Ikaalinen

Ikaalinen (Finnish: [ˈikɑːlinen]; 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 6,713 (30 June 2025)^[2] and covers an area of 843.40 square kilometres (325.64 sq mi) of which 93.16 km² (35.97 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 8.94 inhabitants per square kilometre (23.2/sq mi).

Ikaalinen Ikalis
City
Ikaalisten kaupunki Ikalis stad
Ikaalinen Church
Coat of arms
Location of Ikaalinen in Finland
Coordinates: 61°46′N 023°04′E
Country	Finland
Region	Pirkanmaa
Sub-region	North Western Pirkanmaa
Charter	1858
City rights	1977
Government
• Town manager	Eeva Viitanen
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	843.40 km2 (325.64 sq mi)
• Land	750.48 km2 (289.76 sq mi)
• Water	93.16 km2 (35.97 sq mi)
• Rank	111th largest in Finland
Population  (2025-06-30)[2]
• Total	6,713
• Rank	136th largest in Finland
• Density	8.94/km2 (23.2/sq mi)
Population by native language [2]
• Finnish	95.2% (official)
• Others	4.8%
Population by age [3]
• 0 to 14	13.7%
• 15 to 64	53.8%
• 65 or older	32.4%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code	39500
Website	ikaalinen.fi

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

Ikaalinen is known for Ikaalinen Spa, Sata-Häme Soi and Toivolansaari Camping.

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

See also

• Nokia, another spa town in the Pirkanmaa region