Lemi is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

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 B ...

. It is located in the

South Karelia South Karelia ( fi, Etelä-Karjala; sv, Södra Karelen) 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 Obla ...

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 municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in South Karelia in terms of population. It covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is . The municipality is unilingually

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. The Finnish

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Stam1na Stam1na (pronounced ) is a Finnish heavy metal musical group native of Lemi, South Karelia. Their music is arguably best described as thrash metal with some progressive metal, death, alternative and punk influences, and is sung in the Finnish l ...

is from Lemi. In 2018 Lemi won the title heavy metal capital of the world that was determined by number of bands per capita. Lemi had 13 recognised bands but due to Lemi only having just 3,076 inhabitants won with ratio of 422.6 bands per 100,000 inhabitants.

Geography

The municipal center of Lemi is Juvola. The other villages are Ahtiala, Hakulila, Heikkilä, Huttula, Hyvärilä, Iitiä, Juuresaho (prev. Remunen), Juvola, Kaamanniemi, Kuukanniemi, Kapiala, Keskisenpää, Korpela, Kurkela, Kärmeniemi, Laakkola, Lavola, Merenlahti, Metsola, Mikkola, Mikonharju, Nisola, Nuppola, Olkkonen, Parkkola, Pöllölä, Ruohiala, Ruomi, Sairala, Sorvarila, Suomalainen, Suoniala, Suontakainen, Sutela, Taipale, Tevaniemi, Torvenniemi, Tuomelanpelto (partly belongs to Iitiä), Uiminniemi, Urola, Vainikkala, Välikangas and Värtölä. The schools are in Juvola and Kuukanniemi. There are about 750 inhabitants in Kuukanniemi and the villages it affects.

History

Independence

Lemi has been founded in 1688 as an independent Evangelic-Lutheran parish. Due to the secularisation of the local governments according to the decree of 1865, the secular local government was separated from the clerical in 1867 as the municipality of Lemi.

War time

Some fighting took place in the cemetery of Lemi during the civil war in 1918. After the

winter war The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

as the military hardware had to be displaced from the territories to be given to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

on the basis of the

Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...

, naval artillery was brought to Lemi to create part of the

Salpa Line The Salpa Line ( fi, Salpalinja, literally ''Latch line''; sv, Salpalinjen), or its official name, Suomen Salpa (''Finland's Latch''), is a bunker line on the eastern border of Finland. It was built in 1940–1941 during the Interim Peace betwee ...

. From the

Käkisalmi Priozersk (russian: Приозе́рск; fi, Käkisalmi; sv, Kexholm) is a town and the administrative center of Priozersky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern ...

region the Vahtiniemi battery was transferred to Kärmeniemi consisting of two Canet 152/45-C naval guns. Later, on 11 July 1941, they were taken to Antamoinen to be tested on 22 July. Four days later they were transported by train from

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...

again near

to Vahtiniemi to become operational 9 September 1941. After the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

the 32nd heavy battery brought only one of the two Canet 152/45-C's it had as the other was to repaired. By the end of November 1944 the 32nd heavy battery was dissolved and the guns were sent to Parola. After the war there has not been naval guns in Lemi, but the remaining positions can be seen both in Kärmeniemi and Juvola.

Attractions

Lemi - Kirkko.JPG, Lemi church Lemi - Kellotapuli.JPG, Bell tower in Lemi's center

Notable individuals

Elias Muukka Elias Muukka (10 June 1853 – 2 October 1938) was a Finnish painter. He mainly painted landscapes, usually from the rural areas of Karelia and from Turku. Biography He was born at the village of Suontakainen in Lemi, Finland. He attended school ...

, painter *

Mirja Hietamies Mirja Kyllikki Hietamies-Eteläpää (7 January 1931 – 14 March 2013)Mirja Eteläpää
hs.fi (obituary in ...

, Olympic champion cross-country skier *

, thrash metal band

References

External links

Municipality of Lemi
– Official website
goSaimaa.com
– travel information {{authority control Municipalities of South Karelia Populated places established in 1688 1688 establishments in Sweden