Ranua is 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 ...

of Lapland. 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.

Geography

Neighbouring municipalities are Ii, Simo,

Tervola Tervola is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Keminmaa, Ra ...

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

Posio Posio is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi, Ra ...

and Pudasjärvi.

Villages

Villages within the municipality of Ranua are inclusive of: * Asmunti * Hosio * Impiö * Kelankylä * Kortteenperä * Kuha * Kuukasjärvi * Mauru * Nuupas * Petäjäjärvi * Pohjaslahti–Piittisjärvi * Portimo * Putkivaara * Raiskio * Rovastinaho * Saariharju * Saukkojärvi * Sääskilahti * Teerivaara * Telkkälä * Tolja

Nature of Ranua

There are 569 lakes in Ranua. The biggest of them are lake Ranuanjärvi and lake Simojärvi. There are also quite many rapids and natural salmon living in the rapids.

History

Ranua was originally the name of a farm established in the 18th century. It gets its name from the lake Ranuanjärvi, which was first mentioned in 1553. Its name is likely of Tavastian origin, as ''ranu-'' toponyms are rare and mainly found in Tavastia. The parish of Ranua was formed from parts of Simo, Pudasjärvi and

Rovaniemen maalaiskunta Rovaniemen maalaiskunta () was a municipality of Finland. It merged with the city of Rovaniemi on January 1, 2006. It was located in the province of Lapland. The municipality had a population of 21,803 and covered an area of of which was water ...

in 1899. The area became a separate municipality in 1917. A part of it was given to the newly formed

municipality in 1926. It is the only municipality in Lapland where the dialect is a Northern Ostrobothnian one, albeit with some influence from the Kainuu dialects, which are a subset of

Savonian dialects The Savo dialects (also called Savonian dialects or Savo Finnish) () are forms of the Finnish language spoken in Savo and other parts of Eastern Finland. Finnish dialects are grouped broadly into Eastern and Western varieties; Savo dialects are o ...

Tourism

Perhaps the most well known attraction is the Ranua Zoo, the northernmost

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

in the world,Ranua Zoo - Northernmost Zoo in the World - Nordic Adventures
– Visit Rovaniemi which has many arctic animals, including the

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

, which is the mascot of the zoo. Ranua Zoo is the only place where you can see a living polar bear in Finland. Other notable attractions within the municipality of Ranua are inclusive of the Saukkojärvi Local History and School Museum located in the village of Saukkojärvi, Finland, the Hillamarkkinat, Poro Island and the Church of Ranua.

Sister cities

* Iwasaki,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(since 1990)

Notable people

* Eero Lohi (born 1927), modern pentathlete * Lauri Impiö (1929–2006), Lutheran clergyman and politician *

Jouko Kuha Jouko Santeri Kuha (born 30 September 1939 in Ranua) is a Finnish former long-distance runner, who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In 1968 he broke the World record with a result of 8:24.2. Career Kuha's international breakthrou ...

(born 1939), long-distance runner * Taina Impiö (born 1956), cross country skier * Ilkka Koivula (born 1966), actor * Kaisa H. Hietala (born 1971), business executive * Jenna Pirttijärvi (born 1994), ice hockey player

References

External links

* *
Municipality of Ranua
– Official website {{Authority control Populated places established in 1917 1917 establishments in Finland Municipalities of Lapland (Finland)