South Savo (or Southern Savonia; fi, Etelä-Savo; sv, Södra Savolax) is a

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 ...

in the south-east of

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 borders the regions of

North Savo North Savo (or Northern Savonia; fi, Pohjois-Savo; sv, Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the regio ...

, North Karelia,

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 ...

, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme, and Central Finland. The total area of South Savo is 18,768.33 km² (7,246.5 sq mi), with a population of 153,738 (2011). South Savo is located in the heart of the Finnish lake district, and contains

Lake Saimaa Saimaa ( , ; sv, Saimen) is a lake located in the Finnish Lakeland area in southeastern Finland. At approximately , it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth largest natural freshwater lake in Europe. The name Saimaa likely comes from a ...

, the largest lake in Finland. The three major towns in the region are

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 i ...

Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; sv, Nyslott, lit=New Castle) is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region, which is why the city is also nicknamed the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikkel ...

and

Pieksämäki Pieksämäki () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, about north of Mikkeli, east of Jyväskylä and south of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...

Historical provinces

''For history, geography and culture see: Savonia''

History

South Savo was the main part of the old

Mikkeli Province The Mikkeli Province ( fi, Mikkelin lääni, sv, S:t Michels län) was a province of Finland from 1831 to 1997. The province was named after the city of Mikkeli. Parts of the province were transferred to the Central Finland Province in 1960. In ...

, established in 1831. Some municipalities were transferred from the county to

Central Finland Province The Central Finland Province ( fi, Keski-Suomen lääni, sv, Mellersta Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1960 to 1997. The area of the Central Finland Province was the same as the area of Central Finland region. The Central Finland ...

, which was established in 1960. Mikkeli Province was abolished in the province reform of 1997, when Regions were established. The province of South Savo belonged to the

Eastern Finland Province Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen lääni, sv, Östra Finlands län) 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 Septe ...

. In 2002,

Kangaslampi Kangaslampi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of 1,611 (31 Dece ...

moved from the province of South Savo to the province of

Suomenniemi Suomenniemi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Mikkeli on 1 January 2013. It was located in the province of Southern Finland and was part of the South Karelia region. The municipality had a population of (31 December ...

became part of Etelä-Savo in 2013 when it merged with Ristiina to form the city of

. At the beginning of 2021, Joroinen moved to the province of North Savo and

Heinävesi Heinävesi () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Savonlinna, Varka ...

to the province of North Karelia as a result of provincial and social and health care reforms.

Municipalities

The region of South Savo consists of 12

municipalities 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 ...

, three of which have city status (marked in bold).

Sub-regions

Mikkeli sub-region Mikkeli sub-region is a subdivision of Southern Savonia and one of the Sub-regions of Finland Finland is divided into 69 sub-regional units ( fi, seutukunta, sv, ekonomisk region). The sub-regions are formed by groups of municipalities within ...

Hirvensalmi *

Kangasniemi * Mikkeli

(''S:t Michel'') *

Mäntyharju Mäntyharju (, literally 'Pine Ridge') is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The coastline is almost . The population density ...

Pertunmaa * Puumala

Puumala Pieksämäki sub-region * Juva

Juva *

Savonlinna sub-region *

Enonkoski *

Rantasalmi *

(''Nyslott'') * Sulkava

Sulkava Sulkava is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Juva, Puumala, Ran ...

List of municipalities

Politics

Results of the

2019 Finnish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 14 April 2019. For the first time, no party received more than 20% of the vote. The Centre Party, which had been the largest party following the 2015 elections, dropped to fourth place, losing 18 seat ...

in South Savo: * Centre Party 23.47% *

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 For ...

21.41% * National Coalition Party 18.39% * Finns Party 16.55% *

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

9.47% *

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

4.46% * Left Alliance 2.95% * Movement Now 1.42% * Blue Reform 0.85% * Seven Star Movement 0.40% *Other parties 0.63%

Cuisine

The best known local cuisine is fried vendace, often served with potato puree, and a semicircle-shaped

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ma ...

called ''

lörtsy Lörtsy () is a thin, half-moon shaped pastry originally invented in Savonlinna, eastern Finland. It can be made with a variety of fillings; the most common ones are either a savoury meat filling or a sweet apple filling. A meat lörtsy contains ...

''.Lörtsy , Traditional Sweet Pastry From Southern Savonia, Finland
''www.tasteatlas.com'', accessed 19 October 2020

References

External links

South Savo Regional Council
(official site). {{Authority control Eastern Finland Province Savonia, Southern