Ikaalinen

Ikaalinen (Template:IPA; Template:Langx) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region, located Template:Convert northwest of Tampere. The town has a population of Template:Data Finland municipality/population count ({{#time: j F Y|Template:Data Finland municipality/population count }})<ref name="population_count"/> and covers an area of Template:Convert of which Template:Convert is water.<ref name="total_area"/> The population density is Template:Convert.

The municipalities next to it are Hämeenkyrö, Jämijärvi, Kankaanpää, Parkano, Sastamala and Ylöjärvi. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Ikaalinen is known for Ikaalinen Spa, Sata-Häme Soi and Toivolansaari Camping.

The Seitseminen national park is partly located in the municipality.

S. Albert Kivinen, a writer and associate professor of philosophy of the University of Helsinki, is a native of Ikaalinen and his story Keskiyön Mato Ikaalisissa ("The Midnight Worm in Ikaalinen") is set there.

Ikaalinen became an independent municipality in 1641. The associated market town was founded in 1858. The market town and the municipality were united in 1972 and Ikaalinen became a town in 1977.

The centre of Ikaalinen is on lake Kyrösjärvi near the highway 3 (E12).

Transport

The private coach company OnniBus route Helsinki—Seinäjoki—Vaasa has a stop at Ikaalinen.

Notable people

• Sulo Aittoniemi, congressman
• Outi Borgenström, sportsperson (orienteering)
• Oskar Gripenberg, general
• Edvard Gylling, politician (SDP, SKP), statistician
• S. Albert Kivinen, philosopher
• Jarmo Kujanpää, sportsperson (football)
• Kalervo Kurkiala, chaplain (1931–38)
• Matti Pitkänen, sportsperson (cross country skiing)
• Krista Pärmäkoski, sportsperson (cross country skiing)
• Samuli Samuelsson, sportsperson (sprinter)
• Bertel Strömmer, architect

See also

• Nokia, another spa town in the Pirkanmaa region

External links

• Town of Ikaalinen – Official website