Every design for Nokia

One theory traces Nokia's name to an old Finnish word for a dark-furred animal, a sable or a beaver, and a sable still sits on the town's coat of arms. The town lies on the banks of the Nokianvirta, a river of the Kokemäki watershed, just west of Tampere, with Hämeenkyrö, Ylöjärvi, Pirkkala and Sastamala among its neighbours.

Water made Nokia an industrial town. At the Emäkoski rapids, Fredrik Idestam built a groundwood mill whose company took the town's name and later grew into a global telecommunications business. Nokian Renkaat still makes tyres here, and the old rubber works was the first in the world to make winter tyres for cars, while the clothing maker Nanso began as a local weaving mill. Long before the factories, peasants gathered at Nokian Kartano during the Club War and were defeated there by Klaus Fleming's cavalry.

Nuijasodan muistomerkki, the Club War memorial, marks that battle. For people from Nokia it is a reminder that the town's story belongs to ordinary people as much as to famous brands.