Suomussalmi () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

located in the

Kainuu Kainuu (), also historically known as Cajania (), 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 o ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

about northeast of

Kajaani Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...

, the capital of Kainuu and south of

Kuusamo Kuusamo (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located in Koillismaa, the northeastern part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The municipality h ...

. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Ämmänsaari is the biggest built-up area in the municipality. Suomussalmi is the second southernmost part of the

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

-herding area in Finland.

History

During the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

of 1939–40, several battles were fought in the area around Suomussalmi, the most important ones being the

Battle of Suomussalmi The Battle of Suomussalmi was fought between Finnish and Soviet forces in the Winter War. The action took place from 30 November 1939 to 8 January 1940. The outcome was a Finnish victory against superior forces. This battle is considered the cl ...

and the

Battle of Raate Road The Battle of Raate Road () was fought during the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in January 1940, as a part of the Battle of Suomussalmi. On December 7, 1939, the Soviet 163rd Rifle Division captured Suomussalmi, but found itsel ...

. In these battles, Finnish forces defeated numerically superior

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

forces. Suomussalmi hosted the 2016 World Berry Picking Championship.

Villages

* Alajärvi * Ala-Vuokki * Hossa * Jumaliskylä * Juntusranta * Kaljuskylä * Kerälä * Kiannanniemi * Korpela * Korvua * Kuivajärvi * Kurimo * Lomakylä * Myllylahti * Näljänkä * Näätälä * Peranka * Pesiökylä * Pesiönlahti * Piispajärvi * Pisto * Pitämä * Pyhäkylä * Raate * Ruhtinansalmi * Sakara * Selkoskylä * Siikaranta * Suomussalmi (''Kirkonkylä'') * Tervakangas * Vaaranniva * Vasara * Vuokki * Yli-Vuokki * Ämmänsaari (administrative center) Kuivajärvi and Hietajärvi, located close to the Russian border, have long belonged to the poetic villages of White Karelia, and the

Karelian language Karelian (; ; ; ) is a Finnic language spoken mainly by the Karelians, Karelian people in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically, Karelian is closely related to the Finnish language, Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland, and some ...

, Viena Karelian, has traditionally been spoken in the area.

Transport

Highway 5 ( E63) comes from

Hyrynsalmi Hyrynsalmi is a municipality in Finland and 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 . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The world cha ...

via Suomussalmi to

. The rest of the municipality's most important roads are mainly smaller regional roads; regional road 912 from

Kuhmo Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu regions of Finland, region. The municipali ...

comes to Suomussalmi, regional road 843 from Palovaara to Suomussalmi continues to Kuusamo's Poussuu, regional road 892 runs from Suomussalmi through Korpikylä and Kytömäki to Hyrynsalmi, regional road 897 offers a link between Suomussalmi's Alajärvi and Yli-Näljänkä via Hattuvaara, and connecting road 9125 or Raatteentie (also including parts of the current regional road 912) is a connecting road from Raatteenportti to Raate in the municipality of Suomussalmi, which was named after the Battle of Raate in 1940.

Politics

Results of the

2023 Finnish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 2 April 2023 to elect members of the Parliament of Finland. Following the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election, 2019 election, the Social Democratic Party of Finland, Social Democratic Party (SDP) ...

in Suomussalmi: * Centre Party 35.6% *

Finns Party The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

24.5% * Left Alliance 19.6% *

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

7.0% *

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 Form ...

5.7% * Christian Democrats 3.2% *

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

1.4% * Movement Now 1.3%

Notable people

* K. J. Ståhlberg (1865–1952), first president of Finland * Hannes Tauriainen (1909–1971), politician * Alho Alhoniemi (born 1933), linguist *

Toini Gustafsson Toini Gustafsson Rönnlund (born Toini Karvonen; 17 January 1938) is a Sweden, Swedish former cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skier. She competed in the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics and won four medals. Gustafsson also won the 10 ...

(born 1938), former cross-country skier * Matti Makkonen (1952–2015), engineer *

Osmo Tapio Räihälä Osmo Tapio Räihälä (; born 15 January 1964) is a Finnish composer of contemporary music. He has written chamber music, vocal music, vocal and electronic music, as well as several concertos and a few works for symphony orchestra. Life and caree ...

(born 1964), composer * Tero Penttilä (born 1975), former professional footballer *

Merja Kyllönen Merja Kyllönen (born 25 January 1977) is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Finland. She is a member of the Left Alliance, part of The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL. She was the Minister of Tran ...

(born 1977), politician *

Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish auto racing, racing and rally driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Kovalainen won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren. In sportscar racing, Kovalainen won Super GT ...

(born 1981), racing driver *

Janne Pesonen Janne Tapani Pesonen (born 11 May 1982) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger who played for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga. Playing career Pesonen began his career with Hokki in 1998, playing in the second-highest division ...

(born 1982), former professional ice hockey player

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Suomussalmi is twinned with: *

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

, Russia * Nordmaling Municipality, Sweden

References

External links

Municipality of Suomussalmi
– Official website {{authority control Municipalities of Kainuu Populated places established in 1867