Harjavalta

Harjavalta is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Satakunta region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
Today people in the town are employed in the copper and nickel smelting industries. Today's most used metal recovery method, the flash smelting method, was developed at Harjavalta and implemented in 1949. Originally part of Outokumpu, a Finnish company, the copper business is now owned by Boliden and the nickel business by Norilsk Nickel.
Hiittenharju is a ridge in Harjavalta, known for its archaeology and cultural history. The banks of the ancient Litorina Sea lies on the fringes of the Hiittenharju ridge. In the Hiittenharju area Bronze Age graves, called barrows, have been discovered, and there is also a historical route called Huovintie running through Hiittenharju.
The river Kokemäenjoki river runs through the town.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
History.
Earliest signs of habitation on the area have been dated to 1200 BC. Various different writings of the name in documents of the 15th century at the Turku Cathedral are "Harianwalta", "Hariawalta", "Hariaualdastha", "Harianwaltha" ja "Harianwaltaby". The name is supposed to originate from the speculative Proto Germanic name "", composed of the speculative words "*harjaz" ("army") and "*waldaz" ("authority"). It is believed that either a person named Harjawaldaz or a warrior band settled or lived in the area. The earliest known written occurrence of the name is from Tacitus on the first century, "Chariovalda". Different adoptions of the same name are Harald, Hérault and Harold, but Harjavalta is closest to the reconstructed original.
Politics.
Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Harjavalta:
Town twinning.
Harjavalta is twinned with: