Kuusankoski is an industrial town in southeastern Finland in the region of Kymenlaakso in the province of Southern Finland. The population of Kuusankoski is 20,392 (2003) and the total area is 129.5 km² of which 114 km² is land and 14.56 km² water. It is located some 130 km northeast of Finnish capital Helsinki. Kuusankoski is primarily known for paper manufacturing and three large factory complexes. Sometimes it is nicknamed as the "Paper capital of Finland". Finland is divided into 20 regions (maakunta/landskap in Finnish/Swedish). ... The Province of Southern Finland is a province of Finland. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ... A kilometre (American spelling: kilometer), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... It has been suggested that Hietaniemi beach be merged into this article or section. ...

Kuusankoski (as a municipality, not the settlement) was founded in 1921 from the parts of neighboring Iitti and Valkeala. It gained the status of kauppala (literally "a place of commerce") in 1957 and became a town in 1973. The municipalities (kunta in Finnish, kommun in Swedish) represent the local level of self government in Finland and also act as the basic regional administrative units of the country. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Iitti is a municipality of Finland. ... Valkeala is a municipality of Finland. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ...

The history of Kuusankoski during the last one and a half centuries has been tightly bound around the establishment of the paper factories and their development. The establishment of the factories dates back to 1870s and 1890s, when the rapids of river Kymijoki were made to deliver electricity to waking industry. Since then and until the modern age of automation, the factories have offered job to many generations of Kuusankoski citizens, making the area somewhat more prosperous than the neighbouring regions. Today, the heavy influence of the factories on the every day life has significantly lessened, but their historical importance remains well known. 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1890 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation is the use of computers to control industrial machinery and processes, replacing human operators. ...

Kuusankoski is said to be the most social democratic town in Finland. Social Democratic Party of Finland has gained more than 50-60% support in different kind of elections. When calculation is based on income per citizen, Kuusankoski is among the 20 richest municipalities of Finland. Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) is one of the most influential political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the Coalition Party. ... See Election (movie) for the film directed by Alexander Payne. ... The municipalities (kunta in Finnish, kommun in Swedish) represent the local level of self government in Finland and also act as the basic regional administrative units of the country. ...

The cityscape of Kuusankoski consists mostly of element-based block of flats built during the 1960s. However, there are some exceptions, like a school and a church built in the beginning of the last century. Another kind of architecture is represented by culture building Kuusankoskitalo, a typical creation of modern Finnish architecture and a library built in a functionalistic style. Cityscape is also characterised by the beautiful river Kymijoki which makes a curve through the town. // Scope and intentions According to the very earliest surviving work on the subject, Vitruvius De Architectura, good buildings should have Beauty (Venustas), Firmness (Firmitas) and Utility (Utilitas); architecture can be said to be a balance and coordination among these three elements, with none overpowering the others. ... Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. ...

External links

Kuusankoski - Suomen paperikaupunki (in Finnish)