Mäntsälä
Mäntsälä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmæntsælæ]) is a municipality in the province of Southern Finland, and is part of the Uusimaa region. It has a population of 20,649
(30 June 2015) and covers an area of 596.10 square kilometres (230.16 sq mi) of
which 15.26 km2 (5.89 sq mi)
is water. The population density is
35.55 inhabitants per square kilometre (92.1/sq mi).
Mäntsälä lies about 60 kilometres (40 mi) north of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. During the last few years, the population of Mäntsälä has been one of the most rapidly increasing in Finland. A new railroad was built between Kerava and Lahti with passenger traffic starting on September 4, 2006 from Mäntsälä railway station. Helsinki is about 40 minutes away, and Lahti even closer.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
History
Mäntsälä is considered to have been founded in 1585, when the community's first church was built. The current church was completed in 1866 after delay. The Crimean War affected also Mäntsälä: funds for building the church were spent on war efforts. All of the churches were located on Kirkonmäki at about the same spot.
