Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 16th most populous urban area in the country.
Kotka is situated in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city situated on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a culturally diverse city with a variety of schools. It was previously a part of the former Kymi parish. Kymi, Haapasaari island, and Karhula, which was once a separate market town, were later incorporated into Kotka. Kotka's neighboring municipalities are Hamina, Kouvola, and Pyhtää. Kotka is situated in the Kotka-Hamina subdivision and, along with Kouvola, is one of the main centres of the Kymenlaakso region.
The city centre of Kotka is located on an island in the sea called Kotkansaari ("Island of Kotka"). The main road in Kotka is the Finnish national road 7 (E18), which runs west through Porvoo to Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and extends east to St. Petersburg, Russia. The Port of Kotka is a major Finnish seaport serving both Finnish and Russian foreign trade. The municipality is officially unilingually Finnish, with being native Finnish speakers, Swedish, and speaking some other language.
Heraldry
thumb|left|upright|The older [[coat of arms of Kotka from the 19th century]]
The description of the older coat of arms read that "the upper field of the split shield is blue, the lower field silver, and in the center of the shield a natural stone with a golden eagle, and in the lower field the anchor and caduceus diagonally crossed, both blue," while the current coat of arms is described as follows: "In a blue field, the wings of a golden natural eagle are raised, standing with a crossed anchor and caduceus, both of which are silver." The first coat of arms of the city of Kotka was confirmed in 1881. However, the Kotka City Council had to renew the old coat of arms in 1954 because it did not meet heraldic requirements. The new coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson in 1957,
History
thumb|left|The bridge of Kotka burnt down on 26 July 1855, during the [[Battles in Gulf of Finland|naval warfare of the Gulf of Finland]]
On 16 April 1878, the Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issued a declaration establishing a city on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish, so in 1879 the islands of Kotkansaari and Hovinsaari were separated from Kymi and the city of Kotka was established.
The Second All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held in Kotka, on 21–23 July (3–5 August) 1907.
Historically, Swedish was the official language in the city until 1902. From 1902 until 1906, the city was officially bilingual. Kotka has a Swedish speaking minority (see: Swedish-speaking population of Finland), which in the 1890s accounted for 16% of the city population and 3% in the 1950s. Today around 1% of the city's population are Swedish speakers. There is one school in Kotka where Swedish is the language of instruction, Kotka Svenska Samskola, which was founded in 1885.
Kotka region was one of the first heavily industrialized regions of Finland. Paper and pulp mills remain important employers. In the last decades several factories have undergone restructuring which has led to an increasing unemployment. Since the 1980s the population of Kotka has been slowly decreasing, mostly due to domestic migration to Helsinki region.
Demographics
Population
The city of Kotka has inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The Kotka-Hamina region has a population of .