Siilinjärvi () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in Northern Savonia, north of the city of

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

, which largely surrounds Siilinjärvi. Another neighbour municipality with Kuopio is Lapinlahti. The name, in Finnish, apparently translates literally as "Hedgehog's Lake", although its etymology actually stems from a Sámi word meaning winter dwelling. Lakes are essential part of the geography of Siilinjärvi. There are 123 lakes, and the biggest of them are Kallavesi and Juurusvesi–Akonvesi. Water area is 106.85 km², which is 21% of the whole area of Siilinjärvi. The median age is relatively low; 23% of the population are under 15 years old. Siilinjärvi has eleven

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s and two

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

s (one is located in Suininlahti and one downtown). The

Kuopio Airport Kuopio Airport is an airport in Rissala, Siilinjärvi, Finland, about north of Kuopio city centre. It is the fifth busiest airport in Finland, as measured by the number of passengers (ca. 235,411 (2017). History Kuopio Airport was completed ...

is located in the village of Rissala in Siilinjärvi along the

Highway 9 Route 9, or Highway 9, may refer to: International * European route E09 * European route E009 Albania * SH-9 Road in Albania. Argentina * National Route 9 Australia New South Wales * A9 (Sydney) South Australia * ** Port River Expr ...

. The airport is also the home of the

Karelian Air Command The Karelia Air Command ( fi, Karjalan lennosto, abbr. ''KarLsto''; sv, Karelens flygflottilj) is the peace-time Finnish Air Force unit responsible for the protection of the airspace of Eastern and South-Eastern Finland. In spite of its name, the ...

and the 31st Squadron of the Finnish Air Force. Siilinjärvi is the birthplace of politician and former prime minister of Finland and

European Commissioner A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland fr ...

Economy

The main sources of income are

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

s and industry. One of the most important employers in Siilinjärvi is Siilinjärvi apatite mine owned by Yara International. The other largest companies in Siilinjärvi are Yara International's factory and apatite mine, Lujabetoni Oy, Hydroline Oy, Recreational Pool Fontanella and Spa Hotel Kunnonpaikka. 5% of jobs are in primary production, 29% in industry and construction and 66% in services. Unemployment figures are the lowest in North Savonia, averaging 9,4% in 2016, while at the same time the average unemployment rate in North Savonia was 13,4% and in the whole country 13,2%. Siilinjärvi's

income tax rate Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...

in 2017 was 21,25.

Services

Energy production and water supply

The use of district heating has increased in recent years. Most of the district heat is produced from the Yara plant's process waste heat and from Savon Voima's Tiprusniemi bioheat plant. At the Tiprusniemi bioheat center, heat is produced with domestic wood fuel. In addition, Sulkavantie has a LPG back-up and peak heating center. In Siilinjärvi, groundwater is used as

raw water Raw water is water found in the environment that has not been treated and does not have any of its minerals, ions, particles, bacteria, or parasites removed. Raw water includes rainwater, ground water, water from infiltration wells, and water from ...

, which is obtained from three groundwater intakes, two of which are located in the church village and one in the Toivala-Vuorela area. In addition to the municipal water supply plant, there are 15 water cooperatives in the municipality's sparsely populated areas.

Fire and rescue services

There are two fire stations in the Siilinjärvi municipality, the North Savonia Rescue Department station and the Yara TPK station. Siilinjärvi's main fire station is located in Simonsalo at Sulkavantie 6, a few minutes' drive from the center of Siilinjärvi. The station has a 24-hour on-call service. Station 15 houses an inspection car PS 020, a fire truck PS 151, a fire truck PS 1512, a tank truck PS 153, a crew transport, an off-road and boat tractor PS 157, and a snowmobile and boat. Yara TPK has a fire truck PS 191 and a boat. In addition, it has been proposed to build a third fire station in Siilinjärvi near the Vuorela residential area.

Culture

A local newspaper called ''Uutis-Jousi'' is published in Siilinjärvi. Siilinjärvi also has its own library.

Food

In the 1980s, each of Savonia's then municipalities voted for its own title dishes. The traditional food of Siilinjärvi was a cockscomb, a potato gruel and a red

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

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 ...

with whipped cream.

Notable people

Katri-Helena Eskelinen Katri-Helena Eskelinen (8 April 1925 – 14 July 2014) was a Finnish politician. She represented Kuopio in the Parliament of Finland from 1966 to 1987 as a member of the Centre Party. She was also the second minister of social affairs and healt ...

(1925–2014), Finnish politician * Jessica Grabowsky (born 1980), Finnish actress * Ilkka Herola (born 1995), Finnish skier *

(born 1971), Finnish politician *

Sanni Leinonen Sanni Maaria Leinonen (born November 8, 1989, in Siilinjärvi) is a former alpine skier from Finland. She competes for Finland in technical events on the World Cup. She represented Finland at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Her best result was a 30th ...

(born 1989), Finnish alpine skier *

MC Raaka Pee Petja Turunen (born 19 November 1980), known professionally as MC Raaka Pee, is a Finnish metal musician and the co-founder and vocalist of Turmion Kätilöt. He plays the piano and guitar as well. He owns the record label OSASTO-A. Raaka Pee h ...

(born 1980), Finnish musician * Topi Piipponen (born 1997), Finnish professional ice hockey player * Kimmo Savolainen (born 1974), Finnish ski jumper

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Siilinjärvi is twinned with: * Sunne, Sweden * Elverum, Norway *

Haslev Haslev, the largest town in Faxe municipality, lies in the southern part of Zealand, Denmark. About from Copenhagen, it has a population of 12,119 (1 January 2022).

, Denmark *

Hajdúböszörmény Hajdúböszörmény is a town in northeastern Hungary with a population of approximately 30,000 people. History It is also known as a famous college town with an excellent academic atmosphere, as it is home to one of the faculties of the world's ...

, Hungary *

Kamennogorsk Kamennogorsk (russian: Каменного́рск; known before 1948 by the Finnish name of Antrea (russian: А́нтреа; sv, S:t Andree)), is a town in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus on the left ...

, Russia *

Amberg Amberg () is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town. History The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under t ...

, Germany

References

External links

Municipality of Siilinjärvi
– Official website

Tarina Golf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siilinjarvi Mining towns in Finland Populated places established in 1925