Suomenniemi is a former municipality of

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 was consolidated with

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city in, and the regional capital of, South Savo, Finland, located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population is approximately , while the Mikkeli sub-region of Southern Savonia has a populat ...

on 1 January 2013. It was 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 ...

Southern Finland Southern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History On September 1, 1997 the Uusimaa Province, the Ky ...

and was part of the

South Karelia South Karelia (or ''Southern Karelia'', ; ) is a Regions of Finland, region of Finland. It borders the regions of Kymenlaakso, Southern Savonia, South Savo and North Karelia, as well as Russia (Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast). Hist ...

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 ...

. The municipality had a population of (31 December 2012) and covered 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 had the smallest population of the Finnish mainland. With the merger to

, Suomenniemi became part of

South Savo South Savo (or Southern Savonia; ; ) is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders the regions of North Savo, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme, and Central Finland. The total area of South Savo is 18,768.33 km ...

region and

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 ...

with regard to state administration. The municipality was unilingually Finnish.

History

The names of Suomenniemi and the nearby lake Suomijärvi refer to 13th century settlers from Finland Proper, who were known as ''suomalaiset'' while their homeland was called ''Suomi''. Nowadays the Finns proper are known as ''varsinaissuomalaiset'', as the term ''suomalaiset'' was extended to all Finnic groups of the Swedish realm. The village was first mentioned in 1544 as ''Somenemiby'' as a part of the

Lappee Lappee is an old parish and a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland in the South Karelia region, originally in the Viipuri Province and after the Second World War, the Kymi Province. It was consolidated with Lapp ...

parish. In 1571 it became a part of the newly founded

Taipalsaari Taipalsaari is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the South Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ne ...

parish, while

Savitaipale Savitaipale (; literally translated the "clay passage") is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Karelia regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of whi ...

was split off from Taipalsaari in 1639 and Suomenniemi was transferred to it. Suomenniemi became a chapel community in 1689 and a separate parish and municipality in 1866. In 2013, Suomenniemi was consolidated with

People born in Suomenniemi

* Wille Särkkä (1877 – 1968) *

Jalmari Rötkö Hjalmar (Jalmari) Rötkö (13 August 1892, Suomenniemi – 19 July 1938) was a Finnish labourer and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1929 to 1930, representing the Socialist Electoral Organisation of Workers and Small ...

(1892 – 1938)

References

External links

Municipality of Suomenniemi
– Official website
goSaimaa.com
– travel information Mikkeli {{EasternFinland-geo-stub