Pälkäne () 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 part of the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Sou ...

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 () and covers an area of of which . 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 . Onkkaala is the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

of the municipality.

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

is located northwest of the center of Pälkäne. 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 ...

. Many people from

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and the surrounding cities own summer cottages and residences in Pälkäne, making the small town very busy during summer vacation seasons. Pälkäne is a very popular summer vacation resort given its diverse services, high-quality swimming beach, beautiful nature and close location to big cities. From start of year 2007 Pälkäne and

Luopioinen Luopioinen is a former municipality of Finland, situated about from Tampere. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region and in 2007 it was joined to the municipality of Pälkäne. It is a rural town containing a few lakes, most famous being lake Kukkia ...

were merged to a new municipality of Pälkäne.

Geography

Nature

The landscape of Pälkäne is dominated by several lakes, the largest of which are Lake Mallasvesi on the west side of Onkkaala and Lake Pälkänevesi on its east side, as well as

Lake Roine Roine is a medium-sized lake in Finland. The lake is located in the Pirkanmaa region, mostly in the municipality of Kangasala and for a lesser part in the municipality of Pälkäne.Kangasala Kangasala is a city in Finland which is situated about 16 kilometres East of Tampere. The city was founded in 1865 and had a population of people as of . Kangasala covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finnish auth ...

side and Lake Ilmoilanselkä on the

Hauho Hauho is a former municipality of Finland. It was situated in the province of Southern Finland and is today a part of the region of Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme / Egentliga Tavastland). Hauho was amalgamated with the municipality of Hämeenlinna ...

(

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

) side.

Lake Kukkia Kukkia is a medium-sized lake in Finland. It is a part of a chain of lakes that begins from the lakes Lummene, Vehkajärvi and Vesijako at the drainage divide between the Kokemäenjoki and Kymijoki basins and flows westwards from there through the ...

is situated in the area of the former municipality of Luopioinen. In the western part of Pälkäne, Roine and Mallasvesi are separated by the rather large island of Hausalo. The Kostianvirta River, which belongs part to the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of the

Kokemäki River Kokemäki (; sv, Kumo) is a town and municipality in the Satakunta Region of Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finland is constitutionally bi-lingual with a Swedis ...

, flows between Lake Pälkänevesi and Lake Mallasvesi. As the average water level of both lakes is about 84 meters above sea level, the flow direction of Kostianvirta sometimes changes, especially due to the spring

meltwater Meltwater is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found in the ablation zone of glaciers, where the rate of snow cover is reducing. Meltwater can be ...

Villages

* Äimälä * Aitoo * Ämmätsä * Epaala * Evinsalo * Haltia * Harhala * Huhtioinen * Huntila * Kaitamo * Kajantila * Kankahainen * Kantokylä * Kantola * Kärväntälä * Karviala * Kaukkala * Kinnala * Kirpu * Kollola * Kotila * Kouvala * Kuisema * Kukkola * Kuohijoki * Kuuliala * Kyynärö * Laitikkala * Lemmettylä * Lovensalo * Luikala * Luopioinen * Mälkilä * Mällinoja * Miemola * Mustilahti * Myttäälä * Okerla * Oksala * Onkkaala * Padankoski * Pappila * Pitkäjärvi * Pohjalahti * Puutikkala * Rautajärvi * Ruokola * Ruotsila * Sairiala * Salmentaka * Sappee * Säynäjärvi * Seitsye * Tauriala * Tausti * Tommola * Töyräniemi * Vahdermetsä * Vuolijoki

Culture

Food

In the 1980s, Pälkäne's traditional parish dishes were called local sweetened potato casserole called ''tuuvinki'', salted

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including ''Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), ''Acanthopagrus'', '' Argyrops'', ''Blicca'', '' Brama'', ''Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', ''Lepo ...

, slowly

smoked meat Smoked meat is the result of a method of preparing red meat, white meat, and seafood which originated in the Paleolithic Era. Smoking adds flavor, improves the appearance of meat through the Maillard reaction, and when combined with curing it ...

, Tavastian '' limppu'' bread called ''varikoinen'', sweet

sahti Sahti is a Finnish type of farmhouse ale made from malted and unmalted grains including barley and rye. Traditionally the beer is flavored with juniper in addition to, or instead of, hops;

, and

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

kissel Kissel or kisel ( et, kissell, fi, kiisseli, Livonian: ''kīsõl'', ltg, keiseļs, lv, ķīselis, lt, kisielius, pl, kisiel, rus, кисель, r=kiselʼ, uk, кисiль, , , ) is a cold-solidified dish with the consistency of a thick ge ...

.Jaakko Kolmonen: ''Kotomaamme ruoka-aitta: Suomen, Karjalan ja Petsamon pitäjäruoat'', p. 74. Helsinki: Patakolmonen Ky, 1988. (in Finnish)

People

* Matti Helenius-Seppälä (1870–1920) * August Hyöki (1874–1960) * Eemil Linna (1876–1951) * Väinö Sipilä (1897–1987) * Toivo Salonen (born 1933) *

Mikko Leppilampi Mikko Johannes Leppilampi (born 22 September 1978 in Pälkäne, Finland) is a Finnish actor, musician, and TV host. He is the son of Jukka Leppilampi (born 1954), a Finnish gospel musician. Leppilampi is considered to be one of the most promisin ...

(born 1978) *

Riku Helenius Riku Helenius (born March 1, 1988) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for Dresdner Eislöwen in the DEL2. Playing career Helenius was selected 15th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, pa ...

(born 1988)

References

External links

Municipality of Pälkäne
– Official website Populated places established in 1866 1866 establishments in the Russian Empire {{WesternFinland-geo-stub