Lohja (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Lohja is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Lohja is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Lohja is part of the Helsinki sub-region, but not directly part of the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Lohja covers an area of of which , or 8.3 percent, is water. Lohja is close to the Helsinki metropolitan area and benefits from a good road network. It takes less than an hour to drive from Helsinki to Lohja on the E18 motorway, which, along with Hangonväylä, is one of Lohja's main road connections.
Lohja is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages. City's bilingual slogan is: – which translates to "Lake city".
The landscape of Lohja is characterized by manors and gardens. Its area is divided by the Lohja ridge, which forms a watershed for the largest lake system in Uusimaa, Lake Lohja (Lohjanjärvi); mostly that's why Lohja is also referred to as "Lake City" (järvikaupunki). The medieval Church of St. Lawrence is the architectural highlight of downtown Lohja, which also includes a heterogeneous mix of buildings mostly dating from the 1960s onwards. The Lohja library, which was opened in 2005, is a distinctly modern building
Lohja has been a focal point for the population and economy of western Uusimaa since the early 14th century. The local inhabitants were among the pioneers of the Finnish mining and construction material industries. Lohja has long-established traditions in horticulture and especially in market gardening. These traditions are represented by the
Politics
Local
Pasi Perämäki is the city manager of Lohja. The city manager oversees the city committee. In addition to the city committee, Lohja has a 51-seat municipal council. The parties represented in the council as well as their seat counts are listed below.
{| class="wikitable"
|+City Council of Lohja
! colspan="2" | Party
! Seats
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|Social Democratic Party
| valign="center" align="center" |11
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|National Coalition Party
| valign="center" align="center" |10
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|Green League
| valign="center" align="center" |7
|-
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|Left Alliance
| valign="center" align="center" |6
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|Finns Party
| valign="center" align="center" |6
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|Centre Party
| valign="center" align="center" |5
|-
! style="background-color:#006600" |
|Meidän Lohja
| valign="center" align="center" |3
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|Swedish People's Party
| valign="center" align="center" |1
|-
! style="background-color: " |
|Christian Democrats
| valign="center" align="center" |1
|-
! style="background-color:#ffff00" |
|Haloo Lohja
| valign="center" align="center" |1
|}
National
2015 parliamentary election
{| class="wikitable"
|+Results of the 2015 parliamentary election in Lohja
!Party
!Vote share
|-
|Social Democratic Party
|25,5%
|-
|Finns Party
|22,9%
|-
|National Coalition Party
|16,5%
|-
|Centre Party
|12,9%
|-
|Green League
|7,2%
|-
|Left Alliance
|5,9%
|-
|Swedish People's Party
|3,1%
|-
|Christian Democrats
|3,1%
|-
|Change 2011
|1,1%
|}
Climate
Lohja has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb)
Culture
The most notable are the Lohja Summer Cultural Festival, the Apple Carnival organized by representatives of business and commerce, the retailers' Hurlumhei Carnival and the Old Time Christmas market continue the tradition of fairs dating back to the Middle Ages.
The Doom Metal band Reverend Bizarre hails from Lohja.
Elias Lönnrot, who wrote the Kalevala, was both born and died in Sammatti, which has been part of Lohja since 2009.
Sights
Museums
thumb|Lohja Museum
- Lohja Museum
- Paikkari Croft, the home of Elias Lönnrot
- Johannes Lohilampi museum
- Tytyri Mine Museum
- Kaarre Military Museum
- Kovela Agricultural Museum
- Hyrsylän Mutka, the home of dancer Aira Samulin
- Nummi Local History Museum
- Pusula Local History Museum
Churches
- The medieval St. Lawrence's Churchthumb|The Church of St. Lawrence in Lohja
- Karjalohja Church
- Kärkölä Village Church
- Nummi Church
- Pusula Church
- Sammatti Church
Other places of interest
- Surroundings of Lake Lohjanjärvi
- Alitalo vineyard
- Paavola Oak and nature trail
- Karkali Nature Park
- Lohja Theatre
- Liessaari Nature Trail
- Torhola Cave
thumb|Limestone and cement factory in the [[Virkkala|Virkkala district, in March 2006]]
Manor Houses
- Ojamo Manor
- Kirkniemi Manor
- Kyrkstad Manor
- Laakspohja Manor
Sports
Lohjan Pallo is the football team of the city. Lohja also has an ice hockey team called Lohjan Jääankat.
Kisakallio Sports Institute is located in Lohja. Other important sports venues in the town are Neidonkeidas Indoor Swimming Pool and Lohja Spa Resort in Karjalohja.
Demographics
Municipal consolidations
thumb|Lohja Town Hall
The municipality of Lohja was consolidated with the city of Lohja in 1997, and the municipality of Sammatti in 2009. The municipalities of Karjalohja and Nummi-Pusula were consolidated with Lohja in 2013.
{| class="wikitable"
|+List of municipal consolidations into Lohja
!Municipality
!Year
|-
|Lohja (municipality)
|1997
|-
|Sammatti
|2009
|-
|Karjalohja
|2013
|-
|Nummi-Pusula
|2013
|}
Local subdivisions
thumb|[[Saukkola in 2011]]
thumb|Nummi Church in the [[Nummi, Uusimaa|Nummi village]]
thumb|[[Pusula Church in the Pusula village]]
A significant part of the city of Lohja is not yet part of any district, since after the 1997 municipal association with the former rural municipality of Lohja.
Neighborhoods
The official city districts within the city proper of the municipality of Lohja are:
- Ahtsalmi, Anttila, Gruotila, Gunnarla, Hiidensalmi, Immula, Keskilohja, Kirkniemi (), Kukkumäki (formerly Luttula, ), Kirkonkylä (), Lempola, Maksjoki, Metsola, Moisio, Muijala, Myllylampi, Neitsytlinna, Ojamo, Ojamonkangas, Paloniemi (Swedish: Fagernäs), Pappila (Swedish: Prästgården), Pappilankorpi, Perttilä (Swedish: Bertbacka), Pitkäniemi, Routio (Swedish: Routiobacka), Röylä, Sammatti, Vappula (), Ventelä (), Vienola and Virkkala ().
Villages
The villages and hamlets of the municipality of Lohja are:
- Växjö, Sweden
- Ringerike, Norway
- Aabenraa, Denmark
- Skagaströnd, Iceland
- Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary
- Kalush, Ukraine
Notable people
thumb|[[Sanni (singer)|Sanni, 2016]]
- Eeva Joenpelto (1921-2004), autor
- Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (born 1965), politician and cross-country skier
- Marjut Rolig (* 1966), cross-country skier (gold at 1992 Winter Olympics)
- Tomi Joutsen (* 1976), singer
- Sanna Stén (* 1977), rower (silver at 2008 Summer Olympics)
- Laura Mononen (* 1984), cross-country skier
- Henri Laaksonen (* 1992) professional tennis player
- Jenni Vähämaa (* 1992), figure skater
- Sanni Kurkisuo (* 1993), singer, songwirter and actress
- Tuukka Taponen (* 2006), racing driver
See also
Districts of Lohja
- Saukkola
- Virkkala
Neighbourhooding municipalities
- Ingå
- Siuntio
- Vihti
References
External links
- Town of Lohja – Official site
- Visit Lohja