Ikaalinen
# Ikaalinen

Ikaalinen (Finnish:; Swedish: Ikalis) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region, located 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest of Tampere. The town has a population of 6,783 (28 February 2023) and covers an area of 843.40 square kilometres (325.64 sq mi) of which 93.16 $km^2$ (35.97 sq mi) is water. The population density is 9.04 inhabitants per square kilometre (23.4/sq mi).

The municipalities next to it are Hämeenkyrö, Jämijärvi, Kankaanpää, Parkano, Sastamala and Ylöjärvi. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

The Seitseminen national park is partly located in the municipality.

S. Albert Kivinen, a writer and associate professor of philosophy of the University of Helsinki, is a native of Ikaalinen and his story Keskiyön Mato Ikaalisissa ("The Midnight Worm in Ikaalinen") is set there.

Ikaalinen became an independent municipality in 1641. The associated market town was founded in 1858. The market town and the municipality were united in 1972 and Ikaalinen became a town in 1977.

The centre of Ikaalinen is on lake Kyrösjärvi near the highway 3 (E12).

## Transport

The private coach company OnniBus route Helsinki—Seinäjoki—Vaasa has a stop at Ikaalinen.

## Notable people

* Sulo Aittoniemi, congressman
* Outi Borgenström, sportsperson (orienteering)
* Oskar Gripenberg, general
* Edvard Gylling, politician (SDP, SKP), statistician
* S. Albert Kivinen, philosopher
* Jarmo Kujanpää, sportsperson (football)
* Kalervo Kurkiala, chaplain (1931–38)
* Matti Pitkänen, sportsperson (cross country skiing)
* Krista Pärmäkoski, sportsperson (cross country skiing)
* Samuli Samuelsson, sportsperson (sprinter)
* Bertel Strömmer, architect
