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 region ...

North Karelia North Karelia ( fi, Pohjois-Karjala; sv, Norra Karelen) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Finlan ...

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 Kymenlaakso ( sv, Kymmenedalen; " Kymi/Kymmene Valley") is a region in Finland. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Päijät-Häme, South Savo and South Karelia and Russia (Leningrad Oblast). Its name means literally ''The Valley of River Kymi'' ...

Päijät-Häme Päijät-Häme () is a region in Southern Finland south of the lake Päijänne. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Pirkanmaa, Central Finland, South Savo and Kymenlaakso. The biggest city in the region is Lahti. ...

, and

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, No ...

. 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 Finnish Lakeland or Finnish lake district ( fi, Järvi-Suomi, "Lake Finland", sv, Insjöfinland) is the largest of the four landscape regions into which the geography of Finland is divided. The hilly, forest-covered landscape of the lake plat ...

, 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''

Municipalities

South Savo includes 12 municipalities listed below (towns marked in bold). *

Enonkoski Enonkoski () is a municipality of Finland. It is encircled by the city of Savonlinna in the Southern Savonia region. It is the smallest municipality in Southern Savonia in terms of population. History Enonkoski was founded in 1882. Before that it ...

**Population: *

Hirvensalmi Hirvensalmi 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 . Neighbour municipalities: Joutsa, Kangasniem ...

**Population: * Juva

Juva Juva ( sv, Juva, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region some North-East of Helsinki. It was founded on 19 January 1442, and is the oldest parish/municipality in Finland whose exact date of birth is known ...

**Population: *

Kangasniemi Kangasniemi is a municipality in the Southern Savonia region, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Kangasniemi is located on the Finnish national road 13, north ...

**Population: * Mikkeli

(''S:t Michel'') **Population: *

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 ...

**Population: *

Pertunmaa Pertunmaa () is a municipality of Finland 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 . Neighbour municipalities are Hartola, Heinola, Hirve ...

**Population: *

**Population: * Puumala

Puumala , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = , area_land_km2 = , area_water_km2 = , area_rank = , population_as_of = , population_footnotes = , population_total = , population_density_km2 = , population_rank = , demographics_type1 = , demograph ...

**Population: *

Rantasalmi Rantasalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, northwest of Savonlinna and northeast of Mikkeli. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density i ...

**Population: *

(''Nyslott'') **Population: * 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, R ...

**Population:

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 sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...

18.39% *

Finns Party The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The ...

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 ...

4.46% * Left Alliance 2.95% *

Movement Now Movement Now ( fi, Liike Nyt , sv, Rörelse nu) is an economically liberal political party in Finland. It was founded by then-National Coalition Party (NCP) member of parliament (MP) Harry "Hjallis" Harkimo and seven other people as a politi ...

1.42% *

Blue Reform The Finnish Reform Movement ( fi, Korjausliike, korj), is a Finnish conservative political party. It was founded by the 19 MPs who left the Finns Party on 13 June 2017 in protest against Jussi Halla-aho having been elected party leader. The n ...

0.85% *

Seven Star Movement Seven Star Movement ( fi, Seitsemän tähden liike, sv, Sjustjärnerörelsen) is a Finnish political party founded in 2018. The party was founded by Paavo Väyrynen, its president and only MP, after he was ousted from his previous party, Citize ...

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