{{expand Finnish|date=June 2023|topic=geo}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Kauhajoki | official_name = {{lang|fi|Kauhajoen kaupunki}}<br />{{lang|sv|Kauhajoki stad}} | settlement_type = Town | image_skyline = Kauhajoen kaupungintalo.JPG | image_caption = Kauhajoki Town Hall | image_shield = Kauhajoki.vaakuna.svg | shield_size = 120x80px | image_map = Kauhajoki sijainti Suomi.svg | map_caption = Location of Kauhajoki in Finland | coordinates = {{coord|62|25|55|N|22|10|46|E|display=inline,title}} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-marker = town | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Finland}} | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = South Ostrobothnia | subdivision_type2 = Sub-region | subdivision_name2 = Suupohja | leader_title = Town manager | leader_name = Niku Latva-Pukkila | established_title = Charter | established_date = 1868 | established_title2 = Town privileges | established_date2 = 2001 |area_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|area_footnotes|Kauhajoki}} |area_total_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|area_total_km2|Kauhajoki}} |area_land_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|area_land_km2|Kauhajoki}} |area_water_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|area_water_km2|Kauhajoki}} |area_rank = {{Data Finland municipality|area_rank|Kauhajoki}} |population_as_of = {{Data Finland municipality|population_as_of|Kauhajoki}} |population_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|population_footnotes|Kauhajoki}} |population_total = {{Data Finland municipality|population_total|Kauhajoki}} |population_density_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|population_density_km2|Kauhajoki}} | population_blank1_title = Demonym | population_blank1 = Kauhajokinen (Finnish) |population_rank = {{Data Finland municipality|population_rank|Kauhajoki}} |demographics_type1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics_type1|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|population_footnotes|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_title1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title1|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_info1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info1|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_title2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title2|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_info2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info2|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_title3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title3|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_info3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info3|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_title4 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title4|Kauhajoki}} |demographics1_info4 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info4|Kauhajoki}} |demographics_type2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics_type2|Kauhajoki}} |demographics2_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_footnotes|Kauhajoki}} |demographics2_title1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_title1|Kauhajoki}} |demographics2_info1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_info1|Kauhajoki}} |demographics2_title2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_title2|Kauhajoki}} |demographics2_info2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_info2|Kauhajoki}} |demographics2_title3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_title3|Kauhajoki}} |demographics2_info3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_info3|Kauhajoki}} |blank_name = {{Data Finland municipality|blank_name|Kauhajoki}} |blank_info = {{Data Finland municipality|blank_info|Kauhajoki}} |timezone = EET |utc_offset = +02:00 |timezone_DST = EEST |utc_offset_DST = +03:00 | website = {{Url|https://kauhajoki.fi/}} }} '''Kauhajoki''' ({{IPA|fi|ˈkɑu̯hɑˌjoki}}; {{lit.}} “Scoop River”) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the South Ostrobothnia region, {{convert|59|km}} southwest of the city of Seinäjoki. The population of Kauhajoki is {{formatnum: {{Data Finland municipality/population count|Kauhajoki}}}} ({{#time: j F Y|{{Data Finland municipality/population count|sourcedate}} }})<ref name="population_count" /> and the municipality covers an area of {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/land area|Kauhajoki}}|km2|abbr=on}} of which {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/inland waters area|Kauhajoki}}|km2|abbr=on}} is inland water ({{#time: j F Y|{{Data Finland municipality/total area|sourcedate}} }}).<ref name="total_area" /> The population density is {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/population density|Kauhajoki|round=2}}|PD/km2|abbr=on}}. The town is unilingually Finnish.
The neighboring municipalities of Kauhajoki are Isojoki in the southwest, Kankaanpää in the south, Karijoki in the west, Karvia in the southeast, Kurikka in the north and Teuva in the west.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.fi/maps/place/Kauhajoki/@62.9020721,22.2998129,8.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x4688648fcfd65e55:0x40146d63c75b0a0!8m2!3d62.4363332!4d22.1875413|title=Kauhajoki · Kauhajoki, Suomi|access-date=2021-09-23}}</ref> Kauhajoki is the center of the Suupohja sub-region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.finder.fi/kunta/Kauhajoki|title=Kauhajoki - Yritykset ja työnantajat - Finder.fi|website=Finder.fi|access-date=2021-09-23|language=fi}}</ref>
== Geography == Most of Kauhajoki is located north of the Suomenselkä's watershed. Most of the municipal area is a gently sloping plains to the west and north.<ref>{{cite book |author = Matti Porkkala & V. J. Marttila |title = Kauhajoki |publisher = Kauhajoki-Seura ry |year = 1963 |page = 3 |language = fi}}</ref> On the border of the Kauhajoki and Isojoki is Lauhanvuori, one of the highest points in Western Finland, which rises 231 meters above sea level. However, the highest point of Lauhanvuori is on the Isojoki side, a few tens of meters from the Kauhajoki border.<ref>{{cite book | author = Liisa Ruismäki | title = Kauhajoen historia: esihistoriasta vuoteen 1918 | pages = 41–42 | year = 1987 |location = Jyväskylä | publisher = Kauhajoen kunta ja seurakunta | isbn = 951-99888-2-3 | language = fi}}</ref> Lauhanvuori national park and an other national park located in Kauhajoki, [https://www.nationalparks.fi/kauhaneva-pohjankangasnp Kauhaneva-Pohjankangas], belong to a [https://lhgeopark.fi/en/mire-is-life/ Unesco Global Geopark Lauhanvuori-Hämeenkangas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201091827/https://lhgeopark.fi/en/mire-is-life/ |date=1 December 2022 }}.
===Climate=== {{Weather box | width = auto | metric first = y | single line = y | location = Kauhajoki (1991-2020 normals, extremes 1993–present) | Jan mean C = -5.6 | Feb mean C = -6.1 | Mar mean C = -2.9 | Apr mean C = 2.9 | May mean C = 8.9 | Jun mean C = 13.4 | Jul mean C = 16.0 | Aug mean C = 14.3 | Sep mean C = 9.6 | Oct mean C = 4.1 | Nov mean C = -0.2 | Dec mean C = -3.3 | year mean C = 4.3 | Jan record low C = -34.2 | Feb record low C = -34.0 | Mar record low C = -29.7 | Apr record low C = -17.2 | May record low C = -6.7 | Jun record low C = -3.1 | Jul record low C = 0.6 | Aug record low C = -3.3 | Sep record low C = -6.8 | Oct record low C = -16.8 | Nov record low C = -26.2 | Dec record low C = -32.1 | year record low C = -34.2 | Jan record high C = 7.7 | Feb record high C = 7.6 | Mar record high C = 14.7 | Apr record high C = 23.2 | May record high C = 28.2 | Jun record high C = 31.6 | Jul record high C = 32.6 | Aug record high C = 30.5 | Sep record high C = 26.0 | Oct record high C = 19.0 | Nov record high C = 12.8 | Dec record high C = 9.3 | year record high C = 32.6 | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 38 | Feb precipitation mm = 31 | Mar precipitation mm = 27 | Apr precipitation mm = 27 | May precipitation mm = 39 | Jun precipitation mm = 60 | Jul precipitation mm = 71 | Aug precipitation mm = 72 | Sep precipitation mm = 54 | Oct precipitation mm = 60 | Nov precipitation mm = 48 | Dec precipitation mm = 47 | year precipitation mm = 574 | Jan precipitation days = 10 | Feb precipitation days = 8 | Mar precipitation days = 7 | Apr precipitation days = 7 | May precipitation days = 7 | Jun precipitation days = 9 | Jul precipitation days = 10 | Aug precipitation days = 10 | Sep precipitation days = 8 | Oct precipitation days = 10 | Nov precipitation days = 10 | Dec precipitation days = 10 | year precipitation days = 106 | source 2 = Record highs and lows <ref name="FMI open data">{{cite web | url = https://kilotavu.com/asema-taulukko.php?asema=101289 | title = FMI open data | publisher = FMI | access-date = 18 January 2025}}</ref> | source = FMI normals for Finland 1991-2020<ref name="FMI">{{cite web|url=https://www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/ilmastollinen-vertailukausi |title=FMI normals 1991-2020|publisher=fmi.fi |access-date= 18 January 2025}}</ref> }}
==History== Permanent settlement in the Kauhajoki area began in the 16th century and in 1584 chapel was built in Kauhajoki.
When the Soviet Union attacked Finland in the Winter War, in early December 1939 Parliament was evacuated and the legislature temporarily relocated to Kauhajoki, a town in western Finland far away from the frontline.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://web.eduskunta.fi/Resource.phx/pubman/templates/1.htx?id=559 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130429163320/http://web.eduskunta.fi/Resource.phx/pubman/templates/1.htx?id=559 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 29 April 2013 | title = Eduskunnan viettää muistojuhlaa Kauhajoella 2.–3.12.2006 | date = December 2, 2006 | publisher = Eduskunta | access-date = November 30, 2021 | language = fi }}</ref> The parliament held 34 plenary sessions in Kauhajoki, with the last on 12 February 1940.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/parliament_to_recreate_winter_war_evacuation/7660514|title=Parliament to recreate Winter War evacuation|date=2019-11-30|website=Yle Uutiset|language=en|access-date=2019-04-30}}</ref>
===2008 vocational college shooting=== {{main|Kauhajoki school shooting}}
On 23 September 2008, a school shooting at a vocational college in the city left 11 dead, including the gunman, and another woman wounded. The incident was the second school shooting in less than a year in Finland, the other being the Jokela school shooting in November 2007, in which nine people including the gunman died. Before that, only one other school shooting had taken place in the country's history, in Rauma in 1989, leaving two people dead.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.yle.fi/news/left/id74423.html|title=School Shootings Rare in Finland|publisher=YLE|date=2007-11-07|access-date=2008-09-23}}</ref>
==Demographics== Kauhajoki has the highest proportion of Finnish Kale in Finland, with an estimated 5% of the population being Finnish Kale.<ref>{{cite web |title=Romanit hajautuneet kuten valtaväestökin – Kauhajoki on Suomen suurin romanipitäjä |url=https://yle.fi/a/3-7912452 |website=yle.fi |date=8 April 2015 |access-date=24 January 2023 |language=Finnish}}</ref> The town is linguistically homogenous, with 97% speaking Finnish. Kauhajoki has the highest proportion of Hungarians in Finland, with 0.6% of the population speaking Hungarian.<ref>{{cite web |title=Language according to sex by municipality, 1990-2021 |url=https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11rm.px/ |website=stat.fi |access-date=24 January 2023}}</ref>
==Culture== thumb|left|Kauhajoki church [[File:Kauhajoen baptistiseurakunta 1.jpg|thumb|right|A small Kauhajoki Baptist Church in the village of Kainasto]] ===Food=== In the 1980s, the traditional parish dished of Kauhajoki was named ''sinsalla'' (a local name of ''rosolli'') and charred Baltic herrings.<ref>{{cite book | author=Jaakko Kolmonen | title=Kotomaamme ruoka-aitta: Suomen, Karjalan ja Petsamon pitäjäruoat | page = 148| location=Helsinki | publisher=Patakolmonen | year=1988 | isbn= 951-96047-3-1 | language = fi}}</ref>
===Sports=== Today sports in Kauhajoki is mostly famous for the basketball team Karhu Basket. [https://www.karhubasket.fi/ Karhu Basket] has been the most successful team in Finland for years winning the [https://www.basket.fi/korisliiga/ national league] in 2018, 2019 and 2022. In the season 2020-21 Karhu Basket was second and in the season 2019-20 the season was interrupted because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The home venue of Karhu Basket is the IKH Areena. [https://www.ikh-areena.fi/ IKH Areena] can hold 3500 spectators, which is more than a quarter of the inhabitants of Kauhajoki.
Some internationally successful Kauhajokian sports figures include:
* Jouko Salomäki, the 1984 Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, was born in Kauhajoki.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} * Kaarlo Maaninka, the 1980 Olympic silver and bronze medalist in long distance running, lives in Kauhajoki. He also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu during his career.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} * Vesa Hietalahti, the 2003 World Championship silver medalist in biathlon, was born and lives in Kauhajoki. He also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu throughout his career.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} * Heli Koivula Kruger, the 2002 European Championship silver medalist in triple jump, was born in Kauhajoki. She also represented the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu throughout her career.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} * Jani Haapamäki, the 2009 European Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, was born in Kauhajoki. He also represents the town's sports club Kauhajoen Karhu.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}
==See also== * Kauhajoki Airfield
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline}} *[https://kauhajoki.fi/ Town of Kauhajoki] – official site {{in lang|fi}}
{{Geographic location | Centre = Kauhajoki | N = Kurikka | E = Kurikka | SE = Karvia (Satakunta) | S = Kankaanpää (Satakunta) | SW = Isojoki | W = Karijoki | NW = Teuva }} {{SouthernOstrobothnia}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Kauhajoki Category:Cities and towns in Finland Category:Populated places established in the 16th century