
The proximity of the Russian border is increasingly visible in the number of Russian tourists visiting the city. In fact, Saint Petersburg of Russia is closer (211 km) to Lappeenranta than Helsinki, the capital of Finland (221 km).
Good places and events to visit are
- The old fortress, with a number of museums, cafés and the oldest Orthodox church in Finland.
- The harbour area, with beautiful lake scenery and cruises to Vyborg and the nearby Saimaa Canal.
- The water tower, which gives a good view all over the city.
- The central market place, where you can enjoy the local specialities - meat pies known as "Atomi" (atom) or "Vety" (hydrogen).
- The Night of The Fort, a two-day cultural festival in early August.
- The annual Lappeenranta National Singing Contest.
Gallery
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Port of Lappeenranta at night.
External links
61°04′N 28°11′E / 61.067°N 28.183°E / 61.067; 28.183
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