Suolahti is a former

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It is located next to Lake Keitele in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Western Finland Western Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. Tampere was the largest city of the province. Histor ...

and is part of the

Central Finland Central Finland (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, North Savo, and Southern Savonia, South S ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. Suolahti was merged into

Äänekoski Äänekoski () is a town in Finland, located in the Central Finland regions of Finland, region, about north of Jyväskylä, the region's capital city. Äänekoski has a population of , as of , and covers an area of of which , or 22%, is water. ...

together with Sumiainen in 2007.

History

The village was initially known as Paadentaipale; the first mentions of the current name come from are from the 16th century. The opening of the railroad in 1898 industrialized Suolahti and increased the waterborne traffic on Keitele, for which Suolahti provided a railway harbour at its south end. The same year, a

steam-mill A steam mill is a type of Mill (grinding), grinding mill using a stationary steam engine to power its mechanism. * Albion Mills, Southwark, Albion Flour Mills, first steam mill in London from around 1790 * Aurora Steam Grist Mill, a historic gr ...

started operating which was soon followed by other industrial facilities. This sped up population growth and urban development. In the first three decades of the 20th century, the population increased to two thousand. It gained town status in 1977.

Sister cities

Prior to a 2007 consolidation with Sumiainen to make

, Suolahti was twinned with: *

Borovichi Borovichi () is the second largest town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Msta River in the northern spurs of the Valdai Hills, east of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2010 Census, its populati ...

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa, are located in the oblast. The historic m ...

, Russia (status unknown)

Notable people

* Jack Smack, guitarist * (born 1968), inventor and YouTuber

References

External links

Suolahti
– Official site Äänekoski Populated places disestablished in 2007 Former municipalities of Finland {{WesternFinland-geo-stub