Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and a

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

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 ...

and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is . It has a borderline of with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

( Finnish-Russian border). Neighbour towns are

Hyrynsalmi Hyrynsalmi is a municipality in Finland and is part of 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 Finnish may refe ...

Lieksa Lieksa () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia 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. ...

Nurmes Nurmes is a town and municipality of Finland, located in the county of North Karelia. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

Ristijärvi Ristijärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in Kainuu in terms of population. It covers an area of of which is water. The populati ...

Sotkamo Sotkamo is a municipality of Finland, located in the Kainuu region about east of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu. Vuokatti, in west of Sotkamo, is the most populous village in the municipality and also a popular skiing resort. Both Hiidenportti Nat ...

and

Suomussalmi Suomussalmi () is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region about northeast of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu and south of Kuusamo. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...

. A neighbour city across the Russian border is

Kostomuksha Kostomuksha (russian: Костому́кша; krl, Koštamuš; fi, Kostamus; vep, Kostamukš) is a town in the northwest of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located from the border with Finland, on the shore of Lake Kontoki. Population: Ge ...

. Vartius, one of the border crossing points between Finland and Russia, is located in northern Kuhmo. Kuhmo´s eastern border is located at a drainage divider and town area belongs to

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

Oulujärvi Oulujärvi (; sv, Ule träsk; also known as Lake Oulu) is a large lake in the Kainuu region of Finland. With an area of it is the fifth largest lake in the country. The lake is drained by the Oulu River, which flows northwestward from the lake ...

. The municipality is unilingually

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 ...

History

The first inhabitants arrived in Kuhmo after the last

ice-age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

, around 8000 BCE. Proof of Stone Age habitation has been found around Ontojärvi and Lammasjärvi.

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

inhabited Kuhmo area until migration from

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

and Savonia pushed Sami people up north. The influence of Sami culture is still found in the placenames. Wide spreading water routes are known to have attracted hunters, raiders, merchants and tax collectors since the 9th century. In the

Treaty of Nöteborg The Treaty of Nöteborg, also known as the ''Treaty of Oreshek'' ( sv, Freden i Nöteborg, Russian: ''Ореховский мир,'' fi, Pähkinäsaaren rauha), is a conventional name for the peace treaty signed at Oreshek ( sv, Nöteborg, fi, ...

, the settlement between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of m ...

on August 12, 1323, the Kuhmo area belonged to Novgorod. Yet hunters and tax collectors kept on penetrating to the area from west. Swedish interest was to push the border further east. Permanent habitation settled to the area after

Gustav I Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...

, king of Sweden, had promised tax relief to peasants who would move north. Almost all the habitation was destroyed in the Russo-Swedish war between 1570 and 1595. In the

Treaty of Teusina The Treaty of Teusina, Tyavzin or Tyavzino ( fi, Täyssinän rauha), also known as the Eternal Peace with Sweden in Russia, was concluded by Russian diplomats under the boyar Afanasiy Pushkin (an ancestor of the poet Aleksandr Pushkin) and ambas ...

, the region of Kuhmo was annexed into Sweden. In the following centuries, this area was continuously raided in a number of wars and quarrels. In 1809, Finland was annexed from Sweden to the Russian Empire as the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...

. For merchants from Karelia and Russia, Kuhmo became a trade route and a place to sell their goods. As a memorial of those merchants, on the market of Kuhmo there stands the statue “Laukunkantaja” (in English, "The Bag Bearer"). In this era,

Elias Lönnrot Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala'', (1835, enlarged 1849), from short b ...

, compiler of the Finnish National Epic ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and r ...

'' made his poem-collecting trips via Kuhmo to Karelia. Lönnrot made some of the editing in Kuhmo. Reconstruction of the hut where he has staying can be seen in the Kalevala village. Publishing ''Kalevala'' in 1835 fueled birth of

Karelianism Karelianism was a late 19th-century cultural phenomenon in the Grand Duchy of Finland and involved writers, painters, poets and sculptors. Since the publishing of the Finnish national epic Kalevala in 1835, compiled from Finnish and Karelian folk ...

, which became a major trend in culture spheres towards the end of 19th century.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic. His work is considered a very important aspect of the Finnish national ident ...

, who is considered one of the founders of Karelianism, spent his honeymoon in Kuhmo. During their stay Gallen-Kallela painted some of his works at Lapinsalmi, lake

Lentua Lentua is a medium-sized lake of Finland and it is the 57th biggest lake in Finland. It belongs to Oulujoki main catchment area and it is situated in Kuhmo municipality in the Kainuu Kainuu ( sv, Kajanaland) is one of the 19 regions of Finlan ...

. Scenery to lake Lentua based the background of the middle picture in his work Aino triptych. During the 19th century burn-beating was still essential in agriculture but in decline. At the end of 18th century

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

production had arrived to the area as a new and steadily growing source of income. In the year 1900 tar production in Kuhmo was highest in Finland, at 1.6 million litres. Tar was shipped from Kuhmo to

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

rowboats Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

. Largest boats could carry 25 – 27 barrels, 125 litres each. Remains of tar pits, where tar was distilled from

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, can be found everywhere in the Kuhmo area. The village of Jonkeri and its surroundings near Lake Jonkeri were transferred from Nurmeksen maalaiskunta to Kuhmo in 1903. The

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

was an important event in the history of Kuhmo. During the war Kuhmo was bombarded 48 times and ground battles took place as near as ten kilometers from the center of the town. The

Soviet army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

´s objective in Kuhmo was to proceed through Kuhmo and

Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...

to Oulu and divide Finland into two. The offensive was stopped on the Kuhmo – Saunajärvi road at Jyrkänkoski and on the Kuhmo – Kiekinkoski road at Tyrävaara, Both battlescenes are approximately 10 km from the city center. At narrow Kuhmo (Saunajärvi road) the Soviet 54th Division was forced to spread its troops which made Finnish

guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tact ...

tactics efficient. After being stopped, Soviet forces were divided and encircled into small

pockets A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag o ...

. A campaign to destroy the pockets and prevent the Soviet 44th Division from rescuing encircled forces continued until 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 ...

. After the war Kuhmo kept its eastern borderline unchanged, thus having an unchanged borderline for 400 years straight since the

of 1595.

Geography

Bear and Wolf meet at the swamp 4K HDR 12

By area the municipality is the second largest in the region (and the twelfth largest in the country), covering twice the land area of

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. The population is heavily concentrated in Kuhmo-town. Most of the area is very wild, featuring more than 600 lakes and for the rest extensively forested, providing a home to abundant wild life that includes

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

and

Finnish forest reindeer The Finnish forest reindeer ''(Rangifer fennicus fennicus'' (Finnish:'' metsäpeura'', Russian: ''лесной северный олень''), also known as Eurasian or European forest reindeer is a rare subspecies of the reindeer native to Finla ...

. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has set Kuhmo as a part of Eastern Finland´s stable bear population area. According to the plan, the population density of bears in this area will be maintained higher than in the rest of the country. The wolf population is also dense by comparison to the rest of the country. In consequence, the number of reindeer has decreased lately. The topography is made up of low hills, of which the most significant are near the

n frontier on the eastern side. To the south, Kuhmo is bordered by

North Karelia North Karelia ( fi, Pohjois-Karjala; sv, Norra Karelen) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Finlan ...

. Several nature reserves have been founded in Kuhmo for the protection of the frontier wilderness. Forest administration maintains several hiking routes on the reserves and almost all are accessible to the public.

Districts and villages

Poste frontière russe près de Vartius, finlande

Districts: * Akonlahti * Hankaranta * Jaurakko * Kalevala * Kanninlampi * Kantola * Keitaala * Kontio * Korkeamäki * Kuhmoniemi * Levälahti * Pajakka * Piilola * Saarikoski * Sormula * Suvanto Villages: * Haukela * Hietaperä * Härmänkylä * Hukkajärvi * Iivantiira * Jonkeri * Juonto * Juttua * Jyrkkä * Jämäs * Kalliojoki * Katerma * Kattilakoski * Kiekinkoski * Kivikiekki * Korpisalmi * Kuumu * Kuusamonkylä * Lammasperä * Lauvuskylä * Lentiira * Lentua * Niemiskylä * Niva * Saunajärvi * Timoniemi * Rasti * Seilonen * Sylväjä * Vartius * Vepsä * Vieksi * Viiksimo * Vuosanka * Ypykkävaara

Rimpi

Rimpi is a former village near the Russian border, nowadays officially a part of Vartius. Traditionally inhabited by Karelian

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

, Rimpi was one of three Karelian-speaking villages in Kainuu, the other two being Kuivajärvi and Hietajärvi in

. The village was destroyed in the

and later rebuilt, however Finnish authorities did not allow the inhabitants to build Karelian-type houses. By the early 1980s, it no longer had permanent inhabitants. New people moved there permanently in 1991. Rimpi was home to Eljas Ahtonen, who was the model for

Väinämöinen Väinämöinen () is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, mag ...

in Akseli Gallen-Kallela's painting ''Aino-taru''.

Culture

Kuhmo is well known for its

Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival ( fi, Kuhmon Kamarimusiikki) is an international chamber music festival held every July for two weeks in Kuhmo, Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordi ...

which is held annually. The festival was founded in 1970 by cellist Seppo Kimanen and a small group of friends. A book on this subject was published in 2006.Listen, there's music from the forest: a short presentation of the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival", in English and French, by Jean-Jacques Subrenat, .

Sights

*Kuhmo Arts Centre *Kalevala Village *Juminkeko – The Information Center for the Kalevala and Karelian Culture. *

Petola Visitor Centre Petola Visitor Centre, Kuhmo was founded to provide information about large carnivores in Finland. The centre provides information about their appearance, behavior, habitats, research, monitoring and folk legends. Visiting the centre is free, exclud ...

Notable people

Johan Gabriel Ståhlberg Johan Gabriel Ståhlberg (, ; 23 October 1832 – 8 September 1873) was a Finnish priest, who worked as a chaplain in Alavieska and as a deputy pastor in Haapajärvi.

(1832–1873), Finnish priest and father of President

K. J. Ståhlberg K is the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet. K may also refer to: General uses * K (programming language), an array processing language developed by Arthur Whitney and commercialized by Kx Systems * K (cider), a British draft cider manufac ...

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kuhmo is twinned with: * Kostamus, Russia *

Oroszlány Oroszlány (german: Ohreslahn) is a city in Hungary, Komárom-Esztergom county, Central Transdanubia region, located on the North-West flanks of the Vértes Mountains. It has a population of 20.487. The main tourist attraction of the town is the ...

, Hungary *

Robertsfors Robertsfors is a locality and the seat of Robertsfors Municipality in Västerbotten County, Sweden with 2,004 inhabitants in 2010. Robertsfors is named after the Scotsman Robert Finlay, who, together with John Jennings, founded an ironworks the ...

, Sweden *

Šaľa Šaľa (; hu, Vágsellye, german: Schelle) is a town in south-western Slovakia. Geography The town is located on the Danubian Lowland, on both banks of the Váh River, around 65 km from Bratislava and 30 km from Nové Zámky. Except t ...

, Slovakia

References

External links

* *
Kuhmo Chamber Music FestivalMany links and much information about Kuhmo's services.
{{authority control Cities and towns in Finland Municipalities of Kainuu Populated places established in 1865