Kitee (; ) is a

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 a

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 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 ...

Eastern Finland Eastern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east. History On September 1, 1997, the Mikkeli Province, the Kuopio Pr ...

and is part of the

North Karelia North Karelia (or ''Northern Karelia'', ; ) 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 Finland and share ...

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 ...

, about south of

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

and about northeast of

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

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

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neighbouring municipalities are Parikkala, Rääkkylä,

Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; ) is a town in Finland, located in the eastern interior of the country. It lies in the Finnish Lakeland, the South Savo region. The population of Savonlinna is approximately , while the Savonlinna sub-region, sub-region has a pop ...

and Tohmajärvi.

History

Kitee is known as the ''moonshine city of Finland'' due to its legal and illegal

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

manufacturing.

Villages

* Haapasalo * Haarajärvi * Hammaskallio * Heinoniemi * Jaakkima * Juurikka * Kantosyrjä * Kiteenkylä * Kiteenlahti * Kontiola * Kunonniemi * Lahdenkylä * Leinovaara * Loukunvaara * Misola * Muljula * Niinikumpu * Nivunki * Närsäkkälä * Ojamäki * Piimäjärvi * Potoskavaara * Puhos * Puhossalo * Päätye * Riihijärvi * Rokkala * Ruppovaara * Satulavaara * Suoparsaari * Suorlahti * Särkijärvi * Säynejärvi * Taipale * Tasapää * Tolosenmäki * Varmoniemi * Välivaara

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 Kiteen Pallo -90 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 Shore Field.

Notable people

* The founding members of symphonic metal band

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neval ...

all hail from the town of Kitee: **

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish Heavy metal music, heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. Turunen studied lyrical ...

, singer ** Emppu Vuorinen, guitarist ** Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist ** Sami Vänskä, bassist **

Jukka Nevalainen Jukka Antero "Julius" Nevalainen (born 21 April 1978, in Kitee, Finland) is the former drummer of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. Personal life He spent his early years in the city of Kitee. His music teacher at school told him ...

, drummer ** Only Holopainen and Vuorinen remain in the band to this day. * Antti Aalto, ski-jumper * Nils Ludvig Arppe, industrialist * Tomek Valtonen, ice hockey coach and player

References

External links