Orimattila

Orimattila (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈoriˌmɑtːilɑ]) is a town in Päijänne Tavastia region, Finland. The southern part of Lahti is connected to the village of Pennala, which is located in the northern part of the Orimattila municipality. Its neighboring municipalities are Hollola, Iitti, Kärkölä, Lahti, Lapinjärvi, Mäntsälä, Myrskylä and Pukkila.^[4]

Orimattila
Town
Orimattilan kaupunki Orimattila stad
Orimattila Church
Coat of arms
Location of Orimattila in Finland
Country	Finland
Region	Päijänne Tavastia
Sub-region	Lahti
Charter	1636
City rights	1992
Government
• Town manager	Osmo Pieski
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	814.01 km2 (314.29 sq mi)
• Land	785.26 km2 (303.19 sq mi)
• Water	28.87 km2 (11.15 sq mi)
• Rank	105th largest in Finland
Population  (2024-12-31)[2]
• Total	15,651
• Rank	70th largest in Finland
• Density	19.93/km2 (51.6/sq mi)
Population by native language [2]
• Finnish	95.6% (official)
• Swedish	0.6%
• Others	3.8%
Population by age [3]
• 0 to 14	16.4%
• 15 to 64	58%
• 65 or older	25.6%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Climate	Dfc
Website	orimattila.fi

Orimattila has a population of 15,651 (31 December 2024),^[2] and it covers an area of 814.01 square kilometers of which 28.87 square kilometers is water.^[5] The municipality is also unilingually Finnish. Its per-capita population is around 20.14.^{[citation needed]}

The subject of the coat of arms of Orimattila, "a stallion horse carrying a scythe", refers to both the name of the municipality and local agriculture.^[6] The name itself comes from a house called Orhimattila, hosted by Henrich Mattzsson Orhimattila, which was already written in a 1573 book of judgment.^[7] The coat of arms was designed by Ahti Hammar and approved by the Orimattila Municipal Council at its meeting on 15 September 1956. The Ministry of the Interior approved the use of the coat of arms on 17 December of the same year.^[6]

Results of the 2021 Finnish municipal elections, resulted in the True Finns being the largest group on Orimattila council, in Orimattila.^[5]

History

The area of Orimattila contains Finland's oldest known settlement.

Orimattila gets its name from a local farm, established by Matti Laurinpoika in 1539. His estate was known as Orih-Mattila. As a village, Orimattila was first mentioned in 1561 as Orihmattila. A chapel community was established in the late 1500s, and it became an independent parish after it was separated from the neighboring parish of Hollola in 1636. The parish and its main settlement were still known as Orihmattila until the 19th century. Orih is an older pronunciation of the word ori meaning "stallion", though the loss of the h in place names was prevented by the element after it, in this case -mattila (cf. Orivesi, also called Orihvesi until the 19th century).^[8]

During the Great Northern War, which was caused by the Russian occupation of Finland, the parishes of Orimattila and Hollola were temporarily united. The following year, the bishop of Orimattila was forced to collect taxes from the neighboring parish of Hollola, which was then taken over by the bishop of Stockholm. ^{[citation needed]}

Many immigrants from the Kirvu region were settled in Orimattila as a result of the Continuation War. Orimattila became a town in 1992. In 2009, the municipality decided not to participate in the merger negotiations between the municipalities of Artjärvi and Orimattila, and on 22 March 2010, the two municipalities merged.^[9]

Population trends

The following diagram shows the city's population development over the past five years. The region where the city is located is used according to the situation on 1 January 2017.

Orimattilas population trends

Year	Residents
1980	15,184
1985	15,246
1990	15,805
1995	15,909
2000	15,629
2005	16,154
2010	16,309
2015	16,326
2020	16,005

Famous people

Culture

• Kaj Chydenius, a composer, is staying in the village
• Eero Erkko, Member of Parliament 1907–1918, newspaperman
• Aki Kaurismäki, film director
• Mika Kaurismäki, film director
• Pentti Papinaho, sculptor

Athletes

• Taito Haara, power and weight lifter
• Kristiina Mäkelä, triple jumper
• Satu Mäkelä-Nummela, Olympic shooting gold medalist (women's trap)
• Huvi Tuiskunen, sport shooter
• Jaakko Tuominen, hurdler

Twin towns — Sister cities

Orimattila is twinned with:

• Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Germany
• Östhammar, Sweden
• Jõgeva, Estonia
• Valka, Latvia^[10]

See also

• Artjärvi
• Myrskylä
• Pukkila

References

1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
2. "Population increased most in Uusimaa in 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 23 January 2025. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
3. "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
4. "Kunnat: Orimattila" (in Finnish). Kuntaliitto. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
5. "Finns Party gains, NCP top as turnout dips in Finnish local elections". 13 June 2021.
6. Suomen kunnallisvaakunat (in Finnish). Suomen Kunnallisliitto. 1982. p. 152. ISBN 951-773-085-3.; "Sisäasiainministeriön vahvistamat kaupunkien, kauppaloiden ja kuntien vaakunat I:11 Orimattila" (in Finnish). Kansallisarkiston digitaaliarkisto. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
7. Orimattila: Historia (in Finnish)
8. "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja_e-kirja_kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 306. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
9. "Artjärvi ja Orimattila yhteen 2011". Yle (in Finnish). 22 March 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
10. "International cooperation". Valka. Retrieved 4 May 2014.

External links

Media related to Orimattila at Wikimedia Commons

• Orimattila travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipality of Orimattila – Official website (in Finnish)