Hyvinkää (; , ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Hyvinkää is situated in the northern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Hyvinkää is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Hyvinkää is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, which has approximately million inhabitants.
Hyvinkää is located approximately north of the capital Helsinki. The city was granted its charter in 1960. The municipality shares borders with Riihimäki and Hausjärvi to the north, Mäntsälä to the east, Tuusula and Nurmijärvi to the south, and Vihti and Loppi to the west.
Highways, such as the Tampere Highway (E12) and Hanko Highway, as well as rail connections, make it one of the suburban commuter centres of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The city planning has placed emphasis on recreational facilities.
Hyvinkää is home to several well-known buildings, including the 1961 church and the Kytäjä manor house. Additionally, the Finnish Railway Museum is located in Hyvinkää. is located in the village of Kytäjä in the Hyvinkää countryside.
Hyvinkää is also home to Konecranes, which specialises in the manufacture and service of cranes, and KONE Elevators, the world's third largest elevator company, which manufactures, installs and services elevators and escalators.
History
thumb|left|A painstakingly restored British "[[Neilson and Company" engine, used in Finland from 1869 well into the 1920s, preserved at the Finnish Railway Museum]]
In the 16th century there was a tavern in the area now known as Hyvinkäänkylä (literally "the village of Hyvinkää"), which lies approximately halfway between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna. It was mentioned the first time in 1495 as Höffinga. The first tax catalogues also marked the existence of some houses in the area around the same time. During the 16th century there was also a mine close to current-day Kytäjä village.
Hyvinkää village gradually grew in the latter half of the 19th century, though it was the construction of the railway network through Finland, beginning in 1861, that marked the starting point for the town's rapid growth. Hyvinkää, who still belonged to the Nurmijärvi parish at that time, resigned in 1917 as its own parishioner.
The construction of Finland's first stretch of railroad, the Helsinki–Hämeenlinna line, determined the location of the present city centre and the railway station of Hyvinkää is one of the few original stations still in use. From Hyvinkää the railway also branches off to the port of Hanko. The Hanko–Hyvinkää Railroad was the first private railroad in Finland, founded in 1862, and acquired by the Finnish State RR Co. in 1875. In the early 20th century, the station village in Hyvinkää was an intermediate stopping point for many emigrants leaving by ship from Hanko for a new life in North America.
The air quality of Hyvinkää was considered healthy due to dense pine forests, and in the 1880s a group of physicians from Helsinki opened a sanatorium for patients seeking rest and recuperation.
Industrialization brought a wool factory to Hyvinkää in 1892 – the Donner family's Hyvinge Yllespinneri. The factory ceased operation in the 1990s, but the red-brick halls still remain. The building has found several new uses, including an exhibition centre and a theater.
Hyvinkää Airfield served as the country's main airport for a short time after the second World War while Helsinki-Malmi Airport was under the control of the Allied Powers. There is now a motorsports centre near the airfield.
Hyvinkää's population grew quickly following the Second World War. It became home to many Finnish Karelian refugees after Karelia was handed out to Soviet Union by the Moscow Peace Treaty. Nowadays Hyvinkää is the sixth biggest town by inhabitants of Uusimaa.
Climate
Hyvinkää has a humid continental climate (Dfb), typical for southern Finland.
Demographics
Population
The city of Hyvinkää has inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The city of Hyvinkää is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area, which is the largest urban area in Finland with inhabitants.