Kirkkonummi

Kirkkonummi (;  , ) is a municipality of  inhabitants () in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "Kirkkonummi" and "Kyrkslätt" in English is "church heath".

The municipality is located just outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, bordering the city of Espoo in the east. Other neighbouring municipalities are Vihti and Siuntio. The distance from the municipal centre to central Helsinki is some . Kirkkonummi also has excellent train and bus connections to other parts of the Greater Helsinki area, and many of its inhabitants commute daily to Helsinki.

The municipality covers an area of  of which  is water. The population density is . Over the recent years, Kirkkonummi has faced the highest population growth rate in the country, over 3% per annum.

Major population centres in Kirkkonummi include the municipal centre, Masala, Veikkola, Kantvik and the Upinniemi naval garrison area. In addition to these, there are dozens of smaller villages. Geographically, Kirkkonummi has two famous peninsulas, namely Porkkala and Upinniemi, the latter one of which houses a major Finnish naval base. Porkkala is also on one of the main bird migration routes in the Baltic Sea region. Additionally, Kirkkonummi has a large central plains area, through which a railway goes from Helsinki to Turku as well as extensive lake areas, much of which is relatively untouched wilderness.

Kirkkonummi has been populated from the Stone Age to the present day as evidenced by the very first Stone Age rock paintings found in Finland that are located by lake Vitträsk in the central lake region of Kirkkonummi. Incidentally, these paintings were found by the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius himself. The southern half of the municipality was leased to the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1956 for use as a naval base as part of the peace settlement that ended the hostilities between the Soviet Union and Finland during World War II. Signs of this time include concrete bunkers, other fortifications and the remains of an airbase.

Other places of interest located in Kirkkonummi include the medieval stone church in the municipal centre, the wooden church in the village of Haapajärvi as well as the Hvitträsk manor designed by Finnish architects Eliel Saarinen, Herman Gesellius and Armas Lindgren.

Politics
Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Kirkkonummi:

National Coalition Party   30.7%
Social Democratic Party   16.8%
True Finns   16.3%
Swedish People's Party   14.3%
Green League   10.1%
Centre Party   4.4%
Left Alliance   3.6%
Christian Democrats   2.3%

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities
Kirkkonummi is twinned with:

  Sundbyberg, Sweden  
  Paldiski, Estonia

References

External links 

  Municipality of Kirkkonummi – official website

 
Category:Greater Helsinki
Category:Populated coastal places in Finland
Category:Populated places established in the 1330s