Kalajoki

Introduction

This article is about the town in Finland. For the river, see Kalajoki River. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Finnish.  (June 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Finnish Wikipedia article at [[:fi:Kalajoki]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fi|Kalajoki}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. Town in North Ostrobothnia, FinlandKalajokiTownKalajoen kaupunkiKalajoki stadKalajoki Town Hall Coat of armsLocation of Kalajoki in FinlandInteractive map of KalajokiCoordinates: 64°16′N 023°57′E / 64.267°N 23.950°E / 64.267; 23.950Country FinlandRegionNorth OstrobothniaSub-regionYlivieskaCharter1865Town privileges2002Government • Town managerJukka PuoskariArea (2018-01-01) • Total2,391.30 km2 (923.29 sq mi) • Land924.1 km2 (356.8 sq mi) • Water1,469.15 km2 (567.24 sq mi) • Rank84th largest in FinlandPopulation (2025-12-31) • Total12,155 • Rank84th largest in Finland • Density13.15/km2 (34.1/sq mi)Population by native language • Finnish95.9% (official) • Swedish0.4% • Others3.7%Population by age • 0 to 1418.1% • 15 to 6455.7% • 65 or older26.2%Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET) • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)Websitewww.kalajoki.fi Kalajoki (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkɑlɑˌjoki]; literally translated the "fish river") is a coastal town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the Gulf of Bothnia in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 12,155 (31 December 2025) and covers an area of 2,391.30 square kilometres (923.29 sq mi) of which 1,469.15 km2 (567.24 sq mi) is water. The population density is 13.15 inhabitants per square kilometre (34.1/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

[edit] The first reference to Kalajoki can be found from the beginning of 16th century and it got the status of a parish in 1525, it was designated as a regional parish in 1545. This status ended with the abolishment of the parish form of organization in the early 1860s. Kalajoki was a significant market place and controlled the whole region's tar trading. By the end of 19th century the meaning of tar was diminishing as a good and the importance of Kalajoki was reduced thereafter.[citation needed] The tar trade was a derivative of the forestry industry, and Kalajoki has long been the location of forestry activities.[citation needed] There are still sawmills in operation in the city today. In addition to tar trading, Kalajoki has long been a farming community, producing a variety of agricultural products, including wheat and rye. There are many farms still operating in the city, and there is a weekly market during the spring and summer months where local farmers and merchants sell their products.[citation needed]

Government

[edit] There were many attempts to reorganize Kalajoki as a city, which would confer additional authorities on the municipality. The first attempt was in 1865, and there were several subsequent attempts throughout the 20th century. Kalajoki was finally reorganized as a city in 2002. Just like any municipality in Finland, the city of Kalajoki is composed of several sub-units, called a kylä. The following compose the city of Kalajoki: Vasankari, Plassi, Mehtäkylä, Pohjankylä, Pitkäsenkylä, Etelänkylä, Kääntä, Tynkä, Rahja, Kurikkala, Kärkinen, Typpö, Rautio. Every four years, the voters of Kalajoki elect a city council of 35 members which meets monthly. The Council then elects a governing council of nine members that meets more regularly to transact the business of the city. As of the most recent municipal election in 2004, 19 members of the city council are from the Centre Party, 6 are from the local Pro Kalajoki Party, 4 are from the centre-right National Coalition Party, 3 are from the Left Alliance, 2 are from the centre-left Social Democratic Party, and one member is from the Christian Democrats Party. The next municipal elections will be held throughout Finland in 2012. The municipality of Rautio was consolidated with Kalajoki in 1973. The neighboring municipality of Himanka was consolidated with Kalajoki on January 1, 2010.

Tourism

[edit] Sandy beaches of Kalajoki Kalajoki is a well known tourist attraction place in Finland due to long sandy beaches at shores of the Bothnian Bay, and related activities.

People born in Kalajoki

[edit] This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Kalle Myllylä (1844 – 1923) Tuomas Pohjanpalo (1861 – 1933) Leonard Typpö (1868 – 1922; born in Rautio) Sakari Ainali (1874 – 1938; born in Himanka) Wäinö Palmqvist (1882 — 1964) Vilho Kivioja (1896 – 1977) Elias Simojoki (1899 – 1940; born in Rautio) Kauko Tuupainen (1940 – ) Antti Haapakoski (1971 – ) Rainer Nygård (1972 – ) Jussi Jokinen (1983 – ) Juho Jokinen (1986 – ) Benedek Oláh table tennis player (1992 – ) Jaakko Rahja [fi] (1872 – 1926)

International relations

[edit] See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland Twin towns — Sister cities[edit] Kalajoki is twinned with: Izumo, Shimane, Japan (2003) Taki, Japan Vansbro, Sweden[circular reference]