Rääkkylä (; Swedish also ) 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 located in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Eastern Finland Eastern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east. History On September 1, 1997, the Mikkeli Province, the Kuopio Pr ...

and is part of the

North Karelia North Karelia (or ''Northern Karelia'', ; ) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Finland and share ...

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 (), which make it the smallest municipality in North Karelia in terms of population. It 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. The municipality has previously also been known as "Bräkylä" in Swedish documents, but is today referred to as "Rääkkylä" also in Swedish. Rääkkylä as an independent municipality was established in 1874 from parts of

Kitee Kitee (; ) is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region, about south of Joensuu and about northeast of Lappeenranta. The municipality has a population of () ...

and

Liperi Liperi () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia regions of Finland, region. Liperi is a community of () with the growth rate of 83 newcomers in 11 months in 2007. The population density is . T ...

. Neighbouring municipalities are

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

, Kitee, Liperi,

Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; ) is a town in Finland, located in the eastern interior of the country. It lies in the Finnish Lakeland, the South Savo region. The population of Savonlinna is approximately , while the Savonlinna sub-region, sub-region has a pop ...

and Tohmajärvi. Leading Finnish

kantele A kantele () or kannel () is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the southeast Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with the Estonian kannel, the Latvian kokles, t ...

manufacturer Koistinen Kantele has been functioning in Rääkkylä since 1995.

History

In the 15th century, the current Rääkkylä belonged to Kitee and paid taxes to

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

. It was a troubled border region, with disputes between Sweden and Novgorod, and between Orthodox and

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

. In the 17th century, an important trade route for

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

and

Karelians Karelians (; ; ; ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russia. Karelians living in Russian Karelia are considered a distinct ethnic group closely ...

passed through Rääkkylä. Rääkkylä was ordered to become independent from Kitee's chapel congregation in 1857.

Notable people

*Actor

Esa Pakarinen Feeliks Esaias "Esa" Pakarinen (9 February 1911 – 28 April 1989) was a Finnish actor, singer, accordionist and comedian, best known for the role of Pekka Puupää in the '' Pekka and Pätkä'' films from 1953–1960. He was also a skilled, self ...

(1911–1989), better known for his role as

Pekka Puupää Pekka Puupää is a Finnish text comic and film character, created by Ola "Fogeli" Fogelberg. The character appeared 1925–1975 in the popular comic ''Pekka Puupää'' and 1952–1960 in thirteen films ('' Pekka ja Pätkä'') produce ...

*Author Raimo J. Kinnunen (born 1931) *Mari and Sari Kaasinen, founders of the popular Finnish

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

band Värttinä.

References

External links

Municipality of Rääkkylä
– Official website
Koistinen Kantele
Populated places established in 1874 1874 establishments in Finland {{EasternFinland-geo-stub