Ranua is a

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 ...

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 Bot ...

. It is located 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 out ...

of Lapland. 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 RosenberPopu ...

is . 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 ...

Geography

Neighbouring municipalities are Ii, Simo,

Tervola Tervola is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Keminmaa, Ranua, ...

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Pe ...

Posio Posio is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi, ...

and

Pudasjärvi Pudasjärvi () is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (province), Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of ...

Villages

Villages within the municipality of Ranua are inclusive of: * Asmunti * Hosio * Impiö * Kelankylä * Kortteenperä * Kuha * Kuukasjärvi * Mauru * Nuupas * Petäjäjärvi * Pohjaslahti–Piittisjärvi * Portimo * Putkivaara * Raiskio * Rovastinaho * Saariharju * Saukkojärvi * Sääskilahti * Teerivaara * Telkkälä * Tolja

Nature of Ranua

There are 569 lakes in Ranua. The biggest of them are lake Ranuanjärvi and lake

Simojärvi Simojärvi is a medium-sized lake of Finland located in Ranua, in the region of Lapland. It belongs to Simojoki main catchment area. See also *List of lakes in Finland There are 187,888 lakes in Finland larger than 5 ares (500 square metr ...

. There are also quite many rapids and natural salmon living in the rapids.

History

Ranua was originally the name of a farm established in the 18th century. It gets its name from the lake Ranuanjärvi, which was first mentioned in 1553. Its name is likely of Tavastian origin, as ''ranu-'' toponyms are rare and mainly found in Tavastia. The parish of Ranua was formed from parts of Simo,

and

Rovaniemen maalaiskunta Rovaniemen maalaiskunta () was a municipality of Finland. It merged with the city of Rovaniemi on January 1, 2006. It was located in the province of Lapland. The municipality had a population of 21,803 and covered an area of 7,915.51 km² o ...

in 1899. The area became a separate municipality in 1917. A part of it was given to the newly formed

municipality in 1926. It is the only municipality in Lapland where the dialect is a Northern Ostrobothnian one, albeit with some influence from the Kainuu dialects, which are a subset of

Savonian dialects The Savonian dialects (also called Savo Finnish)( fi, Savolaismurteet) are forms of the Finnish language spoken in Savonia and other parts of Eastern Finland. Finnish dialects are grouped broadly into Eastern and Western varieties; Savonian dial ...

Tourism

Perhaps the most well known attraction is the Ranua Zoo, the northernmost

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

in the world,Ranua Zoo - Northernmost Zoo in the World - Nordic Adventures
– Visit Rovaniemi which has many arctic animals, including the

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear spec ...

, which is the mascot of the zoo. Ranua Zoo is the only place where you can see a living polar bear in Finland. Other notable attractions within the municipality of Ranua are inclusive of the Saukkojärvi Local History and School Museum located in the village of Saukkojärvi, Finland, the Hillamarkkinat,

Poro Island Poro Island (Filipino: Pulo ng Poro) is an island in the province of Cebu, located east of Cebu Island and west of Leyte Island. Two municipalities, Poro and Tudela, are located on Poro Island. It is one of the four Camotes Islands along with Pac ...

and the Church of Ranua.

Sister cities

* Iwasaki,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

(since 1990)

Notable people

Eero Lohi Eero Lohi (born 14 July 1927) is a Finnish modern pentathlon, modern pentathlete. He competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics. References External links

* 1927 births Living people Finnish male modern pentathletes Olympic modern pentathle ...

(born 1927), Finnish modern pentathlete * Lauri Impiö (1929–2006), Finnish Lutheran clergyman and politician * Jouko Kuha (born 1939), Finnish long-distance runner *

Taina Impiö Taina Itkonen (born Taina Impiö on 10 April 1956) is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed during the late 1970s. She won a gold medal in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 1978 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, and finishe ...

(born 1956), Finnish cross country skier *

Ilkka Koivula Ilkka Koivula (born 16 March 1966) is a Finnish actor. He has appeared in 28 films and television shows since 1988. He starred in the film ''Lights in the Dusk'', which was entered into the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Selected filmography * ''Fre ...

(born 1966), Finnish actor *

Kaisa H. Hietala Kaisa Helena Hietala (born 1971 in Ranua) is a Finnish business executive. Graduated from the University of Oulu, she obtained an MPhil from the University of Cambridge. She worked at the Renewable Products division at Neste, reaching the pos ...

(born 1971), Finnish business executive

References

External links

* *
Municipality of Ranua
– Official website {{Authority control Populated places established in 1917