Kuusamo
Encyclopedia
Kuusamo is a town and municipality in Finland
. It is located in the Oulu province
and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia
region
. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The population density
is PD/km2.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish
.
Kuusamo is a major center for winter sports and receives approximately a million tourists every year. One of the largest ski resorts in Finland, Ruka
, is situated in Kuusamo. Ruka is also the host of many international competitions in ski jumping
, cross country skiing and Nordic combined
. The 2005 World Championships of Freestyle Skiing
was held in Kuusamo. Kuusamo Airport
is located 6 kilometres (4 mi) north-east from Kuusamo town centre.
. During the cold season they lived in the villages Maanselkä and Kitka. In spring they moved to the rivers and in summer, after the melting of the ice, to the lakes; there they fished and gathered berries and mushrooms; in autumn they hunted reindeer, bears and beavers in the forest. Apart from fishing and hunting the Sami earned their living by trading fur with the Finns settled on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia
and the Karelians
of the White Sea
coast.
As a Sami settlement the area belonged to Kuusamo Kemi-Lappmark at the time. Nominally it belonged to the territory of the Swedish province of Västerbotten
, but the Swedish rule was limited to the collection of taxes. At the same time Russia collected taxes in the territory it deemed state-less.
as a form of shifting cultivation
. This was mainly due to the hunting-based life form of seeds at risk. Within a few decades the Sami population was assimilated or ousted by the Finnish settlers. By 1718 there were only two Sámi families in Kuusamo, even they had adopted the Finnish language.
The first parish in Kuusamo was founded in 1685. In 1687 a temporary chapel was built, in 1695 the first church. From the end of the 17th Century the area around the lake Kuusamojärvi
began to be called Kuusamo. The precise etymology of the name is unclear, however, one possible derivation is from a Sami word for "spruce forest".
The Swedish–Russian border had already been withdrawn east of Kuusamo in the 1595 Treaty of Teusina, but was long and porous. With the constant influx of new settlers, Kuusamo grew steadily in the 18th Century. Agriculture, cattle and reindeer breeding replaced nomadic cropping. Kuusamo around 1770 had about 2,000 inhabitants. In 1775 Kuusamo was removed from Lappmark and added to the newly formed province of Oulu . Because the population had increased, a new, larger church was built between 1797 and 1804. By the beginning of the 19th Century the population had reached 3000 inhabitants, but a famine in 1803 and a smallpox epidemic the following year reduced the population again.
At the start of the Winter War
Kuusamo was evacuated in December 1939 for fear of a Soviet invasion. In the Moscow Peace Treaty, the Winter War ended on 14 March 1940, Finland lost large parts of Karelia
, the eastern areas of Salla
and Kuusamo to the Soviet Union
. The ceded part of Kuusamo had an area of 1653 square kilometers and included the villages Paanajärvi, Tavajärvi, Vatajärvi, Enojärvi, Pukari and Kenttikylä. Its 2100 residents were relocated to other parts of Kuusamo. During the Continuation War
of 1941-1944 Kuusamo was used as a supply depot by German and Finnish troops. When it appeared that Germany might lose the war, Finland secretly negotiated a separate peace with the Soviet Union. After news of the armistice, the civilian population once again abandoned the town for fear of Russian occupation. The Russians did briefly occupy Kuusamo and burned the village to the ground upon their departure.
In the years between 1945–1952 Kuusamo was rebuilt. By the late 1960s, the population grew to almost 21,000. As agriculture in the village could not offer enough jobs for the baby boomer generation, the population began to decline rapidly. In 1954, the first ski run on the Rukatunturi
was created. Through the expansion of the Ruka ski center, Kuusamo became a tourist center. In 2000, the municipality of Kuusamo was made a city.
on the border with Russia
. The town of Kuusamo is only a small part of the municipality. The neighboring municipalities of Kuusamo are Suomussalmi
in the south, Taivalkoski
and Posio
in the west, Salla
in the north and Russia in the east. The nearest large towns are Rovaniemi
, 192 kilometres (119.3 mi) northwest, and Oulu
215 km (133.6 mi) southwest. The distance to the capital Helsinki
is 796 km (494.6 mi).
Kuusamo covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The community center of Kuusamo, where nearly two-thirds of the population live, is only a small part of the territory. The rest of the municipality consists of sparsely populated, mostly wooded areas. Therefore, the population density of Kuusamo is only PD/km2. Apart from the city, villages include Alakitka, Heikkilä
, Hiltunen, Irni, Jokilampi, Kallunki, Kantokylä, Kemilä, Kero, Kesäniemi, Kiitämäjärvi, Koskenkylä, Kuolio, Kurvinen, Kärpänkylä
, Käylä
, Lämsänkylä, Maaselänkylä, Murtovaara, Poussu, Puutteenkylä, Rukajärvi, Määttälänvaara, Soivio, Suorajärvi, Tammela
, Teeriranta, Törmäsenvaara
, Vasaraperä, Virrankylä, Vuotunki, Lehto and Kiviperä.
vaara) and fells (Finn. tunturi). The highest elevations are Valtavaara (492 m), Kuntivaara (481 m), Iivaara (469 m) and Rukatunturi
(462 m), the site of the Ruka ski center.
90% of the land area is forested. The forests consist mainly of pine trees (70%) with some spruce (20%) and deciduous trees (10%). 801 km² (309.3 sq mi) or 14% of the area of Kuusamo is covered by water. The largest of the 166 lakes in the area are Joukamojärvi, Kiitämä, Kitka, Kurkijärvi, Kuusamojärvi, Muojärvi and Suininki. Rivers in the area include Oulankajoki
, Kitkajoki, Kuusinkijoki and Pistojoki flowing eastward to the White Sea
and Iijoki
westward to the Gulf of Bothnia
.
The 270 km² (104.2 sq mi) area of Oulanka National Park
is shared between northern Kuusamo and neighboring Salla
municipality. The landscape is dominated by pine forests, Oulankajoki river and its side branches with their sandbanks and rapids, and in the northern part vast marsh areas. In the wilderness live 30 species of mammals and 120 species of birds, including brown, stone and white-tailed eagle
. Wolves
and lynxes
are rare. Rapids in Oulankajoki include Kiutaköngäs, Taivalköngäs, Jyrävä, Niskakoski and Myllykoski. Near the southern border with Suomussalmi is the canyon lake Julma Ölkky with up to 50 m (164 ft) high cliffs.
The center of Kuusamo is located approximately 60 km (37.3 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, thus polar day and night
play a major role. From 14 to 29 June Kuusamo has midnight sun
.
The migration has had an effect on Kuusamo's age structure, as it is mainly young people who leave the town. For example, between 1998 and 2001, the percentage of people aged less than 15 years fell from 25% to 23%, while the share of those aged over 64 years rose from 12 to 14%.
, reindeer husbandry, small industries and tourism
. The unemployment rate, at 16.2% (2003) is relatively high.
In 2002 there were 248 farms in Kuusamo. Given the climatic conditions, milk and meat production have a major role, including reindeer meat from the approximately 10,000 semi-domesticated reindeer which roam the pastures in Kuusamo. The forestry and wood processing industry also employs over 1,000 people.
Around one million tourists visit Kuusamo annually. In 2002, 291,222 overnight stays were registered, 17% of which were by foreign guests. There are around 6,000 cottages (mökki) in Kuusamo, more than any other municipality in Finland.
The Ruka ski center, centered on the 492-metre Rukatunturi
, is one of the largest in Finland with a total of 16,000 beds, four hotels and 28 restaurants. Activities include skiing, snowmobile tours and excursions with reindeer and dog sleds. Ruka benefits from a long snowy season, from mid-October to mid-June.
In summer, Kuusamo is a popular wilderness destination for fishing
, kayaking
and hiking
. The most famous hiking trail (as well as Finland's most popular) is Bear's Ring (Karhunkierros
), which runs for 80 km (49.7 mi), mostly in the Oulanka National Park.
) connects Kuusamo to Southern Finland. Highway 20 leads from Kuusamo to Oulu, and the main road 81 to Rovaniemi. In Suoperä at Kuusamo, there is a border crossing to Russia, opened for international traffic in 2006. In the year 2007, 17,000 border crossings recorded.
Kuusamo Airport
is 6 km (4 mi) from the city center and 27 km (16.8 mi) from Ruka. It was opened in 1969 and has since been expanded several times. The airline Finnair
offers daily direct flights from Helsinki, adding charter flights during the tourist season. Seasonal flights are offered by Finncomm Airlines
and Blue1 from Helsinki and Rossiya Airlines from St. Petersburg. In 2007, 108,394 passengers used the airport.
In 1996 completed "Kuusamo House" in the center acts as a cultural and conference center. In him are regular musical and theatrical performances as well as changing art exhibitions. The Museum of Kuusamo is an open-air museum, housed in a historic farmhouse has been established. Moreover, in the old school of Kirkkoketo a school museum.
Kuusamo's Church lies in the center of town and was built in 1951 on the same spot as the old wooden church of 1802. The original church had been burned to the ground, along with the rest of the town, at the end of WWII. Hotly pursued by the Russians, the 6.SS-Gebirgs-Division “NORD”
briefly passed through Kuusamo on their withdrawal to occupied Norway. Before the SS troops renewed their march, Untersturmführer Reinhard Heydrich - a platoon commander in the divisions recce battalion - gave orders that the church bells be taken down and buried lest they fall into Russian hands. In 1959 SS Engineers, who had survived the war, returned to help unearth the church bells they buried back in 1944. Today these same bells reside in the re-built church.
Kuusamo is the venue of several international winter sports competitions. In Ruka skiing there is a stadium with the Rukatunturi-hill (HS142) and a smaller-K64 ski jumping hill and lighted trails and a biathlon facility. Since 2002, the World Cup kick-off in ski jumping and Nordic combined and cross country skiing World Cup races in Ruka Nordic Opening in late November at a joint event in Kuusamo instead. 2006's 16,000 spectators, the competition. Ruka in 2005, the Freestyle Skiing World Cup instead.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. It is located in the Oulu province
Provinces of Finland
The state of Finland consisted of six provinces between the years 1997 and 2009. The provincial authority was part of the central government's executive branch, not directly elected. The system was created in 1634, and its makeup was changed drastically in 1997, when the number of the provinces...
and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia
Northern Ostrobothnia
Northern Ostrobothnia is a region of Finland. It borders to the regions Lapland, Kainuu, Northern Savonia, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia.- Municipalities :Main article: Municipalities of Northern Ostrobothnia...
region
Regions of Finland
Finland consists of 19 regions called in Finnish and in Swedish. The regions are governed by regional councils, which serve as forums of cooperation for the municipalities of a region. The main tasks of the regions are regional planning and development of enterprise and education. In addition,...
. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
is PD/km2.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
.
Kuusamo is a major center for winter sports and receives approximately a million tourists every year. One of the largest ski resorts in Finland, Ruka
Rukatunturi
Rukatunturi is a high fell and a ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland. Apart from downhill skiing, there are over 500 km of cross-country skiing tracks. Also snowmobiles can be rented to enjoy some of the area's 600 km of snowmobile routes . Ruka is also the southern end of the Karhunkierros...
, is situated in Kuusamo. Ruka is also the host of many international competitions in ski jumping
Ski jumping
Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...
, cross country skiing and Nordic combined
Nordic combined
The Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in both cross-country skiing and ski jumping.- History :While Norwegian soldiers are known to have been competing in Nordic skiing since the 19th century, the first major competition in Nordic combined was held in 1892 in Oslo at the...
. The 2005 World Championships of Freestyle Skiing
FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships
The FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships is the world championship organized by the FIS for Freestyle Skiing. It was first organized in 1986 and is now held every odd year. Currently, the events included in the world championships are Moguls, Dual Moguls, Aerials, Ski cross, Slopestyle and Half-pipe...
was held in Kuusamo. Kuusamo Airport
Kuusamo Airport
-Statistics:- External links :* *...
is located 6 kilometres (4 mi) north-east from Kuusamo town centre.
Sami settlement
Until the 17th Century, the area of Kuusamo was inhabited by the semi-nomadic SamiSami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
. During the cold season they lived in the villages Maanselkä and Kitka. In spring they moved to the rivers and in summer, after the melting of the ice, to the lakes; there they fished and gathered berries and mushrooms; in autumn they hunted reindeer, bears and beavers in the forest. Apart from fishing and hunting the Sami earned their living by trading fur with the Finns settled on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...
and the Karelians
Karelians
The Karelians are a Baltic-Finnic ethnic group living mostly in the Republic of Karelia and in other north-western parts of the Russian Federation. The historic homeland of Karelians includes also parts of present-day Eastern Finland and the formerly Finnish territory of Ladoga Karelia...
of the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
coast.
As a Sami settlement the area belonged to Kuusamo Kemi-Lappmark at the time. Nominally it belonged to the territory of the Swedish province of Västerbotten
Västerbotten
', English exonym: West Bothnia, is a province or landskap in the north of Sweden. It borders Ångermanland, Lapland, Norrbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is famous for the cheese with the same name as the province.- Administration :...
, but the Swedish rule was limited to the collection of taxes. At the same time Russia collected taxes in the territory it deemed state-less.
Swedish domination
Since the 15th Century Finnish fishermen also took advantage of fishing grounds on the lower reaches of the river Iijoki near Kuusamo. They took regular trips of a few weeks from Kuusamo, but because the land could not provide hay for cattle other than near the river, they found no fixed settlements. Only when, in 1673, the Swedish government granted all settlers in Lapland years a tax exemption for 15 years, did settlers from Savo and Kainuu settle in Kuusamo. They practiced slash and burnSlash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...
as a form of shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned. This system often involves clearing of a piece of land followed by several years of wood harvesting or farming, until the soil loses fertility...
. This was mainly due to the hunting-based life form of seeds at risk. Within a few decades the Sami population was assimilated or ousted by the Finnish settlers. By 1718 there were only two Sámi families in Kuusamo, even they had adopted the Finnish language.
The first parish in Kuusamo was founded in 1685. In 1687 a temporary chapel was built, in 1695 the first church. From the end of the 17th Century the area around the lake Kuusamojärvi
Kuusamojärvi
Kuusamojärvi is a lake in Finland. It is situated in the town of Kuusamo in the Northern Ostrobothnia region in northern Finland.The lake is a part of the Kem River basin that drains into the White Sea in the Republic of Karelia, Russia.-References:*...
began to be called Kuusamo. The precise etymology of the name is unclear, however, one possible derivation is from a Sami word for "spruce forest".
The Swedish–Russian border had already been withdrawn east of Kuusamo in the 1595 Treaty of Teusina, but was long and porous. With the constant influx of new settlers, Kuusamo grew steadily in the 18th Century. Agriculture, cattle and reindeer breeding replaced nomadic cropping. Kuusamo around 1770 had about 2,000 inhabitants. In 1775 Kuusamo was removed from Lappmark and added to the newly formed province of Oulu . Because the population had increased, a new, larger church was built between 1797 and 1804. By the beginning of the 19th Century the population had reached 3000 inhabitants, but a famine in 1803 and a smallpox epidemic the following year reduced the population again.
Russian domination
In 1809, Kuusamo, as with the rest of Finland, came under Russian rule. In the first half of the 19th century, the area was ravaged several times by devastating famine and epidemics. Kuusamo was spared by the catastrophic crop failure in 1867, and its population grew steadily thereafter. By 1886, 7,000 people inhabited the city; by 1894, that number grew to 8,000. With the advent of forestry at the end of the 19th century, workers moved into the area, so Kuusamo reached a population of 10,500 by 1910. In 1868, in Finland's administrative reform the parish of Kuusamo became a municipality.Since independence
After the independence of Finland in 1917, the Russian border was closed and so Kuusamo wascut off from its hinterland. The forestry sector suffered as there was no more wood to raft from Kuusamo to the ports on the White Sea,. Even the reindeer economy suffered as some of the herds remained on the Russian side of the border. Therefore between the wars agriculture developed as the most important part of the economy. By 1925 the population had risen to 14,634, but it fell by around 2000 the next year through the detachment of the villages and Posio Suolijärvi Kuusamo .At the start of the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
Kuusamo was evacuated in December 1939 for fear of a Soviet invasion. In the Moscow Peace Treaty, the Winter War ended on 14 March 1940, Finland lost large parts of Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...
, the eastern areas of Salla
Salla
Salla is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
and Kuusamo to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The ceded part of Kuusamo had an area of 1653 square kilometers and included the villages Paanajärvi, Tavajärvi, Vatajärvi, Enojärvi, Pukari and Kenttikylä. Its 2100 residents were relocated to other parts of Kuusamo. During the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
of 1941-1944 Kuusamo was used as a supply depot by German and Finnish troops. When it appeared that Germany might lose the war, Finland secretly negotiated a separate peace with the Soviet Union. After news of the armistice, the civilian population once again abandoned the town for fear of Russian occupation. The Russians did briefly occupy Kuusamo and burned the village to the ground upon their departure.
In the years between 1945–1952 Kuusamo was rebuilt. By the late 1960s, the population grew to almost 21,000. As agriculture in the village could not offer enough jobs for the baby boomer generation, the population began to decline rapidly. In 1954, the first ski run on the Rukatunturi
Rukatunturi
Rukatunturi is a high fell and a ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland. Apart from downhill skiing, there are over 500 km of cross-country skiing tracks. Also snowmobiles can be rented to enjoy some of the area's 600 km of snowmobile routes . Ruka is also the southern end of the Karhunkierros...
was created. Through the expansion of the Ruka ski center, Kuusamo became a tourist center. In 2000, the municipality of Kuusamo was made a city.
Geography
Kuusamo lies in the east of Finland in Oulu ProvinceOulu Province
Oulu was a province of Finland from 1775 to 2010. It bordered the provinces of Lapland, Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia and Russia.- Historical Province :For History, Geography and Culture see: Ostrobothnia...
on the border with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The town of Kuusamo is only a small part of the municipality. The neighboring municipalities of Kuusamo are Suomussalmi
Suomussalmi
Suomussalmi is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish...
in the south, Taivalkoski
Taivalkoski
Taivalkoski is a municipality of Finland, it is located in the Province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
and Posio
Posio
Posio is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water...
in the west, Salla
Salla
Salla is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
in the north and Russia in the east. The nearest large towns are Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...
, 192 kilometres (119.3 mi) northwest, and Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
215 km (133.6 mi) southwest. The distance to the capital Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
is 796 km (494.6 mi).
Kuusamo covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The community center of Kuusamo, where nearly two-thirds of the population live, is only a small part of the territory. The rest of the municipality consists of sparsely populated, mostly wooded areas. Therefore, the population density of Kuusamo is only PD/km2. Apart from the city, villages include Alakitka, Heikkilä
Heikkilä
Heikkilä is a surname originating in Finland. The name is derived from Heikki, the Finnish equivalent of the Scandinavian name Henrik and the Germanic Henry, plus the suffix -lä, a patronymic indicating a child of a household headed by a man named Heikki. Among Finnish immigrants to North America,...
, Hiltunen, Irni, Jokilampi, Kallunki, Kantokylä, Kemilä, Kero, Kesäniemi, Kiitämäjärvi, Koskenkylä, Kuolio, Kurvinen, Kärpänkylä
Kärpänkylä
Kärpänkylä is a village in Finland....
, Käylä
Kayla
Kayla is one of the names of the Beta Israel community among their neighbours, after which the Kayla language is named. Yona Bogale claimed that the name stems from the Tigrinya word for artisans, and on the broader sense excommunicated people...
, Lämsänkylä, Maaselänkylä, Murtovaara, Poussu, Puutteenkylä, Rukajärvi, Määttälänvaara, Soivio, Suorajärvi, Tammela
Tammela
Tammela is a municipality of Finland. The first mention of a village named Tammela was in documents from 1423.It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Tavastia Proper region. The municipality has a population of and it covers an area of of which is inland water...
, Teeriranta, Törmäsenvaara
Törmäsenvaara
Törmäsenvaara is a village in the town of Kuusamo in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland....
, Vasaraperä, Virrankylä, Vuotunki, Lehto and Kiviperä.
Landscape and Nature
The city lies on a roughly 250-meter-high plateau, from which the waters flow in five directions. In the area of Kuusamo there are many hills (Finn.Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
vaara) and fells (Finn. tunturi). The highest elevations are Valtavaara (492 m), Kuntivaara (481 m), Iivaara (469 m) and Rukatunturi
Rukatunturi
Rukatunturi is a high fell and a ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland. Apart from downhill skiing, there are over 500 km of cross-country skiing tracks. Also snowmobiles can be rented to enjoy some of the area's 600 km of snowmobile routes . Ruka is also the southern end of the Karhunkierros...
(462 m), the site of the Ruka ski center.
90% of the land area is forested. The forests consist mainly of pine trees (70%) with some spruce (20%) and deciduous trees (10%). 801 km² (309.3 sq mi) or 14% of the area of Kuusamo is covered by water. The largest of the 166 lakes in the area are Joukamojärvi, Kiitämä, Kitka, Kurkijärvi, Kuusamojärvi, Muojärvi and Suininki. Rivers in the area include Oulankajoki
Oulankajoki
Oulankajoki is a river of Finland and Russia. It is part of the Kovda River system in Finland, in the Republic of Karelia and in the Murmansk Oblast in Russia. From the Kovda River the waters flow into the Lake Pyaozero in the Republic of Karelia in Russia and from there to the White Sea.-See...
, Kitkajoki, Kuusinkijoki and Pistojoki flowing eastward to the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
and Iijoki
Iijoki
Iijoki is a river of Finland in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. It flows for 370 kilometres into the Gulf of Bothnia. Some of its many tributaries are Siuruanjoki and Livojoki....
westward to the Gulf of Bothnia
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...
.
The 270 km² (104.2 sq mi) area of Oulanka National Park
Oulanka National Park
Oulanka National Park is a national park in the Northern Ostrobothnia and Lapland regions of Finland, covering . It was established in 1956 and was expanded again in 1982 and 1989, and it borders with Paanajärvi National Park in Russia...
is shared between northern Kuusamo and neighboring Salla
Salla
Salla is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
municipality. The landscape is dominated by pine forests, Oulankajoki river and its side branches with their sandbanks and rapids, and in the northern part vast marsh areas. In the wilderness live 30 species of mammals and 120 species of birds, including brown, stone and white-tailed eagle
White-tailed Eagle
The White-tailed Eagle , also known as the Sea Eagle, Erne , or White-tailed Sea-eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes other raptors such as hawks, kites, and harriers...
. Wolves
Eurasian Wolf
The Eurasian Wolf , also known as the, European, Common or Forest Wolf is a subspecies of grey wolf which has the largest range among wolf subspecies and is the most common in Europe and Asia, ranging through Mongolia, China, Russia, Scandinavia, Western Europe and the Himalayan Mountains...
and lynxes
Eurasian Lynx
The Eurasian lynx is a medium-sized cat native to European and Siberian forests, South Asia and East Asia. It is also known as the European lynx, common lynx, the northern lynx, and the Siberian or Russian lynx...
are rare. Rapids in Oulankajoki include Kiutaköngäs, Taivalköngäs, Jyrävä, Niskakoski and Myllykoski. Near the southern border with Suomussalmi is the canyon lake Julma Ölkky with up to 50 m (164 ft) high cliffs.
Climate
The average annual temperature is −0.3 °C, annual precipitation 525 millimetres (20.7 in). The warmest month is July with an average temperature of +14.7 °C, coldest February with −13.2 °C. The coldest ever measured temperature was −40.8 °C. Kuusamo is one of the snowiest areas in Finland: the ground is snow-covered for about 200 days a year, from late October until mid-May, with a thickness of 80–90 cm (31.5–35.4 ).The center of Kuusamo is located approximately 60 km (37.3 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, thus polar day and night
Polar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
play a major role. From 14 to 29 June Kuusamo has midnight sun
Midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months at latitudes north and nearby to the south of the Arctic Circle, and south and nearby to the north of the Antarctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. Given fair weather, the sun is visible for a continuous...
.
Population
On Kuusamo had inhabitants. Nearly two-thirds of the population lives in the city center, called the village of Kuusamo, the rest is divided among the villages in the rural hinterland. Like most communities in the Northern and Eastern Finland, there has been marked migration to larger urban areas. The population peaked in the late 1960s at nearly 21,000 residents. With the exception of a period in the 1990s, the population has steadily declined since then.The migration has had an effect on Kuusamo's age structure, as it is mainly young people who leave the town. For example, between 1998 and 2001, the percentage of people aged less than 15 years fell from 25% to 23%, while the share of those aged over 64 years rose from 12 to 14%.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 18,639 |
| 1965 | 20,795 |
| 1970 | 19,974 |
| 1980 | 18,161 |
| 1985 | 17,923 |
| 1990 | 18,061 |
| 1995 | 18,687 |
| 2000 | 17,891 |
| 2001 | 17,729 |
| 2003 | 17,405 |
| 2005 | 17,113 |
| 2008 | 16,779 |
Economy
The main economic activities in Kuusamo include forestryForestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, reindeer husbandry, small industries and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. The unemployment rate, at 16.2% (2003) is relatively high.
In 2002 there were 248 farms in Kuusamo. Given the climatic conditions, milk and meat production have a major role, including reindeer meat from the approximately 10,000 semi-domesticated reindeer which roam the pastures in Kuusamo. The forestry and wood processing industry also employs over 1,000 people.
Tourism
The Ruka ski center, centered on the 492-metre Rukatunturi
Rukatunturi
Rukatunturi is a high fell and a ski resort in Kuusamo, Finland. Apart from downhill skiing, there are over 500 km of cross-country skiing tracks. Also snowmobiles can be rented to enjoy some of the area's 600 km of snowmobile routes . Ruka is also the southern end of the Karhunkierros...
, is one of the largest in Finland with a total of 16,000 beds, four hotels and 28 restaurants. Activities include skiing, snowmobile tours and excursions with reindeer and dog sleds. Ruka benefits from a long snowy season, from mid-October to mid-June.
In summer, Kuusamo is a popular wilderness destination for fishing
Angling
Angling is a method of fishing by means of an "angle" . The hook is usually attached to a fishing line and the line is often attached to a fishing rod. Fishing rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a mechanism for storing, retrieving and paying out the line. The hook itself...
, kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
and hiking
Hiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
. The most famous hiking trail (as well as Finland's most popular) is Bear's Ring (Karhunkierros
Karhunkierros
Karhunkierros is a hiking trail that stretches from Salla to Kuusamo in north-eastern Finland....
), which runs for 80 km (49.7 mi), mostly in the Oulanka National Park.
Transportation
National highway 5 (E63European route E63
The European route E 63 is a European route that goes from Sodankylä, Finland to Turku, Finland. The length of the route is .* E 63: Sodankylä – Pelkosenniemi – Kemijärvi – Isokylä – Kuusamo – Suomussalmi – Kajaani – Iisalmi – Kuopio – Vehmasmäki – Suonenjoki – Lievestuore – Jyväskylä –...
) connects Kuusamo to Southern Finland. Highway 20 leads from Kuusamo to Oulu, and the main road 81 to Rovaniemi. In Suoperä at Kuusamo, there is a border crossing to Russia, opened for international traffic in 2006. In the year 2007, 17,000 border crossings recorded.
Kuusamo Airport
Kuusamo Airport
-Statistics:- External links :* *...
is 6 km (4 mi) from the city center and 27 km (16.8 mi) from Ruka. It was opened in 1969 and has since been expanded several times. The airline Finnair
Finnair
Finnair Plc is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters on the grounds of Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland, and its main hub at Helsinki Airport. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. The largest...
offers daily direct flights from Helsinki, adding charter flights during the tourist season. Seasonal flights are offered by Finncomm Airlines
Finncomm Airlines
Finnish Commuter Airlines Oy operating as Flybe Nordic, trading as Finncomm Airlines, was a regional airline with its head office on the grounds of Seinäjoki Airport in Ilmajoki, Finland, near Seinäjoki. The carrier operates flights to Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden and 16...
and Blue1 from Helsinki and Rossiya Airlines from St. Petersburg. In 2007, 108,394 passengers used the airport.
Arts and Culture
Kuusamo, mainly due to its natural beauty attracts visitors, the town has hardly attractions in the traditional sense to show. Because the city center in the Lapland war completely destroyed and then as soon as possible and economically had to be rebuilt, is Kuusamo from the architectural point of view largely irrelevant. By contrast, the cultural life of the city, at least in view of the relatively small population lively.In 1996 completed "Kuusamo House" in the center acts as a cultural and conference center. In him are regular musical and theatrical performances as well as changing art exhibitions. The Museum of Kuusamo is an open-air museum, housed in a historic farmhouse has been established. Moreover, in the old school of Kirkkoketo a school museum.
Kuusamo's Church lies in the center of town and was built in 1951 on the same spot as the old wooden church of 1802. The original church had been burned to the ground, along with the rest of the town, at the end of WWII. Hotly pursued by the Russians, the 6.SS-Gebirgs-Division “NORD”
6th SS Mountain Division Nord
The 6th SS Mountain Division "Nord" was a German unit of the Waffen SS during World War II, formed in February 1941 as SS Kampfgruppe Nord ....
briefly passed through Kuusamo on their withdrawal to occupied Norway. Before the SS troops renewed their march, Untersturmführer Reinhard Heydrich - a platoon commander in the divisions recce battalion - gave orders that the church bells be taken down and buried lest they fall into Russian hands. In 1959 SS Engineers, who had survived the war, returned to help unearth the church bells they buried back in 1944. Today these same bells reside in the re-built church.
Sports
Famous people from Kuusamo
- Hannu Hautala, photographer
- Tuomo Hänninen, politician
- Anssi KoivurantaAnssi KoivurantaAnssi Koivuranta is a ski jumper, formerly nordic combined skier from Finland. Known for winning the 2008–09 FIS Nordic Combined World Cup...
,ski-jumper, former Nordic combined athlete - Pirkko MäättäPirkko MäättäPirkko Määttä is a former Finnish cross-country skier who competed from 1982 to 1995. She won two 4 x 5 km relay bronze medals at the Winter Olympics....
, cross-country skier - Jarkko OikarinenJarkko OikarinenJarkko Oikarinen is the inventor of the first Internet chat network, called Internet Relay Chat , where he is known as WiZ. While working at the University of Oulu in August 1988, he wrote the first IRC server and client programs, which he produced to replace the MUT program on the Finnish BBS...
, developer of IRCInternet Relay ChatInternet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file... - Kalevi OikarainenKalevi OikarainenKalevi Oikarainen . is a former Finnish cross country skier who competed during the 1960s. He won a bronze medal in the 4 x 10 km relay at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble and placed 7th in the 30 km event at those same games.Oikarainen's biggest success was at the FIS Nordic World...
, cross-country skier - Pauli Saapunki, parliamentarian
- Kepa Salmirinne, musician
- Veikko TörmänenVeikko TörmänenVeikko Johannes Törmänen is a Finnish artist, who paints and makes graphic art. His works were displayed for the first time in a solo exhibition in Oulu Finland in 1972....
, visual artist - Päivi Uitto-Riipinen, Miss Suomi 1979
- Junnu Alajuuma alias Johnny Volume, musician (Come InsideCome InsideCome Inside is a Finnish glam rock, brit pop and indie rock band founded in 1996 at the Alppila Senior High in Helsinki, Finland. Though Sippola writes the band's lyrics in fluent English, the band remains mostly unknown outside of Finland, where they had several top-20 records.The band comprised...
, The Flaming SideburnsThe Flaming SideburnsThe Flaming Sideburns is a Garage punk/Garage rock revival band that was formed in Helsinki, Finland in 1995. Most of the members are Finnish, but lead vocalist Jorge Eduardo "Speedo" Martinez is an Argentine expatriate.- Band history :...
) - Ville Alajuuma, musician (Come InsideCome InsideCome Inside is a Finnish glam rock, brit pop and indie rock band founded in 1996 at the Alppila Senior High in Helsinki, Finland. Though Sippola writes the band's lyrics in fluent English, the band remains mostly unknown outside of Finland, where they had several top-20 records.The band comprised...
) - Jarkko Petosalmi, musician (Timo Rautiainen & Trio NiskalaukausTimo Rautiainen & Trio NiskalaukausTimo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus was a metal music band from Finland, formed in 1997. The band was led by Timo Rautiainen, leading member of Finnish metallers Lyijykomppania, a band which still has an underground cult following in the scene. The musical influence of the band ranges from Black...
)
External links
- Town of Kuusamo – Official website