Ii (; ) 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, ...

. It is situated by the

Bothnian Bay The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and ...

, at the mouth of river Iijoki, and it is part of the

Northern Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia (; ) 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. The easternmost corner of the region between ...

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 ...

. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Ii merged with Kuivaniemi on 1 January 2007. The new municipality retained the name Ii, but adopted the coat of arms of Kuivaniemi. Beginning in 2008, Ii is home to the ART Ii Biennale of Northern Environmental and Sculpture Art, an international art fair. The city has ambition to become the first

zero waste Zero waste, or ''waste minimization'', is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages redesigning resource life cycles so that all products are repurposed (i.e. "up-cycled") and/or reused. The goal of the movement is to avoid ...

town in the world, and its municipal manager claims that it does not use

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

s for energy.

Etymology

Ii is notable for having the shortest place name in Finland, and also one of the shortest ones in the world. The etymology is not definitively established; options are either Germanic origin or

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

origin. In the latter, it would mean "a place to stay overnight in"; cf.

Northern Sami Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

idja Korpiklaani (Finnish language, Finnish for ) is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. History Shamaani Duo While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani st ...

'' "night".

History

Ii is named after the river Iijoki. The original name of the settlement was ''Iijoen kylä'', first mentioned in 1374 as ''Yioki'' when it was a chapel community within the

Pedersöre Pedersöre (, before 1989 ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Pedersöre is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pedersöre is approximately , while the sub-region has a pop ...

parish. The marketplace ''Iin Hamina'' has existed since the 14th century. Ii became a separate parish sometime before 1445. The parish of Ii was originally larger than the modern municipality: it included Pudasjärvi and

Taivalkoski Taivalkoski () is a municipality of Finland, it is located in the Province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density Pop ...

until 1639,

Kiiminki Kiiminki () was a municipality of Finland. Along with Haukipudas, Oulunsalo and Yli-Ii municipalities it was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2013. Kiiminki municipality was part of the Oulu province in the Northern Ostrobothnia regio ...

, Ylikiiminki and

Haukipudas Haukipudas is a town and former municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It was located in the provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (province), Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. Its shore runs ...

until 1858. The municipality of Kuivaniemi was split off in 1919 and

Yli-Ii Yli-Ii () was a municipality of Finland. It was located in the province of Oulu and was part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. Alongside Haukipudas, Kiiminki and Oulunsalo municipalities it was merged with the city of Oulu on 1 January 2013. T ...

was split off in 1924. Kuivaniemi became a part of Ii again in 2007. When Yli-Ii was merged into

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, a part of it was given to Ii as an exclave. This exclave contains the Pahkakoski hydroelectric power plant. The village of Jakkukylä and its surroundings, originally part of Yli-Ii and a part of Oulu from 2013, decided to join Ii in 2018.

Demographics

Population

The municipality has a population of ().

Languages

The population by language (

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

) on 31 December 2022. Finnish (), Swedish () and

() count as indigenous languages as they have official status in the country. The rest of the languages are counted as foreign. For languages with fewer than 10 speakers, the figure is hidden by

Statistics Finland Statistics Finland ( , ) is the national statistical institution in Finland, established in 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The institution employs more than 800 exper ...

due to confidentiality reasons.

Politics

Municipal council

Distribution of mandates in Ii municipality, elections of 1976–2021 years.

Economy

Culture

Notable people

* Juhamatti Aaltonen, ice hockey player. * Pekka Ahmavaara, politician and father of Arvi Ahmavaara, another politician. *

Liisa Hyssälä Liisa Marja Hyssälä (born 18 December 1948 in Ii) is a retired Finnish politician of the Centre Party. She was a member of the Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary ...

, politician. * Hannu Järvenpää, ice hockey player and coach. * Tanja Kari, Paralympic gold medalist in

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

. * Fanni Luukkonen, chairman of Lotta Svärd. * Leo Skurnik, physician.

References

External links

* *
Municipality of Ii
– Official website {{authority control Municipalities of North Ostrobothnia Ii Populated places established in the 1440s Populated coastal places in Finland