Harlu is a former municipality of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

located in the present-day

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Harlu was part of the

Ladoga Karelia Ladoga Karelia ( fi, Laatokan Karjala, russian: Ладожская Карелия, Ladožskaja Karelija, Карельское Приладожье, ''Karelskoje Priladožje'' or Северное Приладожье, ''Severnoje Priladožje'') is a ...

district, an area ceded to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in 1940 in the

Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...

. Administratively the area is nowadays part of the

Pitkyarantsky District Pitkyarantsky District (russian: Питкяра́нтский райо́н; krl, Pitkänrannan piiri; fi, Pitkärannan piiri) is an administrative district (raion), one of the fifteen in the Republic of Karelia, Russia.Constitution of the Repu ...

in the Republic of Karelia. The municipality ceased to function in 1948.

History and Demographics

Harlu was founded in 1922 after extensive demographic and industrial development in the area. A decision of creating an

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

to the area had already been made by the

Finnish Senate The Senate of Finland ( fi, Suomen senaatti, sv, Senaten för Finland) combined the functions of cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in the independent Finland from 1917 to 1918. The body that would beco ...

in 1916 when Finland was still a

Grand Duchy A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was often used in the o ...

under Russian dominion, and the parish started fully functioning in 1918 in the freshly independent Finland. The

Finnish Orthodox Church The Orthodox Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, lit=Finnish Orthodox Church; sv, Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland, lit=Orthodox Church in Finland; ) is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Const ...

didn't establish a parish in the area despite a significant amount of its members residing in the area. Harlu had a land area of approximately 252,6 km² and its population was 7 828 (1939) with a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

of 30,99 people per km². Harlu constituted of nine villages: Harlu (also Leppäkoski), Heinäjoki, Honkakylä, Häyskynvaara, Joensuu, Läskelä, Paussu, Tenjärvi and Vehkalahti. Former municipalities of Finland Populated places disestablished in 1948 {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub