'"eagle"') is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River.

Kotka is a major port and industrial city situated on the coast of the Gulf of Finland.

Kymi, Haapasaari island, and Karhula, which was once a separate market town, were later incorporated into Kotka.

[6] Kotka is situated in the Kotka-Hamina subdivision and, along with Kouvola, is one of the main centres of the Kymenlaakso region.

However, the Kotka City Council had to renew the old coat of arms in 1954 because it did not meet heraldic requirements.

From the images of the current coat of arms, the anchor reflects the importance of Kotka as a port town and caduceus in trade, industry and maritime traffic.

[13] On 16 April 1878, the Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland issued a declaration establishing a city on the southern part islands from the old Kymi parish, so in 1879 the islands of Kotkansaari and Hovinsaari were separated from Kymi and the city of Kotka was established.

[14][15][16] The Second All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held in Kotka, on 21–23 July (3–5 August) 1907.

Since the 1980s the population of Kotka has been slowly decreasing, mostly due to domestic migration to Helsinki region.

[20] As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.

In addition to this, the building holds classrooms, seminar rooms, a 200-seat auditorium, Restaurant Laakonki with 100 seats, and Museum Shop Plootu.

[30] The area of operation of the Kymenlaakso museum, which is maintained by the City of Kotka, covers seven municipalities.

[33] Maretarium Aquarium opened in 2002, is located on Kotka Island, on the shore of the Gulf of Sapokka.

The Maretarium was created in collaboration between the City of Kotka, the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute.

The Church of St Nicholas is located in Isopuisto Park in Kotka city centre.

Based on designs by Jakov Perrin, the neoclassical church was constructed between 1799–1801, and it is the oldest building in Kotka today.

In the 1980s, Baltic herring, salmon soup, head cheese, turnip potatoes called "lanttujyrkkö", and groat pie ("ryynipiirakka") were named Kotka's traditional parish dishes.

[37] Deep-fried doughnuts called "possos [fi]" are also considered traditional pastries in Kotka.