Lappeenranta is a town in Eastern Finland in the province of Southern Karelia. The town is located in the western part of the province on the shores of Lake Saimaa at the distance of 40 kilometers from the Russian and Finnish border. The population of the town comes to 72 thousand people. Today it is the thirteenth largest town of Finland.

Ancient people started to inhabit this area in the Ice Age. People came here to fish and hunt. During the Iron Age permanent settlements appeared on the shores of Lake Saimaa. Ancient burial places were found on the shores of the lake. In the 16th century the settlement of Lappeenranta (Villmanstrand in Swedish) became a very important center of trading galipot and tar. The name of the town consists of two words and it means "shore of Lappe". The Swedish name "Villmanstrand" also contains two parts. "Vildman" means "wildman" and "strand" means "shore". In 1649 the Swedish queen Kristina gave the rights of a town to Lappeenranta and she ratified the coat of arms of the town. The wildman can be seen on Lappeenranta's coat of arms. In the 17th century the town was an object of military disputes between Sweden and Russia. This embattled town protected the borders both of Russia and of Sweden in different periods.

The town developed in the 19th century much quicker due to the construction of Saimaan canal. The town also became a tourist attraction. But this peaceful life was disturbed by several military campaigns including the Civil War of 1918, Winter War of 1939-1940 between Finland and the Soviet Union and later World War II. In the second half of the 20th century the town developed as an industrial, commercial and educational center in Eastern Finland. There is an international airport in Lappeenranta which connects the town with many European cities.