Impilahti (russian: Импила́хти; krl, Imbilahti; sv, Impilax) is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

in the Republic of Karelia,

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 ...

, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

border, about west of

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...

, the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

of the Republic of Karelia. The nearest town is

Sortavala Sortavala (russian: Сортавала; Finnish and krl, Sortavala; sv, Sordavala); till 1918 Serdobol (russian: Сердоболь) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish bor ...

, which is located about west of Sortavala. Before the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the area belonged to

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 ...

, after which it became part of 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 2012 the population of Impilahti was about one thousand. According to the 2010 census, 74% of the population are

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, 9% Belarusian, 7% Karelian, 3% Ukrainian and 2%

Geography

In addition to Lake Ladoga, there are other smaller lakes in Impilahti and several rivers flow in the area. Most of the land area is forest. Minerals include

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

, amphibolite, slate,

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...

and gravel.

Sights and tourism

To the east of the village of Leppäsilta is a Stone Age settlement. Impilahti's center has the status of a historical settlement. Building monuments include the preserved Impilahti parsonage,

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

from the Finnish era, as well as two

residential building A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family resi ...

s. Impilahti has the graves of Soviet and Finnish soldiers who fell in the

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

and

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, as well as Soviet prisoners of war. The municipality also has several holiday villages and hunting lodges.

Transportation

The A130 highway between

Olonets Olonets (russian: Оло́нец; krl, Anus, olo, Anuksenlinnu; fi, Aunus, Aunuksenkaupunki or Aunuksenlinna) is a town and the administrative center of Olonetsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the Olonka River to t ...

and Sortavala passes through Impilahti. There are bus connections from the center to

Pitkyaranta Pitkyaranta (russian: Питкяранта; olo, Pitkyrandu; fi, Pitkäranta) is a town and the administrative center of Pitkyarantsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the northeastern coast of Lake Ladoga. Population: H ...

and Sortavala.

Industry

In Impilahti, there are two fish farms, a

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

farm, a

sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fab ...

factory and a

building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-ma ...

s industry. From 2003 to 2022, a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

owned by

Stora Enso Stora Enso Oyj (from sv, Stora and fi, Enso ) is a manufacturer of pulp, paper and other forest products, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The majority of sales takes place in Europe, but there are also significant operations in Asia and S ...

operated in Impilahti.

Notable people

* Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo (1900–1997), artist and architect * Aleksander Auvinen (1857–1918), Lutheran priest and politician *

Arvid Genetz Arvid Oskar Gustaf Genetz (1 July 1848— 3 May 1915) was a Finnish politician, poet and linguist. He wrote under the pseudonym Arvi Jännes. His best known poems are "Herää Suomi”, ”Karjala” and ”Väinölän lapset”. He was a mem ...

(1848–1915), politician, poet and linguist * Emil Genetz (1852–1930), composer * William Kanerva (1902–1956), footballer *

Ensio Koivunen Ensio Kalevi Koivunen (23 June 1930 – 27 May 2003) was a Finland, Finnish serial killerAlibi 6/1980, s. 10 who poisoned three female hitchhiking, hitchhikers using carbon monoxide in the summer of 1971, and thereby got the nickname ''Häkä ...

(1930–2003), serial killer * Mauno Luukkonen (born 1934), biathlete * Mikko Piitulainen (1878–1935), farmer, attorney and politician *

Pentti Saarikoski Pentti Saarikoski (Impilahti, now in the Republic of Karelia September 2, 1937 – Joensuu August 24, 1983) was one of the most important poets in the literary scene of Finland during the 1960s and 1970s. His body of work comprises poetry and ...

(1937–1983), poet * Jaakko Seise (1876–1935), businessman, a member of the Finnish White Guard and a Nazi politician *

Elias Simojoki Lauri Elias Simojoki (28 January 1899 – 25 January 1940) was a Finnish clergyman who became a leading figure in the country's far right movement. The son of a clergyman, Simojoki was born on 28 January 1899 in Rautio. Philip Rees, '' Biographic ...

(1899–1940), clergyman * Basilius Suosaari (born Vasili Tichanoff; 1861–1939), Finnish-Australian politician and farmer * Alli Vaittinen-Kuikka (1918–2006), nurse, midwife and politician

References

External links

Poselok Impilahti
– Kareliya.ru (in Russian)

– Luovutettu Karjala (in Finnish) {{Republic of Karelia Grand Duchy of Finland Former municipalities of Finland Rural localities in the Republic of Karelia Populated places established in 1638 Populated places in Pitkyarantsky District