Rantsila ( sv, Rantsila, also ) is a village and 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 Bo ...

. It is located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

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 ...

and is part of the

Northern Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia ( fi, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa; sv, Norra Österbotten) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. T ...

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 village had a population of 812 (31 December 2015), while the former municipality covered a land area of . The

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 ...

was . The municipality was unilingually Finnish. During the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a res ...

(1808–1809), which resulted in Finland being ceded to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, the last battle engaged within Finland was held in the Kerälä village of Rantsila, between the Russian and Swedish-Finnish armies. General J.A. Sandels was perhaps the most highly respected commander of the Finnish troops, and in honour of him and his noble and highly renowned horse Bijou, an

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning ' knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is ...

was erected in the center of Rantsila in 1989. The municipality was consolidated with

Kestilä Kestilä is a village and former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. Established in 1867, the population was 536 as of 31 December 2015. The municipality covered an are ...

Piippola Piippola is a village and a former municipality of Finland. Piippola is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The village has a population of 550 (31 December 2015). The former municipality covered an ...

and

Pulkkila Pulkkila is a former municipality and a village located in Northern Finland. Pulkkila is the administrative center of the municipality of Siikalatva and belongs to the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. The village is located south from Oulu and ...

on 1 January 2009 to form a new municipality of

Siikalatva Siikalatva (pronounced ) is a geographical area and a municipality of Finland. It lies 90 kilometres to the south of the city of Oulu and belongs to the North Ostrobothnia region. Siikalatva has a population of approximately 6 000 and the munici ...

. Rantsila is famous for its heavy metal bands such as Hater, Hamarapuoli and Kolera, as well as internet personality Ari Kivikangas, better known as Cyberman.

References

External links

Municipality of Rantsila
– official site Former municipalities of Finland Populated places established in 1867 Populated places disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in Finland Siikalatva {{OuluProvince-geo-stub