The name of the city, which today has around 29,000 inhabitants, was first mentioned in a document in 1541. Located on the Finnish-Russian border, the city was founded in 1948 from three industrial sites and was granted city rights in 1971. The town nestles on Lake Saimaa and is characterized by the river Vuoksi and the border.
Over the decades, three scattered settlement areas grew into a sprawling city covering an area of 191.6 km², 36.3 km² of which is water. Imatra is home to two major wood-processing factories. Kaukopää and Tainionkoski, both belonging to the Stora Enso Group. The Imatrankoski hydroelectric power plant is located in the city center. When it was completed and commissioned in 1929, the hydroelectric power plant was considered Europe's largest hydroelectric power plant and is still Finland's largest hydroelectric power plant today. During the summer months, its seven turbines are open to tourists to generate electricity.
Imatra is located in the south-east of Finland, in South Karelia and thus belongs to the province of Southern Finland. Due to the separation of Karelia at the peace treaty after the Second World War, the state border with Russia runs just a few kilometers east of Imatra. The town of Svetogorsk, which today belongs to Russia, is located just seven kilometers from Imatra's city center.
