Raahe

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Town in North Ostrobothnia, Finland

title: "Raahe" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["raahe", "cities-and-towns-in-finland", "grand-duchy-of-finland", "populated-coastal-places-in-finland", "brahe-family", "port-cities-and-towns-in-finland", "populated-places-established-in-1649", "1649-establishments-in-sweden"] description: "Town in North Ostrobothnia, Finland" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raahe" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in North Ostrobothnia, Finland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameRaahe
official_nameRaahen kaupunki
Brahestads stad
other_nameBrahestad
settlement_typeTown
image_skylineRaahe church and statue.jpg
image_captionRaahe Church and statue of Per Brahe
image_shieldRaahe.vaakuna.svg
shield_size120x80px
image_mapRaahe sijainti Suomi.svg
map_captionLocation of Raahe in Finland
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameFinland
subdivision_type1Region
subdivision_name1North Ostrobothnia
subdivision_type2Sub-region
subdivision_name2Raahe
leader_titleCity manager
leader_nameLeena Mikkola-Riekkinen
established_titleCharter
established_date1649
area_footnotes
area_total_km2
area_land_km2
area_water_km2
area_rank
population_as_of
population_footnotes
population_total
population_density_km2
population_rank
demographics_type1
demographics1_footnotes
demographics1_title1
demographics1_info1
demographics1_title2
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demographics2_title3
demographics2_info3
blank_name
blank_info
timezoneEET
utc_offset+02:00
timezone_DSTEEST
utc_offset_DST+03:00
website
named_forPer Brahe the Younger
::

| name = Raahe | official_name = Raahen kaupunki Brahestads stad | other_name = Brahestad | settlement_type = Town | image_skyline = Raahe church and statue.jpg | image_caption = Raahe Church and statue of Per Brahe | image_shield = Raahe.vaakuna.svg | shield_size = 120x80px | image_map = Raahe sijainti Suomi.svg | map_caption = Location of Raahe in Finland | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Finland | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = North Ostrobothnia | subdivision_type2 = Sub-region | subdivision_name2 = Raahe | leader_title = City manager | leader_name = Leena Mikkola-Riekkinen | established_title = Charter | established_date = 1649 | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_rank = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_density_km2 = | population_rank = | demographics_type1 = | demographics1_footnotes = | demographics1_title1 = | demographics1_info1 = | demographics1_title2 = | demographics1_info2 = | demographics1_title3 = | demographics1_info3 = | demographics1_title4 = | demographics1_info4 = | demographics_type2 = | demographics2_footnotes = | demographics2_title1 = | demographics2_info1 = | demographics2_title2 = | demographics2_info2 = | demographics2_title3 = | demographics2_info3 = | blank_name = | blank_info = | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +02:00 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +03:00 | website = | named_for = Per Brahe the Younger Raahe (; ; ) is a town in Finland, located on the western coast of the country. Raahe is situated in the North Ostrobothnia region, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Raahe is approximately , while the sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland.

Founded in 1649 by the Swedish statesman and Governor General of Finland, Count Per Brahe the Younger, it is one of 10 remaining historic wooden towns (or town centres) in Finland. Examples of other historic wooden towns in Finland are Kaskinen (Kaskö), Old Rauma, Porvoo (Borgå), Jakobstad (Pietarsaari) and Vaasa (Vasa). After a devastating fire in 1810, Raahe was rebuilt according to new design principles that minimised the risk of fire and enlarged some of the civic spaces. Old Raahe (or "Wooden Raahe") is notable for its Renaissance-inspired rectilinear town plan with an unusual central square (called Pekkatori) with closed corners.

Raahe is located 75 km southwest of Oulu and 126 km northeast of Kokkola, and covers an area of {{Data Finland municipality/total area|Raahe}} km2 of which {{Data Finland municipality/waters area|Raahe}} km2 is water. The population density is PD/km2.. Historically an agricultural and maritime region, Ostrobothnia supplied the largest number of immigrants from Finland to the USA and other countries such as Canada and Australia during the Great Migration of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The neighbouring municipalities of Raahe are Haapavesi, Oulainen, Pyhäjoki, Siikajoki and Siikalatva. Founded as a Swedish- and Finnish-speaking town, the municipality is now unilingually Finnish.

Three parishes have been merged with Raahe: Saloinen in 1973, Pattijoki in 2003 and Vihanti in 2013.

The asteroid 1786 Raahe was named after the town and the municipality.

History

Before the establishment

The area of Raahe was originally a part of the parish of Saloinen, known until 1913 as Salo. It was one of the first parishes in northern Ostrobothnia.

Seventeenth century history

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Artikel_17.jpg" caption="[[Per Brahe the Younger]] established the city of Raahe in 1649."] ::

Count Per Brahe the Younger, the governor-general of Finland, gave a charter to the town of Salo (not to be confused with Salo in Finland Proper) in the year of 1649 with the purpose of constructing a town at Satamakangas, near the old harbour site. However, the harbour area had become so low that the future town was decided to be transferred. A new and better location was found further to the north, at the bay of Raahe. Having acquired the possession of the parish of Salo in 1652, Per Brahe renamed the town Brahestad or Raahe in Finnish.

The planning of the town for the purpose of building Raahe was given to the surveyor Claes Claesson. His town plan followed the ideals of the regular grid plan of the Renaissance. All of the streets of Raahe were of equal width of 20-21 cubits or 10–11 meters. The market square stood by Rantakatu and the Town Hall behind the square. At the northeast corner of the town stood the church and the schoolhouse. Six blocks were realized of the town plan, i.e. the area surrounded by present-day Koulukatu, Kirkkokatu, Saaristokatu and Rantakatu. The later expansion and changes of the town have held the ambitions of Claesson's town plan in respect until the beginning of the latest century.

The oldest picture still remaining of the town of Raahe, a seventeenth-century drawing, dates back to the year of 1659. It depicts the town as being surrounded by a so-called customs fence with two custom gates, the eastern one located outside of the crossroads of present-day Brahenkatu and Reiponkatu streets and the southern one at the end of Pitkäkatu street (present-day Kauppakatu street) approximately by present-day Koulukatu street. The busy harbour of the town was located on the shore by the customs warehouse, the present museum.

There were two public buildings in Raahe: a handsome, admirable, two-story town hall with a tower, and a wooden church, whose construction had already begun in 1651. The church was given a weather boarding already in 1684-1685. This is one of the earliest examples of boarding known in Finland.

The dwellings and houses were made from logs. As a rule, they were built close to the street facing plot boundary, the long side and the ridge of the roof parallel to the street. The unbuilt portion of the plot against the street was fitted up with a high, solid plank fence and a drive-in gate. The plots inside a block were not separated by fences. The average house usually consisted of one or two rooms, most of which were of the two-room cabin type. Almost every house in the drawing of Raahe has the most remarkable novelty of the seventeenth century, the chimney. At the same time it was still quite common to have whole towns and villages with chimneyless houses, especially in Eastern Finland. Considered from the point of view of architectural history, at the time of its foundation Raahe was a quite modern town. As far as is known today, no buildings exist from the seventeenth century.

18th century

The Great Northern War, fought in the first two decades of the 18th century, and the Great Wrath nearly destroyed the town. In 1705, the population had been 641, while after the war this had decreased to 134, and the majority of the merchant class had escaped the war to Sweden. The town slowly recovered after the war, and trading started again. Raahe was given the right to international trade in 1791, which further enlivened the town's traffic and commerce. Goods such as tar, boards, tallow, butter, and fur were traded through Raahe, and improved road connections increased the competitiveness of the harbour.

Climate

| location = Raahe Lapaluoto satama (1991-2020 normals, records 1993-present) | collapsed = Yes | metric first = Yes | single line = Yes | Jan record high C = 5.0 | Feb record high C = 6.3 | Mar record high C = 11.9 | Apr record high C = 20.7 | May record high C = 28.6 | Jun record high C = 31.7 | Jul record high C = 33.5 | Aug record high C = 30.5 | Sep record high C = 24.5 | Oct record high C = 18.5 | Nov record high C = 10.5 | Dec record high C = 7.4 | year record high C = 33.5 | Jan high C = -3.7 | Feb high C = -4.1 | Mar high C = -0.8 | Apr high C = 4.4 | May high C = 10.4 | Jun high C = 16.0 | Jul high C = 19.7 | Aug high C = 18.1 | Sep high C = 13.2 | Oct high C = 6.8 | Nov high C = 1.9 | Dec high C = -1.3 | year high C = 6.7 | Jan mean C = -6.2 | Feb mean C = -6.8 | Mar mean C = -3.7 | Apr mean C = 1.1 | May mean C = 6.8 | Jun mean C = 12.5 | Jul mean C = 16.2 | Aug mean C = 15.0 | Sep mean C = 10.5 | Oct mean C = 4.5 | Nov mean C = -0.1 | Dec mean C = -3.5 | year mean C = 3.9 | Jan low C = -9.4 | Feb low C = -10.1 | Mar low C = -7.0 | Apr low C = -1.5 | May low C = 3.7 | Jun low C = 9.6 | Jul low C = 13.5 | Aug low C = 12.2 | Sep low C = 7.9 | Oct low C = 2.7 | Nov low C = -2.0 | Dec low C = -6.1 | year low C = 1.1 | Jan record low C = -31.4 | Feb record low C = -30.1 | Mar record low C = -26.9 | Apr record low C = -15.7 | May record low C = -4.8 | Jun record low C = 2.0 | Jul record low C = 6.6 | Aug record low C = 4.0 | Sep record low C = -2.1 | Oct record low C = -12.4 | Nov record low C = -20.6 | Dec record low C = -34.1 | year record low C = -34.1 | Jan humidity = 88 | Feb humidity = 87 | Mar humidity = 84 | Apr humidity = 80 | May humidity = 77 | Jun humidity = 76 | Jul humidity = 79 | Aug humidity = 81 | Sep humidity = 83 | Oct humidity = 86 | Nov humidity = 89 | Dec humidity = 88 | year humidity = 83 | source 1 = https://www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/ilmastollinen-vertailukausi | source 2 = https://kilotavu.com/asema-taulukko.php?asema=101785 | source = | Jan avg record low C = -22.1 | Feb avg record low C = -22.1 | Mar avg record low C = -17.6 | Apr avg record low C = -8.7 | May avg record low C = -1.4 | Jun avg record low C = 4.7 | Jul avg record low C = 9.0 | Aug avg record low C = 6.5 | Sep avg record low C = 1.6 | Oct avg record low C = -4.9 | Nov avg record low C = -11.0 | Dec avg record low C = -18.0 | year avg record low C = -25.5 | Jan avg record high C = 2.9 | Feb avg record high C = 2.7 | Dec avg record high C = 4.4 | Mar avg record high C = 5.5 | Apr avg record high C = 12.9 | May avg record high C = 20.8 | Jun avg record high C = 24.4 | Jul avg record high C = 26.8 | Aug avg record high C = 24.8 | Sep avg record high C = 19.4 | Oct avg record high C = 12.5 | Nov avg record high C = 7.4 | year avg record high C = 27.8

Economy

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Rautaruukki_steel_factory_in_Raahe_Jul2009_002.jpg" caption="A railway connection to the [[Rautaruukki]] steel factory in July 2009"] ::

Raahe was granted Staple port rights in 1791 and was traditionally a harbor town. With industrialization, Raahe was reinvented as a steel and heavy industry city and has further developed with engineering services, ICT and software production. Raahe is known for steel, heavy machinery, engineering works, shipping and ICT. The Rautaruukki steel mill, which up to the 1980s was the largest single industrial site in the Nordic countries, is located in Raahe. The mill produces steel plate, coil and sheeting and semi-finished products for the engineering works.

Traditionally, Raahe was a port city. In the late Age of Sail, the 1850s and on, shipping companies in Raahe owned Finland's largest fleet of sailing vessels, 60 in total at their height. Currently, the port of Raahe is the sixth busiest port in the country, with 700 ships visiting each year. Cargo that is transported through the port includes raw materials and loose cargo, steel, lumber, containers and contract-shipped goods.

With the steel industry, Raahe has grown into the third largest city in the ex-Oulu province, after Oulu and Kajaani. Like Oulu, the city promotes the ICT business, with the help of the steel industry (ProMetal and Steelpolis) and ICT industry (Softpolis) business incubators/business parks.

The municipal tax rate is 19.75%. In 2007, the structure of the economy was as follows: agriculture and forestry 1%, construction 6%, manufacturing 43%, and retail, services and public services 50%. The sub-region includes the municipalities of Pyhäjoki and Siikajoki.

Sports

The men's pesäpallo team Pattijoen Urheilijat competes in the Superpesis national league, playing at Rännäri Stadium.

Transportation

The European route E8 goes through the city, and is the biggest mean of land transportation in Raahe. Raahe also has bus transportation by various companies. The Raahe railway station next to the Raahe Railroad was closed from passenger traffic in 1966. Ticket selling ended in 2000.

Notable people

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Raahe is twinned with:

Gallery

File:Raahe Tornitalo 20140820.JPG|Raahe highrise/water tower was built in 1958. File:Memorial Anchor Raahe 20160731.jpg|Raahe Museum File:Softpolis Raahe - panoramio - Aulo Aasmaa (5).jpg|Softpolis Raahe File:Raahe Church 20120112a.JPG|Raahe Church File:Hospital Raahe 20130511 02.JPG|The Raahe Hospital File:Löytöeläinkoti, Home for found animals - panoramio.jpg|Animal shelter for found animals

References

;Notes

References

  1. [https://www.raahe.fi/matkailijat/wanha-raahe Wanha Raahe] – Raahe.fi (in Finnish)
  2. [https://www.visitraahe.fi/en/pekkatori-square Pekkatori Square] – Visit Raahe (in English)
  3. Ukkonen, Risto. (2023-04-09). "Pohjoisessa on ainutlaatuisen arvokas puukaupunki, jonka ränsistymistä vastaan taistellaan nyt uusin keinoin". [[Yle]].
  4. "The History Of Raahe".
  5. Raahe Tourist Office
  6. "Frontpage {{!}} Raahen kaupunki".
  7. (1986). "Finlandia: Otavan iso maammekirja. 8: Pohjois-Pohjanmaa - Kainuu". Otava.
  8. "Raahen historia".
  9. [https://seafocus.international/news-%26-blogs/f/port-of-raahe-%E2%80%93-one-of-the-busiest-ports-in-finland Port of Raahe – One of the Busiest Ports in Finland] {{Webarchive. link. (2023-07-20 – SeaFocus)
  10. "Liikennepaikan tiedot".
  11. "Town twinning".
  12. (2022-03-17). "Raahen kaupunki jäädyttää yhteistyön venäläisten ystävyyskaupunkiensa kanssa ja lahjoittaa 20 000 euroa humanitaariseen apuun ukrainalaisille".
  13. "Twin cities of the City of Kosice". Magistrát mesta Košice, Tr..

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raahecities-and-towns-in-finlandgrand-duchy-of-finlandpopulated-coastal-places-in-finlandbrahe-familyport-cities-and-towns-in-finlandpopulated-places-established-in-16491649-establishments-in-sweden