Imatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland, founded in 1948 around three industrial settlements near the Finnish–Russian border. In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa

Saimaa

Saimaa is a lake in southeastern Finland. At approximately , it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth largest in Europe. It was formed by glacial melting at the end of the Ice Age. Major towns on the lakeshore include Lappeenranta, Imatra, Savonlinna, Mikkeli, Varkaus, and Joensuu. The...

, the Vuoksi River

Vuoksi River

The Vuoksi River runs in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The river enters Lake Ladoga in three branches, an older main northern branch at Priozersk , a smaller branch few km...

 and the border. It gained its municipal charter in 1971.

On the other side of the border, 7 kilometres (4 mi) away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of Svetogorsk

Svetogorsk

Svetogorsk is an industrial town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus, on the Vuoksa River. It is located one kilometer from the Russian–Finnish border, five kilometers from the Finnish town of Imatra, and 207 kilometers from St. Petersburg...

. St Petersburg is situated 210 km (130.5 mi) to the southeast, Finland's capital Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 is 230 km (142.9 mi) away and Lappeenranta

Lappeenranta

Lappeenranta is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about from the Russian border. It belongs to the region of South Karelia. With approximately inhabitants Lappeenranta is the largest city in Finland...

, the nearest Finnish town, is 37 km (23 mi) away. Imatra belongs to the administrative province of Southern Finland

Southern Finland

Southern Finland was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2010. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia.- History :...

 and the region of South Karelia

South Karelia

South Karelia is a region of Finland. It borders to the regions of Kymenlaakso, Southern Savonia, North Karelia and to Russia. The term "South Karelia" might also be used to refer to the southern parts of the entire Karelia — the Region of South Karelia is termed "South" because it is the...

.

An Art Nouveau or Jugend style castle, currently known as Imatran Valtionhotelli, was built near the rapids in 1903 as a hotel for tourists from the Russian Imperial capital Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

.

The main employers are Stora Enso Oyj

Stora Enso

Stora Enso Oyj is a Finnish pulp and paper manufacturer, formed by the merger of Swedish mining and forestry products company Stora and Finnish forestry products company Enso-Gutzeit Oy in 1998. It is headquartered in Helsinki, and it has approximately 29,000 employees...

, Town of Imatra, Ovako Bar Oy Ab and the Finnish Border Guard

Finnish Border Guard

The Finnish Border guard is the national security agency responsible for enforcing the security of Finland's borders...

.
As of October 2003, total number of employees was 12,423. As of December 2004, 1,868 employees were employed by the Town of Imatra.

Imatra is the birthplace of National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 players Jussi Markkanen

Jussi Markkanen

Jussi Markkanen is an ice hockey goaltender for EV Zug of the National League A .-Playing career:Markkanen has played extensively in various European professional leagues as well as the NHL...

 and Petteri Nokelainen

Petteri Nokelainen

Petteri Nokelainen is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League.-Playing career:...

.

The current mayor of Imatra is Pertti Lintunen.

In motorracing history is Imatra best known of its RR-races (former TT-race) in 1963-1986.

External links

• Town of Imatra – Official site
• goSaimaa.fi – Travel information about Imatra