Kempele is a municipality south of the city of

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

and south of the Oulu Airport in Northern

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, ...

. Historically it was 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 ...

, but today it is in the region of

North Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland (Finland), Lapland, Kainuu, Northern Savonia, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of ...

. The population of Kempele is () and the municipality covers an area of (excluding sea), of which is inland waters (). The population density is (). The municipality of Kempele was founded in 1867. Kempele is the birthplace of former NHL goaltender

Pekka Rinne Pekka Päiviö Rinne (; born 3 November 1982) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey, hockey goaltender. Drafted by the Nashville Predators in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Rinne became their starting goaltender during the 2008–09 NHL season, ...

. The neighbouring municipalities are

Liminka Liminka () is a municipality in the Northern Ostrobothnia region in Finland. Liminka is located about south of Oulu. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The neighbour ...

and

Tyrnävä Tyrnävä () is a municipality in the North Ostrobothnia region of Finland with a population of (). It covers an area of , of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The city of Oulu is located abou ...

History

Kempele was first permanently settled about 500 years ago, at a time when the coastline was closer than it is today. Kempele was considered part of Greater

and consisted of only three houses in 1568, when it was called Kempele for the first time in official records. In 1774 full church privileges were granted to Kempele, which meant separation from

and establishment as an autonomous parish. The municipal government was established in 1867.

Sights

The old church of Kempele, which was built between 1688 and 1691, is one of the oldest wooden churches in Finland. Kempele was granted the right to build a prayer room in 1688, but parishioners decided to construct a church with a steeple. Given the custom of burying local notables under the church, there are about 150 graves in the crypt, the last of them dating from 1796. The church includes decorations by the noted Finnish painter Mikael Toppelius. The old church ceased to be in active use after a new church was built next to it in the 1990s, but some events are still held in it from time to time. Kempele may be best known for being the headquarters of the world-famous

heart rate monitor A heart rate monitor (HRM) is a personal monitoring device that allows one to measure/display heart rate in real time or record the heart rate for later study. It is largely used to gather heart rate data while performing various types of ph ...

corporation Polar Electro, which first brought the device to market in 1978.

Sports

The men's

pesäpallo Pesäpallo (; ; , colloquially known in Finnish as pesis and also referred to as Finnish baseball) is a fast-moving bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other ...

club Kempeleen Kiri competes in the

Superpesis The Superpesis is the highest level of the Finnish pesäpallo league system. Contested by 13 clubs in men's league and 12 clubs in women's league, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Ykköspesis. Seasons usually run from ...

national league, playing at Sarkkiranta Stadium.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

* Elva, Estonia

References

External links

*
Municipality of Kempele

{{Authority control Populated places established in 1867