Kotka in brief

Kotka was founded in 1878. Now the population is about 55.000. The area is 750 km2, but most of it is water, 272 km2 is land. Kotka is located 130 km east from Helsinki and 290 km west from St. Petersburg; the highway no 18 runs through Kotka. In the city there are two centres, Kotkansaari (the Isle of Kotka) and Karhula.

The characteristics of Kotka are based on the sea and Kymi river. The port of Kotka is the second biggest export port in Finland. The main traffic consists of timber, paper, metal and stone; nowadays also more and more cars, which are an important part of transit traffic. The port of Kotka is the biggest transit port in Finland.

Kymi river is famous for fishing, you may catch salmon, pike, whitefish, perch, pikeperch... There are also many possibilities to paddle and shoot the rapids in the river. The archipelago of Kotka consists of tens of islands.

Port of Kotka  

Parks of Kotka