Suomussalmi

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Finnish. (June 2023) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Finnish Wikipedia article at [[:fi:Suomussalmi]]; see its history for attribution.
You should also add the template {{Translated|fi|Suomussalmi}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Municipality in Kainuu, Finland

Coat of arms

Location of Suomussalmi in Finland

Coordinates: 64°53′N 028°55′E / 64.883°N 28.917°E / 64.883; 28.917Country

FinlandRegionKainuuSub-regionKehys-KainuuCharter1867SeatÄmmänsaariGovernment

• Municipal managerErno HeikkinenArea

(2018-01-01)^[1]

• Total5,857.60 km² (2,261.63 sq mi) • Land5,270.33 km² (2,034.89 sq mi) • Water587.03 km² (226.65 sq mi) • Rank9th largest in FinlandPopulation

(2023-12-31)^[2]

• Total7,171 • Rank130th largest in Finland • Density1.36/km² (3.5/sq mi)Population by native language

^[3]

• Finnish96.6% (official) • Swedish0.1% • Others3.3%Population by age

^[4]

• 0 to 1410.1% • 15 to 6452% • 65 or older37.9%Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET) • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)Websitewww.suomussalmi.fi/en

Suomussalmi (Finnish: [ˈsuo̯muˌsːɑlmi]) is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region about 90 kilometres (56 mi) northeast of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu and 120 kilometres (75 mi) south of Kuusamo. The municipality has a population of 7,171 (31 December 2023)^[2] and covers an area of 5,857.60 square kilometres (2,261.63 sq mi) of which 587.03 km² (226.65 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 1.36 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.5/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Ämmänsaari is the biggest built-up area in the municipality.

Suomussalmi is the second southernmost part of the reindeer-herding area in Finland.

During the Winter War of 1939–40, several battles were fought in the area around Suomussalmi, the most important ones being the Battle of Suomussalmi and the Battle of Raate. In these battles Finnish forces defeated numerically superior Soviet forces.

Formula One racing driver Heikki Kovalainen is from Suomussalmi, as well as the author Ilmari Kianto and the composer Osmo Tapio Räihälä, in addition to the ice hockey player, Janne Pesonen.^[6] Also, the first President of the Republic of Finland, K. J. Ståhlberg, was born in the Karhula rectory (Karhulan pappila) in Suomussalmi.^[7]

Suomussalmi hosted the 2016 World Berry Picking Championship.^[8]

Villages

Alajärvi
Ala-Vuokki
Hossa
Jumaliskylä
Juntusranta
Kaljuskylä
Kerälä
Kiannanniemi
Korpela
Korvua
Kuivajärvi
Kurimo
Lomakylä
Myllylahti
Näljänkä
Näätälä
Peranka
Pesiökylä
Pesiönlahti
Piispajärvi
Pisto
Pitämä
Pyhäkylä
Raate
Ruhtinansalmi
Sakara
Selkoskylä
Siikaranta
Suomussalmi (Kirkonkylä)
Tervakangas
Vaaranniva
Vasara
Vuokki
Yli-Vuokki
Ämmänsaari (administrative center)

Kuivajärvi and Hietajärvi, located close to the Russian border, have long belonged to the poetic villages of White Karelia, and the Karelian language, Viena Karelian, has traditionally been spoken in the area.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Transport

Highway 5 (E63) comes from Hyrynsalmi via Suomussalmi to Kuusamo. The rest of the municipality's most important roads are mainly smaller regional roads; regional road 912 from Kuhmo comes to Suomussalmi, regional road 843 from Palovaara to Suomussalmi continues to Kuusamo's Poussuu, regional road 892 runs from Suomussalmi through Korpikylä and Kytömäki to Hyrynsalmi, regional road 897 takes you from Alajärvi from Suomussalmi via Hattuvaara to Yli-Näljänkä, and connecting road 9125 or Raatteentie (also included parts of the current regional road 912) is a connecting road from Raatteenportti to Raate in the municipality of Suomussalmi, which was named after the Battle of Raate in 1940.

Politics

Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Suomussalmi:

Left Alliance 36.3%
Centre Party 30.9%
Finns Party 20.5%
National Coalition Party 5.2%
Social Democratic Party 3.1%
Christian Democrats 2.3%
Green League 0.9%
Other parties 0.8%

Notable people

K. J. Ståhlberg (1865–1952)
Hannes Tauriainen (1909–1971)
Alho Alhoniemi (born 1933)
Toini Gustafsson (born 1938)
Matti Makkonen (1952–2015)
Osmo Tapio Räihälä (born 1964)
Tero Penttilä (born 1975)
Merja Kyllönen (born 1977)
Heikki Kovalainen (born 1981)
Janne Pesonen (born 1982)

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Suomussalmi is twinned with:

Kalevala, Russia
Nordmaling Municipality, Sweden

References

^ ^a ^b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
^ "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
^ Ask the expert - Heikki Kovalainen Formula1.com
^ Presidentti K. J. Ståhlbergin lapsuudenkotimuseo (in Finnish)
^ C.G. (11 October 2017). "Explaining the Finnish love of tango". The Economist.
^ "Kuivajärvi ja Hietajärvi". www.juminkeko.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-06-14.
^ "Kartta runokylien alueesta". www.juminkeko.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2021-06-14.
^ "Kotus. Karjalan kieli, kartta" (in Finnish). Kotimaisten kielten keskus. Retrieved 2021-06-14.