Kärsämäki

Kärsämäki (Finnish pronunciation:; literally meaning "snout hill") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothniaregion. The municipality has a population of 2,324 (31 December 2025) and covers an area of 700.91 square kilometres (270.62 sq mi) of which 6.06 km (2.34 sq mi) is water. The population density is 3.34 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.7/sq mi). Kärsämäki is a significant road junction where Highway 4 (Helsinki–Oulu–Utsjoki) and (Kokkola–Kajaani) intersect and where Highway 58 leading to Kangasala begins. The distance to the regional capital Oulu is 123 kilometres (76 mi).

Neighbour municipalities are Haapajärvi, Haapavesi, Pyhäjärvi, Pyhäntä and Siikalatva. The previous neighboring municipality was Piippola, which was merged with the municipality of Siikalatva in 2009. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

The explanation of the coat of arms of the municipality of Kärsämäki is "in the silver field the terrace and the boat, both blue, seven red fire tabs rise from the boat." The subject of the coat of arms refers to the name of the village of , which in turn comes from the tribal battles with the Tavastians. The village is told by the Tavastians shout ”Veneet palaa!” (lit. "Boats are burning!") according to local the villagers, set fire to the raiding boats on fire. The coat of arms was designed by Gustaf von Numers and approved by the Kärsämäki Municipal Council at its meeting on June 23, 1964. The coat of arms was approved for use by the Ministry of the Interior on October 5 of the same year.