It is located in the province of Southern Finland, and is a neighborhood of city of Kouvola, and it was a part of the Kymenlaaksoregion. The municipality had a population of 11,238 (2003) and covered an area of 1,004.40 km² of which 143.47 km² was water. The population density was 13.1 inhabitants per km².
In the Valkeala region there is the lake Vekaranjärvi near which the Karelia Brigade is located.
As of 2009, the six municipalities – Kouvola, Kuusankoski, Elimäki, Anjalankoski, Valkeala and Jaala – were consolidated, accounting for the new municipality of Kouvola with a population of over 80,000, being the 10th largest city in Finland.