Karhula

The municipality has a population of around 52,000 (2020) and much of its area is made up of water. The name comes from the island Kotkansaari ("eagle island"), where the town was built and were most of its centre still lies. The former parish village Karhula, now a kind of a second centre with a number of shopping malls, is a few kilometres to the north, crossed by the E18 motorway.

History:

In medieval times, the rich fishing around the river mouth attracted people from elsewhere to settle here: mainly Tavastians, but also Savonians, Karelians and even Swedish, when the Vyborg (Viipuri/Viborg) castle had been built in 1293 and thereby Swedish rule had been established.

The Russian border moved west to the Kymi river in 1743, and after the Svensksund battle 1790 Russia built a fortress on the islands. The fortress sustained a mostly Russian population of some 8,000 – a major town at the time. When all Finland became a Russian grand duchy the fortress lost its importance; most of the fortress was destroyed in 1855, during the Crimean War, by a French-Brittish navy.

In the 1870s a strong sawmill industry developed, thanks to log driving along the Kymi river. One of the sawmills had a Norwegian owner and many Norwegians in the workforce. 1879 Kotka became a chartered town. The streets were laid out according to those of the former fortress town. 1890 Kotka got railway and its role as the main city of the area was cemented.

In 1907, the Second All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held in the city.

Historically the city had a substantial Swedish-speaking population, which declined during the 20th century, and today approximately 96% of the municipality's inhabitants are native Finnish speakers, only 1% native Swedish speakers (but there is still a Swedish school). The city's long history of industrialization is evident; paper and pulp mills have remained an important part of the regional economy.

By train:

Acceptably quick local trains connect Kotka to Kouvola and Lahti where you can change trains to get to Helsinki and elsewhere.

1 Kotka railway station (Kotkan rautatieasema), Kotkantie 1. (updated May 2020)

2 Kotka harbor railway station (Kotkan sataman rautatieasema), Satamakatu 9. (updated May 2020)

By car:

Route E18 connects Kotka to Helsinki, Hamina and Saint Petersburg. Also highway 15 connects Kotka to Kouvola.

By bus:

There are frequent coach connections to Helsinki and other cities including Saint Petersburg in Russia. See Matkahuolto and Onnibus for the domestic services. Some bus routes, especially those which come from Lappeenranta and Russia and go towards Helsinki stop only at Karhula which is about 9 km away from Kotka center, local transport is available to travel between Karhula and Kotka center.

Coming via Tallinn or Stockholm, there may be a coach connection with arranged transfer from the port, mostly via Kamppi.

Services from Saint Petersburg are operated by Lux Express and Transgold.