Suolahti is a former

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and

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 next to

Lake Keitele Keitele is a large lake located in Central Finland. With the area of 493.59 km2 it is the 9th largest lake in the country. The lake is divided into three regions, Ylä-, Keski-, and Ala-Keitele, of which Keski-Keitele is the largest. Water in ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Western Finland Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...

and is part of the

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The city o ...

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 an ...

. Suolahti was merged into

Äänekoski Äänekoski () is a town in Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about north of Jyväskylä. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities ...

together with

Sumiainen Sumiainen is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,293 (2003) and covered an area of 307.93 km2 of which 77.34&n ...

in 2007.

History

The village was initially known as Paadentaipale; the first mentions of the current name come from are from the 16th century . The opening of the railroad in 1898 industrialized Suolahti and increased the waterborne traffic on

Keitele Keitele is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Pielavesi, Pihtipudas, ...

, for which Suolahti provided a railway harbour at its south end. The same year, a steam-mill started operating which was soon followed by other industrial facilities. This sped up population growth and urban development. In the first three decades of the 20th century, the population increased to two thousand. It gained town status in 1977.

Notable people from Suolahti

Jaakko Kolmonen Jaakko Kolmonen (May 2, 1941 – September 3, 2016) was a Finnish chef. He worked since 1962 as a cooking teacher in several vocational schools and was known for his many television cooking-themed programs on YLE TV2 Yle TV2 ( fi, Yle TV Kaks ...

, popular TV chef * Jack Smack, guitarist and backing vocalist of the Finnish rock band

Private Line In telecommunication, a private line is typically a telephone company service that uses a dedicated, usually unswitched point-to-point circuit, but it may involve private switching arrangements, or predefined transmission physical or virtual path ...

. * , inventor and YouTube personality

Sister cities

Prior to a 2007 consolidation with

to make

, Suolahti was twinned with: *

Borovichi Borovichi (russian: Боровичи́) is the second largest town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Msta River in the northern spurs of the Valdai Hills, east of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the ...

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Novgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, includin ...

, Russia (status unknown)

References

External links

Suolahti
– Official site Äänekoski Populated places disestablished in 2007 Former municipalities of Finland {{WesternFinland-geo-stub