Sotkamo 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, ...

, located in the

Kainuu Kainuu (), also historically known as Cajania (), is one of the 19 regions of Finland (''maakunta'' / ''landskap''). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic o ...

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 east of

Kajaani Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...

, 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 National Park and Tiilikkajärvi National Park are located in the municipality. 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 . In sports, Sotkamo is known for its

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 ...

team,

Sotkamon Jymy Sotkamon Jymy ( "Huge of Sotkamo"; or simply Jymy) is a Finnish professional pesäpallo team from Sotkamo. It was founded in 1909. Sotkamon Jymy is playing in the top-tier Superpesis. Sotkamon Jymy has participated in many sports in Finland over ...

. The Hiukka Stadium is the home field of Sotkamon Jymy, and its well-known competitor is

Vimpelin Veto Vimpelin Veto ( "Draw of Vimpeli"; or simply Veto) is a Finnish professional pesäpallo team from Vimpeli. It was founded in 1934. Vimpelin Veto is playing in the top-tier Superpesis. Vimpelin Veto has participated in many sports in Finland over t ...

from Vimpeli, known as long-time arch-enemy of Sotkamon Jymy. One of the major landmarks of Sotkamo is the sandy beach of Hiukka, which locates by the lake Iso Sapsojärvi, just beside the Sotkamo center. In Vuokatti ski center you can find the lake Nuasjärvi and the Vuokatti Hill.

History

Sotkamo has grown beside a water route formed by a continuous band of lakes and rivers. The waters of the Sotkamo route run through Kajaaninjoki into

Oulujärvi Oulujärvi () or Lake Oulu or Ule (), is a large lake in the Kainuu region of Finland. It is also historically known as Lake Cajania from a former name of Kainuu.. With an area of it is the List of lakes of Finland, fifth largest lake in the cou ...

and finally to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, but in the past the waterways also created an important commercial route to

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

in the east. The same water route has been used by soldiers of Russia, Sweden and Denmark to rob and ravage this remote countryside for centuries. The name Sotkamo comes either from the Finnish word "sotku" which means a mess and refers to the obscure water route, or from the word "sotka" which was a general name for water birds in ancient Finnish and now designates the

common goldeneye The common goldeneye or simply goldeneye (''Bucephala clangula'') is a medium-sized sea duck of the genus ''Goldeneye (duck), Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. Its closest relative is the similar Barrow's goldeneye. The genus name is derived from th ...

. During the 19th century Sotkamo was visited by notable Finnish artists such as

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (born Axel Waldemar Gallén; 26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic poetry, epic. His work is considered a very importa ...

and

Hugo Simberg Hugo Gerhard Simberg (24 June 1873 – 12 July 1917) was a Finland, Finnish Symbolism (movement), symbolist painter and graphic artist. Life and career Simberg was born on 24 June 1873, at Hamina (), Finland, the son of Colonel Nicolai Simberg ...

. On November 17, 2007 first pictures of the Kern arc were made in the town of Sotkamo by Marko Mikkilä.

Villages

* Alasotkamo * Heinämäki * Halmetvaara * Jormaskylä * Juholankylä * Korholanmäki * Kontinjoki * Laakajärvi * Losovaara * Naapurinvaara * Nuasjärvi * Ontojoki * Paakinmäki * Pohjavaara * Riekinranta * Sipinen * Sipola * Soidinvaara * Sumsa * Suovaara * Tipasoja * Torinkylä * Tuhkakylä * Vuokatti * Ylisotkamo * Ärväänkylä * Maanselkä

Economy

Beside tourism, mining is important for the economy of Sotkamo. One of the largest

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

deposits in Europe is located in Talvivaara where the

Talvivaara Mining Company Ahtium (known until 2017 as the Talvivaara Mining Company; ) was a Finnish mining company that operated the Talvivaara nickel mine from the company's establishment in 2004 until the mining business was sold to the state-owned in 2015. Former ...

started its operation in late 2008. In 2015, after several phases, the mining operations were sold to Terrafame. Sotkamo Silver, listed in the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange, mines silver in Sotkamo. Also Mondo Minerals mines

talc Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, with the chemical formula . Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening agent and lubricant ...

in Lahnaslampi.

Politics

Results of the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election in Sotkamo: * Centre Party 27.4% *

Finns Party The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

23.9% *

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

15.0% * Christian Democrats 10.7% * Left Alliance 9.5% *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

8.4% *

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

2.8% As of

2021 Finnish municipal elections Municipal elections were held in Finland on 13 June 2021 after being rescheduled from 18 April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Context The last municipal elections were held in 2017 and were won by the National Coalition Party with a 20.7 percen ...

, Sotkamo municipal council is made up of: Centre Party (11 seats), National Coalition Party (6), Left Alliance (4), Finns Party (4), and Christian Democrats (2).

Notable people

* Anders Chydenius (1729–1803), Lutheran priest and a member of the Swedish

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

* Kalle Arantola (1913–1940), skier * Veikko Huovinen (1927–2009), author and forester * Pirjo Häggman (born 1951), sprinter

References

External links

Municipality of Sotkamo
– Official website {{authority control Municipalities of Kainuu Mining towns in Finland Populated lakeshore places in Finland