Vaala is a municipality in

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

North Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia ( fi, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa; sv, Norra Österbotten) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. T ...

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 ...

. Established in 1954 (predecessor municipality ''Säräisniemi'', established in 1867), the municipality has a population of () and 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 . Previously Vaala was part of the

Kainuu Kainuu ( sv, Kajanaland) is one of the 19 regions of Finland (''maakunta'' / ''landskap''). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic of Karelia). Culturally Kai ...

region but was transferred to Northern Ostrobothnia on 1 January 2016.

Oulujärvi Oulujärvi (; sv, Ule träsk; also known as Lake Oulu) is a large lake in the Kainuu region of Finland. With an area of it is the fifth largest lake in the country. The lake is drained by the Oulu River, which flows northwestward from the lake ...

, the fourth largest lake of Finland is located partly in Vaala. 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 ...

. Vaala is also an old Finnish word, which means the phase in a river just before rapids.

History

The original center of the area was

Manamansalo Manamansalo is the largest island in the Oulujärvi, the fifth largest lake in Finland. Administratively it belongs to the Vaala municipality in North Ostrobothnia, or Kainuu until 2016. It is the seventh largest inland island in Finland, or the ...

, the largest island in the

with a village by the same name. Both it and Säräisniemi were first mentioned in 1555 when they were parts of the large

Liminka Liminka ( sv, Limingo) is a municipality in the Northern Ostrobothnia region in Finland. Liminka is located about south of Oulu. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The n ...

parish. The parish of Oulujärvi, covering all of

with its center in Manamansalo, was separated from Liminka in 1559, but merged back into Liminka in the 1580s after Russians raided the island. In 1599, the area became a parish again, this time with its center in

Paltaniemi Paltaniemi is a village on the shores of Lake Oulujärvi, about north of the Kajaani's town center in Kainuu, Finland. It has a population of 291 inhabitants (in December 2020). The Kajaani Airport is located in the eastern side of the village. ...

, due to which the parish was now known as

Paltamo Paltamo ( sv, Paltamo, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . There are two built-up areas in the municip ...

. Säräisniemi acquired its own church under Paltamo in 1779 and became a separate parish and municipality in 1864.

Vuolijoki Vuolijoki is a former municipality in Finland. The municipality was consolidated with the city of Kajaani in the beginning of year 2007. Vuolijoki was located in the province of Oulu on the shores of Lake Oulujärvi, and was part of the Kainu ...

was separated from Säräisniemi as a parish in 1896 and as a municipality in 1915. Some parts of Kajaanin maalaiskunta were also used in the municipality's formation. The village of Vaala was transferred from

Utajärvi Utajärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region next to the border of the Kainuu region, and is part of the former province of Oulu. It is from Utajärvi to Oulu and to Kajaani. The municipality has a pop ...

to Säräisniemi in 1954, becoming the new administrative center of the municipality. The municipality itself was also renamed Vaala in the process. Vaala was transferred from Kainuu to

in 2016.

Dialect

Vaala is located on the border between the Northern Ostrobothnian and Savonian (

) dialects.

Notable people

* Anne Huotari (born 1959) *

Tytti Seppänen Tytti Seppänen (born 1980) is a Finnish Centre Party politician. She was born in Vaala. She was Vice-Chair of the Centre Party Youth. Since 2006, she has been Chair of the Nordic Youth and the town's municipality manager. External links Tyt ...

(born 1980)

References

External links

*
Municipality of Vaala
– Official website Populated places established in 1954 1954 establishments in Finland Populated lakeshore places in Finland {{OuluProvince-geo-stub