Nokia

Nokia (pronounced /ˈnokiɑ/ in IPA) is a small town on the banks of the Nokianvirta (Kokemäenjoki) River in the region of Pirkanmaa and the province of Western Finland, some 15 km west of Tampere. As of October 2006 it has a population of 29,685.

Nokia has been around long enough that its name is obscure even to most Finns. In modern Finnish, noki means soot and nokia is the inflected plural of "soot", although this form of the word is rarely if ever used. However, the name actually originates from the archaic Finnish word nois (pl. nokia) or nokinäätä ("soot marten"), meaning sable. After sable was hunted to extinction in Finland, the word was applied to any dark-coated fur animal, such as the marten, which are found in the area to this day. The sable is enshrined on the Nokia coat of arms.

The first literary reference to Nokia is in a 1505 document in connection with the Nokia Manor.

Nokia was the setting of one of the largest battles in the Club War, a 1596 peasant uprising against Swedish feudal lords. The peasants, unsurprisingly armed with clubs, took up residence in Nokia Manor and won several skirmishes against the feudal cavalry, but were decisively defeated by Klaus Fleming on January 1-2, 1597. Thousands of clubmen were slain and their fled leader, Jaakko Ilkka, was captured a few weeks later and executed. The Club War was the last major peasant revolt in Finland, and it permanently consolidated the hold of the nation state. Much later, in the Finnish Civil War (1918), Nokia (along with neighboring Tampere) was a Communist stronghold and saw some combat.

Nokia used breached out to current heart of Tampere, the Pispala area was part of Nokia´s Suur-Pirkkala area. The Suur-Pirkkala were split into Pohjois- and Eteläis-Pirkkala (Northern and Southern). In 1938 the name of Northern-Pirkkala was changed into the city of Nokia and Southern-Pirkkala restored its original Pirkkala name.

Pispala is currently one of the most viewed and visited special neighbourhoods in Tampere, with houses on steep hill exceptionally tight and random built. History behind it is that it was allowed to be built houses for working class since there was no law or order until it was joined to Tampere town.