Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 11th most populous urban area in the country.
Lappeenranta is located on the shore of Lake Saimaa, from the Russian border and from the city of Vyborg. Lappeenranta is one of the most important urban centres in the entire Saimaa region, together with the cities of Imatra, Mikkeli and Savonlinna. Lappeenranta incorporated the late municipalities of Lappee and Lauritsala in 1967, Nuijamaa in 1989, Joutseno in 2009 and Ylämaa in 2010.
Lappeenranta, the region's tourism centre, is the second most visited city in Finland by Russian tourists after Helsinki and competes with Helsinki for the largest share of tax-free sales in Finland. Lappeenranta is a model for renewable energy and a clean living environment. Lappeenranta was the only Finnish city among the 14 finalists of the international Earth Hour City Challenge 2014 organised by WWF. In 2009, Lappeenranta was ranked fourth in the comparison of the largest Finnish cities, while in the 2008 survey the city was ranked fifth. In a survey conducted among business representatives in 2011, Lappeenranta was ranked 17th among Finnish cities in terms of image.
Lappeenranta Airport, opened in 1918 and located in the city centre, is Finland's oldest operating airport.
Etymology
The name Lappeenranta consists of the genitive of Lappee (the name of the original core town) and the common noun ranta which means "shore". The harbor was known as Lapvesi ("lap water"). The history of Lappeenranta includes the rural municipality of Lappee and the hundred of Lapvesi. The Swedish name Villmanstrand contains the words vildman meaning "wild man" and strand also meaning "shore". A wild man is depicted on Lappeenranta's coat of arms.
History
thumb|left|upright|Map of Lappeenranta in the 1890s
The village of Kauskila, located about eight kilometers to the south of downtown Lappeenranta, was among the most significant Karelian population centers in South Karelia during the Middle Ages. Kauskila has been continuously inhabited for approximately 2,000 years.
Lappeenranta's original core settlement, Lapvesi, later Lappee, was originally formed around a headland jutting into Lake Saimaa, the site of the present fortress. The public market was established here, which became so important as a trading place that general Governor Count Per Brahe the Younger proposed that the Swedish government should grant town privileges to Lapvesi. The town was chartered in 1649 by Queen Christina of Sweden. At the time, Lapvesi was an important port for tar.
Between 1721 and 1743, Lappeenranta was the capital of Kymmenegård and Nyslott County and during this period the Swedes built the fortress out in stages.
In 1741, the Battle of Villmanstrand was fought between the Swedish and Russian armies in the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743. The battle ended in a Russian victory. The town was pillaged, wooden structures including the provincial chancellery were burnt and the ecclesiastical archives damaged. The remaining portion of Old Finland still belonging to Sweden, including Lappeenranta, was ceded by Sweden to Russia per the Treaty of Turku. Following the creation of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809, Old Finland was joined to the Grand Duchy in 1812 as a gesture of goodwill by Alexander I of Russia.
Lappeenranta incorporated the neighbouring municipalities of Lappee and Lauritsala on 1 January 1967, Nuijamaa on 1 January 1989, Joutseno on 1 January 2009, and Ylämaa on 1 January 2010.
Geography
Located on the southern shore of Lake Saimaa, Lappeenranta's neighboring municipalities on the Finnish side are Imatra, Lemi, Luumäki, Miehikkälä, Ruokolahti and Taipalsaari, and on the Russian side, neighbors include Svetogorsk and Kamennogorsk.
Climate
Lappeenranta has a humid continental climate of the warm-summer type (Köppen: Dfb). The summers are longer, although rarely hot, and usually warm. Some of the warmest summers in the country can be found here, due to its orientation: southern but inland. Being in an eastern part of Finland, the winters are often harsh but still mild compared to areas further east.
Anchorage has some similarities by being of marine influence of hot currents and at the same time of the marginal continentality. But Lappeenranta is still able to receive heat waves that cross Central Europe in a warmer climate than cool.
Climate changes
Between 2000 and 2017 the temperature change was greater than the whole previous century, with +1.2 °C (higher values than Helsinki or Oulu). Since 2000 the number of warm days (> 24 °C) has become 2 per year, while the 1900 data indicates only 2 days per decade. From the first half of the twentieth century the days above 24 °C changed from rare to occasional in the second half to regular in the present century. There was also a 17.5 decrease in temperature below −1 °C for the same comparison period. 2015 was the hottest year since 1900, having one of the less than 50 days with freezing days. Work to reduce the temperature increase has been carried out; the city is again among the best 45 cities in the world in the WWF City Challenge 2016. One of the goals is to reduce carbon dioxide by 30% by 2020 and zero emissions by 2050. Compared to the 1961-1990 climate norms and other older reference periods, the climate of Lappeenranta has changed somewhat as the average temperatures have warmed up and as well, the total amount of precipitation has also increased somewhat.
Demographics
Population
The city of Lappeenranta has inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The Lappeenranta region has a population of .