Virrat


Virrat is a town and municipality of Finland. Part of the Pirkanmaa region, it is located north of Tampere and west of Jyväskylä. Virrat is from Helsinki. The town has a population of
and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
The town grew rapidly in the mid-20th century, and by 1950 the population reached more than 12,000. Virrat acquired town status in 1977, although it had received the right to hold markets three years earlier, in 1974. More recently the population level has been adversely impacted by the drift of employment opportunities and people to the larger towns. Apart from the town of Virrat itself, the administratively defined municipality is largely rural, and includes the villages of Äijänneva, Härkönen Jäähdyspohja, Killinkoski, Koro, Kotala, Kurjenkylä, Liedenpohja, Ohtola, Vaskuu, and Vaskivesi.
Major lakes in the area are Lake Toisvesi, beside which the town of Virrat is located, and Lake Tarjanne at the border of the municipalities of Virrat, Mänttä-Vilppula, and Ruovesi.
Virrat crater on Mars is named after it.

Climate

Virrat has a subarctic climate. Diurnal air temperature variation is higher than in other parts of Pirkanmaa.

Notable people