Kuopio

Friday, 28 December 2012

Hot summer chill out weekend, Kuopio Finland

The magic winter forest 2010, Puijo Kuopio Finland

CS Gaz Metan Medias - KuPS Kuopio 2-0 All Goals & Highlights 21-07-2011

Jess And The Ancient Ones @ Kuopio RockCock 2012

Anna Puu - Linnuton Puu @ Henry's Pub Kuopio 8/10/2009

Poliisi-TV: Poliisin matkassa Kuopiossa (2012)

MiG-21F Memorial at Kuopio airport, Finland

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Aalborg
Aalborg (or Ålborg) (Danish pronunciation: [ˈʌlb̥ɒːˀ] ( listen)) is a Danish industrial and university city in North Jutland. The city of Aalborg has a population of 104,885 (126,556 including Nørresundby) making it the fourth largest city in Denmark in terms of population. The municipality of Aalborg has a population of 201,142 (2012) making it the third most populous municipality in the country after Copenhagen and Århus. The earliest settlements date back to around AD 700. Aalborg's location by the Limfjord made it an important harbour during the Middle Ages, and an industrial centre later. Today, the city is in transition from a working-class industrial city to a knowledge-based one.
Aalborg traces its history back over 1000 years. It was originally settled as a trading post because of its position on the Limfjord. The sites of what were two settlements and a visible burial ground can be seen on Lindholm Høje, a hill overlooking the city. The sizes of these settlements emphasise the significance of this place as a crossroads. The first mention of Aalborg under its original name Alabu, is found on a coin dated to 1040. An alternative spelling is Alebu and an approximate translation of the name is The (dwelling) place by the stream.

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Aarhus
Aarhus (Danish pronunciation: [ˈɒːhuːˀs] ( listen)) is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark. Aarhus is the seat of the council of Aarhus municipality with 315,193 inhabitants and 252,213 (1 January 2012) in the inner urban area. According to Aarhus municipality, the "Greater Aarhus" area has a population of about 1.2 million people. The city claims the unofficial title "Capital of Jutland".
Aarhus is the main and biggest city in the East Jutland metropolitan area (Danish: Byregion Østjylland), which is a co-operation in eastern Jutland with 17 municipalities. With more than 1.2 million people living in the East Jutland metropolitan area it represents approximately 23% of the population of Denmark. Aarhus has the second-largest urban area in Denmark after Copenhagen.
The city was mentioned for the first time by Adam of Bremen who stated that "Reginbrand, bishop of the church of Aarhus (Harusa)" participated in a church meeting in the city of Ingelheim in Germany.

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Bergen
Bergen (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈbærɡən] (listen)) is a city and municipality in Hordaland on the west coast of Norway. As of 26 June 2012, the municipality had a population of 265,800 and Greater Bergen had a population of 391,000, making Bergen the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and area of 465 square kilometers (180 sq mi) and is located on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city center and northern neighborhoods are located on Byfjorden and the city is built around the Seven Mountains. Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are located on islands. Bergen is the administrative center of Hordaland and consists of eight boroughs—Arna, Årstad, Åsane, Bergenhus, Fana, Fyllingsdalen, Laksevåg and Ytrebygda.
Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s, but the city was not incorporated until 1070. It served as Norway's capital from 1217 to 1299, and from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League. Until 1789, Bergen enjoyed exclusive rights to mediate trade between Northern Norway and abroad. The remains of the quays, Bryggen, is a World Heritage Site. The city was hit by numerous fires. The Norwegian School of Economics was founded in 1936 and the University of Bergen in 1946. From 1831 to 1972, Bergen was its own county, after which Bergen amalgamated with the surrounding municipalities.

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Besançon
Coordinates: 47°14′35″N 6°01′19″E / 47.2431°N 6.0219°E / 47.2431; 6.0219
Besançon (French and Arpitan: [bəzɑ̃sɔ̃]; archaic German: Bisanz, Spanish: Besanzón), is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008. Located close to the border with Switzerland, it is the capital of the department of Doubs.
Once proclaimed first green city of France, it has been labeled a 'Town of Art and History' since 1986, and has been on the UNESCO world heritage list since 2008.
The city is first recorded in 58 BC as Vesontio in the Book I of Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. The etymology of Vesontio is uncertain. The most common explanation is that the name is of Celtic origin, derivated from wes, meaning 'mountain'. During the 4th century, the letter B took the place of the V, and the city name changed to Besontio or Bisontion and then underwent several transformation to become Besançon in 1243.

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Bodø
Bodø (help·info) is a town and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten and it is the capital of Nordland county. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø. Other villages in Bodø include Misvær, Skjerstad, Saltstraumen, Løding, Løpsmarka, Kjerringøy, Sørvær, and Fenes.
Bodø, located just north of the Arctic Circle, is the largest urban area in Nordland county, and the second-largest in North Norway.
The village of Bodø was granted township status in 1816 and is now the capital of Nordland county. The town of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1938, a part of the municipality of Bodin (population: 559) was transferred into the town of Bodø. On 1 January 1959, another part of Bodin (population: 1,303) was transferred into Bodø.
On 1 January 1968, the municipality of Bodin was merged into the town of Bodø, doubling the population of the town. On 1 January 1984, the Tårnvika and Øygården areas (population: 22) northeast of Kjerringøy in Sørfold municipality was transferred to Bodø. On 1 January 2005, the entire municipality of Skjerstad was merged into the municipality of Bodø.

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Borås
Borås (Swedish pronunciation: [bʊˈroːs]) is a locality and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010.
Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them the railway between Gothenburg and Kalmar, and is often considered^{[citation needed]} the Swedish city gaining the most from the nationwide railway system laid between 1870-1910.
The city of Borås received its privileges in 1621 by King Gustav II Adolf. The reason was to give local pedlars a legal place for vending their merchandise. The city developed soon after it was founded. After a century it had increased to over 2,000 inhabitants.
Borås has been ravaged by fires four times: in 1681, 1727, 1822 and 1827. The Caroli church is the oldest of Borås's buildings, and has withstood all fires.
The city arms depicts two sheep-shearing scissors, a tribute to the vast number of smiths in the town in early history. It currently holds the Swedish record in the number of established mail-order firms.

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Canada
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km² (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.

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Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( /ˈkoʊpənheɪɡən/ or /ˈkoʊpənhɑːɡən/; Danish: København pronounced [kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn] ( listen), Latin: Hafnia) is the capital of Denmark and its most populous city, with an urban population of 1,213,822 (as of 1 January 2012 (2012 -01-01)^[update]) and a metropolitan population of 1,935,746 (as of 1 April 2012 (2012 -04-01)^[update]). With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region. Within this region, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö are growing into a combined metropolitan area. Copenhagen is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager.
First documented in the 11th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the beginning of the 15th century. During the 17th century, under the reign of Christian IV, it became a significant regional centre.
Copenhagen is a major regional centre of culture, business, media, and science, as indicated by several international surveys and rankings (see International rankings below). Life science, information technology and shipping are important sectors, and research & development plays a major role in the city's economy. Its strategic location and excellent infrastructure, with the largest airport in Scandinavia,Kastrup, located 14 minutes by train from the city centre, have made it a regional hub and a popular location for regional headquarters and conventions.

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Craiova
Coordinates: 44°20′00″N 23°49′00″E / 44.333333°N 23.816667°E / 44.333333; 23.816667
Craiova (Romanian pronunciation: [kraˈjova]), Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians (north) and the River Danube (south). Craiova is the chief commercial city west of Bucharest and the most important city of Oltenia. The city prospered as a regional trading centre despite an earthquake in 1790, a plague in 1795, and a Turkish assault in 1802 during which it was burned.
Eight villages are administered by the city: Făcăi, Mofleni, Popoveni, Şimnicu de Jos, Cernele, Cernelele de Sus, Izvoru Rece and Rovine. The last four were a separate commune called Cernele until 1996, when they were merged into the city.
Craiova, which occupied the site of the Dacian and Roman city Pelendava, was formerly the capital of Oltenia. One of the most important geto - dacian settlement of the Craiova aeria (Mofleni zone) was Pelendava, dating since the period 400 - 350 BC as the archaeological findings indicate. At the beginning of the second century AD, the Romans have built here a Roman camp, made from hard soil, afterwards made from rock and bricks (during the time of Hadrian, 117 - 138). Due to the favourabile geographical position, the protection of the Roman camp and the military garrison, the Roman Pelendava has known a thriving life. The settlement is mentioned in the Tabula Peutingeriana - a map of the Roman Empire, made at the request of the Roman emperor Caracalla. The year 225 (when this map was finished during Severus Alexander) is considered the first documentation mentioned of the oldest settlement from the nowadays city area.

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Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] ( listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. The kingdom is a unitary state with some power being devolved from Denmark proper to Greenland and the Faroe Islands; this polity is referred to as the Danish Realm. Denmark proper is the hegemonial area, where judicial, executive, and legislative power resides. The Faroe Islands are defined to be a community of people within the kingdom, and the Greenlandic people are defined as a separate people with the right to self-determination.
Denmark is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, located southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland and many islands, most notably Zealand, Funen, Lolland, Falster and Bornholm, as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago.

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Drammen
Drammen is an industrial city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.
There are more than 63 000 inhabitants in the municipality, but the city is the regional capital of an area with more than 150,000 inhabitants. Drammen and the surrounding communities are growing more than ever before. The city makes good use of the river and inland waterway called Drammensfjord, both for recreation, activities and housing. No city in the country has received as many awards for environmental and urban development as Drammen: 6 national and 2 international prizes since 2003.
The Old Norse form of the city's name was Drafn, and this was originally the name of the inner part of Drammensfjord. The fjord is, however, probably named after the river Drammenselva (Norse Drǫfn), and this again is derived from drǫfn f 'wave'. The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 17 November 1960. The arms are blue with a gray/silver column on top of a foundation of rocks. A key and a sword are crossed in the middle forming an x. It is based upon the old seal dating from 1723 for Bragernes, one of the central parts of Drammen. The motto for Bragernes (in Latin) was In Fide Et Justitia Fortitudo (English: in faith and justice is strength), and the items in the seal are referring to this: key = faith, sword = justice, column on rocks = strength.

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Esbjerg
Esbjerg (Danish pronunciation: [ˈɛs.bjɛʁʔ], English: /ˈɛsbjərɡ/) is a seaport on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark, the main town of Esbjerg Municipality, the site of its municipal council and with a population of 71,579 (1 January 2012) the fifth largest city in Denmark, and the largest in west Jutland. Its municipality has a population of 115,112.
The city is situated on the southwestern coast of Denmark, and is a seaport of the North Sea.
The city of Esbjerg was established in 1868 as a replacement for the harbour in Altona, which had previously been Denmark's most important North Sea harbour. In 1874 Esbjerg was connected by rail to Fredericia and Varde.
The city has been voted "City of the Year" twice. The first time was in 1997 where the city was awarded the title because of the corporate work between public and private companies. In 2006 the city was again awarded "City of the Year". The second award was given due to the work and support of young talents. The talents in sport, artwork and music have been given good support and given the best facilities to develop their talent even further. The city holds an annual music festival spanning two weekends (nine days) during mid-August and is focused around the central Torvet Square which hosts the main stage. The festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2006.

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Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɛskilsˈtʉːna]) is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 97 692 inhabitants in 2012. Eskilstuna has a large Sweden Finn population. The town is located on the River Eskilstunaån, which connects Lake Hjälmaren and Lake Mälaren.
Eskilstuna's history dates back to medieval times when English monk Saint Eskil made "Tuna" his base and diocese of the South coast of Lake Mälaren. Saint Eskil was stoned to death by the pagan vikings of neighbouring town Strängnäs, 30 km east of Eskilstuna, trying to convert them to Christianity. Saint Eskil was buried in his monastery church in Tuna. Later the pagan city of Strängnäs was Christianised and was given the privilege of becoming diocese of South Lake Mälaren. Later "Eskil" was added in to the word "Tuna". However, the town of Eskilstuna did not receive municipal privileges due to its proximity to the medieval city of Torshälla. The monastery of Saint Eskil was completely destroyed by Swedish king Gustav Vasa during the Protestant Reformation and was replaced with the royal castle of Eskilstuna House. The city's first city privileges were granted in 1659, and its boundaries included Tunafors and the newly founded town of Karl Gustavs Stad ("City of Karl Gustav"), located on the west side of the river. Karl Gustavs Stad was built around the iron forges of master smith Reinhold Rademacher, encouraged by King Karl X Gustav. The first products of the forges were small arms and artillery.

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Finland
Coordinates: 65°N 27°E / 65°N 027°E / 65; 027
Finland ⁱ/ˈfɪnlənd/ ( Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.
Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities, and an autonomous region of the Åland Islands. About one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area, which consists of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.

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France
France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

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Fredrikstad
Fredrikstad (help·info) (previously Frederiksstad) (literally Fredrik's Town) is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad.
The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 1567 by King Frederick II, and established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of Glemmen was merged with Fredrikstad on 1 January 1964. The rural municipalities of Borge, Onsøy, Kråkerøy, and Rolvsøy were merged with Fredrikstad on 1 January 1994.
The city straddles the river Glomma where it meets the Skagerrak. Along with neighboring Sarpsborg, Fredrikstad forms the fifth largest city in Norway: Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg. As of 1 January 2008, according to Statistics Norway, these two municipalities have a total population of 123,029 with 71,976 in Fredrikstad and 51,053 in Sarpsborg.
Fredrikstad was built at the mouth of Glomma as a replacement after Sarpsborg (15 km upstream) was burned down by the Swedes. Almost half the population of Sarpsborg stayed behind, and rebuilt their old town at its original site.

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Germany
Germany (ⁱ/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km² and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.

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Gothenburg
Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg; pronounced [jœtəˈbɔrj] ( listen)) is the second largest city in Sweden by population and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 520,374, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 938,580 inhabitants in the metropolitan area. Gothenburg is classified as a global city by GaWC, with a ranking of Gamma−.
The City of Gothenburg was founded in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. It lies by the sea at the mouth of Göta Älv—the river running through the city—and is the largest seaport in the Nordic countries.
Gothenburg is home to many students, as the city includes both the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927. The city is a major centre in Sweden for sports and home to the IFK Göteborg, BK Häcken, GAIS and Örgryte IS association football teams as well as the Frölunda HC ice hockey team.
Gothenburg is served by Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport, located 30 km (18.64 mi) southeast of the city centre. It is the second largest airport in Sweden. The city is also served by Gothenburg City Airport, located 15 km (9.32 mi) from the city centre.

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Győr
Coordinates: 47°41′03″N 17°38′04″E / 47.68417°N 17.63444°E / 47.68417; 17.63444
Győr (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɟøːr] ( listen); German: Raab, Slovak: Ráb, names in other languages) is the most important city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron county and Western Transdanubia region, and — halfway between Budapest and Vienna — lies on one of the important roads of Central Europe. The city is the sixth largest in Hungary, and one of the seven main regional centres of the country.
The area has been inhabited since ancient times. The first large settlement dates back to the 5th century BCE; the inhabitants were Celts. They called the town Arrabona, a name that was used for eight centuries and whose shortened form is still used as the German (Raab) and Slovak (Ráb) names of the city.
Roman merchants moved to Arrabona during the 1st century BCE, and around 10 CE the Roman army occupied the northern part of Western Hungary, which they called Pannonia. Although the Roman Empire abandoned the area in the 4th century due to constant attacks by the tribes living to the east, the town remained inhabited.

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Gävle
Gävle [ˈjæːvlə] is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in December 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Sweden's Northern Lands), having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.
It is believed that the name Gävle derives from the word gavel, meaning river banks in Old Swedish and referring to the Gavleån (Gävle River). The oldest settlement was called Gavle-ägarna, which means "Gavel-owners". This name was shortened to Gavle, then Gefle, and finally Gävle.
For a long time Gävle consisted solely of small, low, turf or shingle roofed wooden buildings. Boat-houses lined the banks of Gavleån, Lillån, and Islandsån. Until the 18th century the town was built, as was the practice then, around the three most important buildings: the church, the regional palace, and the town hall. Over the last 300 years Gävle has been ablaze on three different occasions. After the fire of 1776 the town was rebuilt with straight streets and rectangular city blocks. The number of stone and brick houses also started to increase. The biggest town fire occurred 1869, when out of a population of around 10,000 approximately 8,000 inhabitants lost their homes, and about 350 farms were destroyed. Almost the whole town north of Gavleån was burnt down. All the buildings south of Gavleån were saved. An area of the old town between the museum and the library has been preserved to this day as a historic reserve, Gamla Gefle.

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Halmstad
Halmstad [ˈhamsta] is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of Nissan in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County. The city has a population of about 58,577, out of a municipal total of nearly 90,000. Halmstad is located about midway between Gothenburg and Malmö.
Halmstad, at the time part of the Kingdom of Denmark, received its first city charter in 1307, and the city celebrated its 700th anniversary in 2007. The oldest remains of that first town are to be found at "Övraby" upstream on Nissan, quite close to the regiment buildings. The remains of the church can still be seen today between a defunct brick industry and a former landfill.
In the 1320s the town moved to the present day town centre. At this time there were two monasteries in the town and during the 15th century the St. Nikolai church was built. Halland was the object of numerous battles, sieges and occupations by Swedish troops.

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Helsingborg
Helsingborg (Swedish pronunciation: [hɛlsiŋˈbɔrj]) is a town and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden. It had 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city Helsingør clearly visible on the other side of the Øresund about 4 km to the west.
Between 1912 and 1971 the name of the town was officially spelled Hälsingborg (rather like Hälsingland but unlike Helsingør and Helsingfors (Helsinki)).
Historic Helsingborg, with its many old buildings, is a scenic coastal city. The buildings are a blend of old-style stone-built churches and a medieval fortress (Kärnan) in the city centre, which has stood guard in Helsingborg for over 600 years, and more modern commercial buildings. The streets vary from wide avenues to small alley-ways. Kullagatan, the main pedestrian shopping street in the city, was the first pedestrian shopping street in Sweden.

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Helsinki
Helsinki ( listen (help·info); Swedish: Helsingfors, listen (help·info)) is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is 596,233 (31 January 2012), making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is located some 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of St. Petersburg, Russia and 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia. Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities.
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area includes the city of Helsinki and three other cities: Espoo and Vantaa, which immediately border Helsinki to the west and north, respectively; and Kauniainen, which is an enclave within the city of Espoo. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the world's northernmost urban area among those with a population of over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of a EU member state. Altogether 1.1 million people, approximately one in five Finns, live in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

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Hungary
Hungary ⁱ/ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)) is a country, which is located in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital, and largest city, is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, also known as Magyar, which is part of the Finno-Ugric group and is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Following a Celt (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (AD 9 - c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian prince Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent by the pope from Rome in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centres of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918).

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Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna (Swedish: Tavastehus) is a city and municipality of about 67,000 inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the province of Southern Finland. Nearby cities include the capital Helsinki (98 km/61 mi), Tampere (73 km/45 mi) and Lahti (72 km/45 mi).
The medieval Häme Castle (Hämeen linna) is located in the city.
The municipalities of Hauho, Kalvola, Lammi, Renko and Tuulos were consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 1 January 2009.
There has been a settlement called Vanaja by the lake Vanajavesi where the city now stands since the Viking Age. The castle was built in the late 13th century to secure Swedish power in central Finland. A village was established near Häme Castle to provide services and goods to its inhabitants.
The village was granted city rights in 1639 and soon after that the King of Sweden moved it one kilometre south to the hill on which it still stands.

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Iceland
Iceland ⁱ/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]) is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km² (40,000 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (slaves) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture, and the country was one of the poorest and least developed in the world. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid from the Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after World War II, and by the 1990s it was one of the world's wealthiest countries. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.

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Iisalmi
Iisalmi (Swedish: Idensalmi) is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 22,187 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 872.13 square kilometres (336.73 sq mi) of which 109.22 km² (42.17 sq mi) is water. The population density is 29.08 inhabitants per square kilometre (75.3 /sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Iisalmi traces its roots back to the 17th century when the area of Iisalmi was formed with the local church in 1627. In the mid-18th century Finland was under Swedish control. Sweden was at war with Imperial Russia. The area of Koljonvirta in Iisalmi is remembered as one of the battlefields in this war, especially because one of the greatest Swedish victories occurred there. However, Sweden lost the actual war and had to surrender Finland to the Russian empire. Iisalmi gained its status as town in 1891.
Olvi, the last big independent beer brewery in Finland (other big Finnish breweries have been bought by multinational companies), has its factory and headquarters in Iisalmi.

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Joensuu
Joensuu (lit. "mouth of the river") is a city and municipality in North Karelia in eastern Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of North Karelia region. It was founded in 1848. The population of Joensuu is 73,871 (January 31, 2012).
Joensuu is a lively student city with over 15,000 students enrolled at the University of Eastern Finland and a further 4,000 at the North Karelia Technical School.
The largest employers are the municipal City of Joensuu, North Karelian Hospital District Federation of Municipalities, Abloy and Punamusta.
The European Forest Institute, the University and many other institutes and export enterprises such as Abloy and John Deere Forestry give Joensuu an international flavour.
The city of Joensuu, which was founded by the Czar Nicholas I of Russia in 1848, is the regional centre and the capital of North Karelia. During the 19th century Joensuu was a city of manufacture and commerce. When in 1860 the city received dispensation rights to initiate commerce, former restrictions against industry were removed and the local sawmills began to prosper and expand. Water traffic was improved by the building of the Saimaa Canal. Consequently, a lively commerce between the regions of North Karelia, St.Petersburg and Central Europe was enabled. At the end of the 19th century Joensuu was one of the largest harbour cities in Finland.

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Juankoski
Juankoski (Swedish: Strömsdal) is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The town has a population of 5,145 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 586.29 square kilometres (226.37 sq mi) of which 120.98 km² (46.71 sq mi) is water. The population density is 11.06 inhabitants per square kilometre (28.6 /sq mi). Juankoski became a town in 1998.
Juan's neighboring municipalities are Juuka,Kuopio,Rautavaara and Tuusniemi.
Villages Akonvesi, Hipanlahti, Jouhten kind (Jouhten kind), Muuruvesi (village), Säyneinen (village), Vehkalahti, Västinniemi and the road is Akonpohja,which is located in address 73500
Eija Ahvo, musician Kaj Chydenius, musician Hanna-Kaisa Heikkinen, MP Jaakko Kolmonen, TV chef Anemone Kekäläinen, opera singer Jori Sivonen, pop composer Rauno Kettunen, former MP Timi Lexikon, rap / hip-hop artist (Muuruvesi) Joonas Hämäläinen, Finlands 1st MASTERCHEF
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

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Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjyvæsˌkylæ]) is a city and municipality in Central Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is the largest city in central Finland and on the Finnish Lakeland. Jyväskylä is located on the northern coast of Lake Päijänne, 147 kilometres (91 mi) north-east of Tampere and 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of Helsinki. The hilly and forested terrain in Jyväskylä is surrounded by hundreds of lakes. The summers in Jyväskylä are warm and winters cold and snowy.
Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, gave the city a nickname "Athens of Finland". This nickname is used to describe the major role of Jyväskylä as an education centre and the first place in the world to provide education in Finnish.
The works of the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto can be seen throughout the city. The city hosts Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. It is also home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.

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Jönköping
Jönköping (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈjœnːˈɕøːpiŋ]) is a city in southern Sweden with 89,396 inhabitants (2010). It is the 9th most populous city of Sweden. Jönköping is situated by the southern end of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern. The original town Jönköping has grown together with Huskvarna and Norrahammar forming a contiguous urban area, since 1971 wholly within the same municipality.
The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipality which has a population of 128 305 (2011), and also the seat of Jönköping County which has a population of 331,539 (2006). Jönköping is the seat of a district court and a court of appeal as well as the Swedish National Courts Administration. It is also the seat of the Swedish Board of Agriculture.
Jönköping is an old trading center (Köping), since it was located on a crossroad for the roads following along the rivers Nissan and Lagan, and the road between the provinces Östergötland and Västergötland. This was rather natural due to the geographical position of the city at the southern end of lake Vättern, which divided the two counties. On 18 May 1284, Jönköping received rights as a City in Sweden as one of the first communities in the country, by King Magnus Ladulås, who at that time largely ruled the nation from Vättern's largest island Visingsö. In the name of the city "Jön-" is derived from a creek, "Junebäcken", which was situated in the nowadays western part of the city, Talavid. This was the location of the first known settlement in the area. The second part of the name "-köping", as mentioned above, is an old word for a trading center or market place.

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Kaavi
Kaavi is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. Kaavi is also a part of historical Karelia. The municipality has a population of 3,387 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 789.59 square kilometres (304.86 sq mi) of which 115.49 km² (44.59 sq mi) is water. The population density is 5.02 inhabitants per square kilometre (13.0 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Kaavi at Wikimedia Commons

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Karlstad
Karlstad [ˈkɑːɭsta] is a city, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city had 61,685 inhabitants in 2010 out of a municipal total that during the first quarter 2010 was 84,885 inhabitants. Karlstad has a university and a cathedral.
Karlstad is built on the river delta where Sweden's longest river, Klarälven, runs into Sweden's largest lake, Vänern. It has the second largest lake port in the country after Västerås.
Karlstad is often associated with sunshine and the symbol for Karlstad is a happy sun. Karlstad is reputed to be one of the sunniest towns in Sweden and a local waitress, known as "Sola i Karlstad" (the Sun in Karlstad) for her sunny disposition, is also commemorated with a statue.
On Karlstad's largest islet, there was a place of counsel called Tingvalla in the medieval age, which had roots from the Viking Age before 1000 AD. It was also used as a market place.
Karlstad was granted its city charter on March 5, 1584 by the Swedish Duke Charles, who would later be crowned King Charles IX of Sweden. The city derives its name from the King – Karlstad literally means Charles' city. The Duke also granted Karlstad the right as a governmental seat in the region, and gave it a substantial amount of land.

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Karttula
Karttula is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the city of Kuopio on 1 January 2011.
The municipality was located in the Northern Savonia region. It had a population of 3,483 (31 October 2010) and covered a land area of 473.38 square kilometres (182.77 sq mi). The population density was 7.36 inhabitants per square kilometre (19.1 /sq mi).
The municipality was unilingually Finnish.
Karttula was consolidated with the city of Kuopio in 2011. Kuopio retained its name and coat of arms.
Media related to Karttula at Wikimedia Commons

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Keitele
Keitele is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 2,514 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 578.39 square kilometres (223.32 sq mi) of which 96.59 km² (37.29 sq mi) is water. The population density is 5.22 inhabitants per square kilometre (13.5 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Keitele at Wikimedia Commons

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Kiuruvesi
Kiuruvesi is a town and municipality of Finland located in the former province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 9,052 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 1,422.90 square kilometres (549.38 sq mi) of which 94.79 km² (36.60 sq mi) is water. The population density is 6.82 inhabitants per square kilometre (17.7 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
The educational department takes part in Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 in Finland.
Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in Kiuruvesi:
Media related to Kiuruvesi at Wikimedia Commons

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Kouvola
Kouvola is a town and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located 134 kilometres (83 mi) northeast of the capital, Helsinki.
The city has a population of 87,592 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 2,883.30 square kilometres (1,113.25 sq mi) of which 325.06 km² (125.51 sq mi) is water. The population density is 34.24 inhabitants per square kilometre (88.7 /sq mi).
Kouvola's central location within Finland's borders and as a border post between the European Union and Russian Federation makes it a quite lively town.^{[original research?]} The town originally grew up around the junction of the north–south and east–west rail tracks. It was also a major road transport junction.
In January 2009, the six municipalities – Kouvola, Kuusankoski, Elimäki, Anjalankoski, Valkeala and Jaala – were consolidated, forming the new municipality of Kouvola. Kouvola can now claim the natural beauty of Valkeala and Jaala as well as the cultural heritage of Elimäki and Anjalankoski as its own. Kouvola has also assumed the slogan Kymijoen kaupunki (the town of Kymijoki) previously used by Anjalankoski.

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Kristiansand
Kristiansand (help·info) (formerly Christianssand) is a city, municipality and the county capital of Vest-Agder county in Southern Norway. Kristiansand municipality is the 5th largest in Norway with a population of 82,562 as of 1 April 2011. The Kristiansand urban area, entirely located in the municipality, had a population of 67,547 on 1 January 2009, and is thus the 8th largest urban area in Norway. In addition, the Statistics Norway (no:Statistisk Sentralbyrå) counts that there are 4 other densely populated areas in the municipality: Skålevik (Flekkerøy) with a population of 2,635, Strai (Torridal) with a population of 1,332, Justvik with a population of 1,613 and Tveit with a population of 1,390 citizens (January 2009).
The city was named after its founder King Christian IV in 1641. The last element sand refers to the sandy headland the city was built on (see also Lillesand).
The name was written "Christian(s)sand" (for "Christians sand" – meaning en:[King] "Christian's Sand") until 1877 – then, according to an official spelling reform (that changed ch to k), the form was changed to "Kristianssand". (See also the names Kristiansund and Kristiania that were affected by the same reform.) The name was again changed to its present form Kristiansand in 1889.

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Kuopio
Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of 97,552 makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of 2,317.24 square kilometres (894.69 sq mi), of which 719.85 km² (277.94 sq mi) is water and half forest. The population density is only 61 /km² (160 /sq mi), but the city's urban areas are populated very densely (urban area: 1 617.6 /km²), nationally second only to capital Helsinki (urban area: 1,690.0/km²). The population of the entire Kuopio region is 119,472.
There are several explanations behind the name Kuopio. The first is that in the 16th century, a certain influential person named Kauhanen in Tavinsalmi changed his name to Skopa and the people's pronunciation was Coopia and finally Cuopio. The second explanation is that it comes from the verb kuopia, meaning when, for example, a horse paws the ground with its hoof. A third theory is that it came from a certain Karelian man's name Prokopij, from Ruokolahti in the Middle Ages. This is the most probable explanation, supported by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland.

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Kuopio Airport
Kuopio Airport (IATA: KUO, ICAO: EFKU) is an airport in Siilinjärvi, Finland, about 14 kilometres (9 mi) north of Kuopio city centre.
It is currently the seventh busiest airport in Finland (inland airports: third, after Tampere and Rovaniemi), as measured by the number of passengers (ca. 254,000 in 2010). As of 2006^[update], Kuopio Airport was one of only five profitable airports in Finland, thanks to shared use of the runways by the Karelian Air Command of the Finnish Air Force and civilian airlines. Kuopio Airport was chosen as the Airport of the Year in Finland in 2004.
Kuopio Airport was completed in November 1939. Flight operations started in May 1940. It was used by the Luftwaffe during World War II (1942–43).
During the Continuation War the runways were made from plywood.
Lake terminal
Lake terminal interior
Lake Saimaa highlighted
A unique airport Lake terminal was completed in March 2008. The terminal is situated some 200 metres (660 ft) from the airport tower. It connects the airport to Lake Saimaa region.

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KuPS
Kuopion Palloseura (or KuPS) is a Finnish football club, based in the 8th most populated city of Finland, Kuopio. KuPS plays in Finland's Premier League, Veikkausliiga. The team plays its home matches at Savon Sanomat Areena. Until June 2005, KuPS used to play at an aged track and field stadium in Väinölänniemi, which is said to be one of the most beautiful sporting places in Finland. Väinölänniemi is a cape surrounded by a local lake, Kallavesi.
KuPS holds the Finnish club record of the most consecutive seasons in the top flight, from 1949 to 1992. The team is placed fourth in the all-time Finnish premier league honour table.
KuPS was founded in 1923 and holds 4th place in the all-time table of the Finnish Premier League (called Veikkausliiga since 1991). KuPS have played in the top flight for 50 seasons and claimed five league titles, two Finnish Cup titles and one Finnish League Cup title. In addition to that KuPS have finished as runners-up in the league nine times and claimed numerous junior titles.

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Lahti
Lahti (Swedish: Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland.
Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about 100 kilometres (60 mi) north-east of the capital Helsinki. In English, the Finnish word Lahti literally means bay and Vesijärvi means water lake.
The symbol of the city depicts a train wheel surrounded by sparkling flames.
Lahti was first mentioned in documents in 1445. The village belonged to the parish of Hollola and was located at the medieval trade route of Ylinen Viipurintie, which linked the towns of Hämeenlinna and Vyborg.
The completion of the Riihimäki – St. Petersburg railway line in 1870 and the Vesijärvi canal in 1871 turned Lahti into a lively station, and industrial installations began to spring up around it. For a long time, the railway station at Vesijärvi Harbour was the second busiest station in Finland. Craftsmen, merchants, a few civil servants and a lot of industrial workers soon mixed in with the existing agricultural peasantry.

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Lapinlahti
Lapinlahti (Swedish: Lapinlax) is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 10,369 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 1,245.13 square kilometres (480.75 sq mi) of which 148.58 km² (57.37 sq mi) is water. The population density is 9.46 inhabitants per square kilometre (24.5 /sq mi).
The neighboring municipality of Varpaisjärvi was consolidated with Lapinlahti on January 1, 2011.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Lapinlahti at Wikimedia Commons

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Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta (Swedish: Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the Russian border. It belongs to the region of South Karelia. With approximately 72,000 inhabitants (31 January 2012) Lappeenranta is the 13th largest city in Finland. The neighboring municipality of Joutseno was consolidated with Lappeenranta on January 1, 2009, and the neighboring municipality of Ylämaa on January 1, 2010.
Lappeenranta was originally formed around a headland pointing to lake Saimaa. In the 16th century, the market place moved from Lappee's old centre Kauskila to the current fortress headland. The first mention of Lapwes, as it was called, is in a privilege charter from 1542 that subjugated the market place under Viborg's authority.
The town was chartered in 1649 by Queen Christina of Sweden, legitimizing the trade in the then popular marketplace of Lapvesi. However, the parliamentary privilege charter and the coat of arms were attested in 1652 after the town layout by Erik Aspegren was affirmed. At the time, Lappeenranta was an important port for tar.

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Leppävirta
Leppävirta is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 10,390 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 1,519.67 square kilometres (586.75 sq mi) of which 383.62 km² (148.12 sq mi) is water. The population density is 9.15 inhabitants per square kilometre (23.7 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Leppävirta is twinned with:

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Linköping
Linköping [ˈlɪnːˈɕøːpɪŋ] is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104,232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church of Sweden) and is well known for its cathedral. Linköping is the center of an old cultural region and celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1987. Nowadays Linköping is known for its university and its high-technology industry. Dominating the city's skyline from afar is the steeple of the cathedral.
The city is possibly named after the Lionga ting assembly which according to Medieval Scandinavian laws was the most important thing in Östergötland. Exact location of the Lionga ting is not known, but it was along the Eriksgata. Köping means there was a market there.
Historically, Linköping is famed for being an early diocese, second in Sweden (within its pre-1658 boundaries) only to Skara. The diocese is first mentioned in 1104 in the so-called "List of Florence" (Lionga. Kaupinga). The monastery of Vreta Kloster near Roxen north of Linköping was established in 1128, and the oldest parts of the cathedral are also from the 12th century (although it has been changed many times since then, the eye-catching tower with copper roofing being a 19th century product). On several occasions attempts to achieve a separate Swedish archdiocese were based in Linköping, although, when they finally were successful in 1164, Uppsala was chosen instead.

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Lund
Lund (Swedish pronunciation: [lɵnd] ( listen)) is a city in the province of Scania, southern Sweden. The town has 82,800 inhabitants in 2010, out of a municipal total of 110,824. It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Skåne County. The city is believed to have been founded around 990, when Scania belonged to Denmark. It soon became a major Christian center of the Baltic Sea region, at a time when the area was still a frontier area for Christian mission, and within Scandinavia and especially Denmark through the Middle Ages. From 1103 it was the seat of an archbishop. At the center of the city stands the towering Lund Cathedral, built ca 1090-1145.
Lund University, established 1666, is today one of Scandinavia's largest institutions for education and research.
Along with Sigtuna, Lund is the oldest city in present-day Sweden. Lund's origins are unclear. Until the 1980s, the town was thought to have been founded around 1020 by either Sweyn I Forkbeard or his son Canute the Great of Denmark. The area was then part of the kingdom of Denmark. But, recent archaeological discoveries suggest that the first settlement dated to circa 990, possibly the relocation of settlers at Uppåkra. The Uppåkra settlement dates back to the first century B.C. and its remains are at the present site of the village of Uppåkra. King Sweyn I Forkbeard moved Loda to its present location, a distance of some five kilometres. The new location of Lund, on a hill and across a ford, gave the new site considerable defensive advantages in comparison with Uppåkra, situated on the highest point of a large plain.

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Maaninka
Maaninka (Swedish: Maninga) is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 3,841 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 575.13 square kilometres (222.06 sq mi) of which 108.62 km² (41.94 sq mi) is water. The population density is 8.23 inhabitants per square kilometre (21.3 /sq mi).
The municipality is mostly rugged forestland. The tallest waterfall in Finland, at 46 meters high, is located in Maaninka. The site, called Korkeakoski, has been a tourist site since the 19th century.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Maaninka at Wikimedia Commons

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Malmö
Malmö (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmalːˈmøː] ( listen)), in the southernmost province of Scania, is Sweden's third largest city by population after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and is one of the largest cities in Scandinavia.
Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County. The administrative entity for most of the city is Malmö Municipality which has 300,515 inhabitants in eight different localities, with 30% being of foreign origin (either born outside of Sweden or having both parents born abroad). Malmö is also a bimunicipal locality, as part of it is formally situated in Burlöv Municipality. The total population of the urban area was 280,415 in December 2010.
Greater Malmö is one of Sweden's three officially recognized Metropolitan areas (storstadsområden) and since 2005 is defined as the municipality of Malmö and 11 other municipalities in the southwestern corner of Scania. On 30 June 2008, its population was recorded to be 628,388. The region covers an area of 2,535.76 square kilometres (979.06 sq mi). The municipalities included, apart from Malmö, are Burlöv, Eslöv, Höör, Kävlinge, Lomma, Lund, Skurup, Staffanstorp, Svedala, Trelleborg and Vellinge. Lund, with a municipal population of over 100,000 and home to one of Scandinavia's major universities, is together with Malmö the region's economic and education hub.

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Minnesota
Minnesota (ⁱ/mɪnɨˈsoʊtə/) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.
Minnesota is the 12th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the U.S. states. Nearly 60% of its residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area (known as the "Twin Cities"), the center of transportation, business, industry and education and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now cleared, farmed and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation.

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Nilsiä
Nilsiä is a small town and a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The town has a population of 6,507 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 847.71 square kilometres (327.30 sq mi) of which 136.14 km² (52.56 sq mi) is water. The population density is 9.14 inhabitants per square kilometre (23.7 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
The last few decades have been a period of rapid progress for the town, especially its tourism. There are still plenty of traditional rural occupations, but also many kinds of commercial activities. Nilsiä has become the administrative and commercial centre of Northeast Savonia and it co-operates actively with the city of Kuopio. The services in Nilsiä are as diverse as in many larger towns.
Nilsiä has exceptionally much to offer to those who love sports and nature, whether it is winter or summer. Tahkovuori is a popular winter sport centre. There are also marked routes for snowmobile trainers.

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Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland. In English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries (but excluding Greenland), despite the fact that that word is most strictly defined to refer only to Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The region's five nation-states and three autonomous regions share much common history as well as common traits in their respective societies, such as political systems and the Nordic model. Politically, Nordic countries do not form a separate entity, but they co-operate in the Nordic Council. The Nordic countries have a combined population of approximately 25 million spread over a land area of 3.5 million km² (Greenland accounts for around 60% of the total area).
Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated language groups, the common linguistic heritage is one of the factors making up the Nordic identity. The continental Scandinavian languages – Danish, Norwegian and Swedish – are considered mutually intelligible. These languages are taught in school throughout the Nordic countries; Swedish, for example, is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools, whereas Danish is mandatory in Icelandic, Faroese and Greenlandic schools. For this reason, (continental) Scandinavian language is considered the lingua franca of all of the Nordic countries. Besides these and the insular North Germanic languages Faroese and Icelandic, all belonging to the Indo-European language group, there are the Finnic and Sami branches of the Uralic languages, spoken respectively in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, and Greenlandic, an Eskimo–Aleut language, spoken in Greenland.

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Norrköping
Norrköping [ˈnɔrːˈɕøːpɪŋ] is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County. The city has a population of 87,247 inhabitants in 2010, out of a municipal total of 130,050, making it Sweden's tenth largest city and eighth largest municipality.
The city is situated by the mouth of the river Motala ström, at Bråviken, an inlet of the Baltic Sea. Water power from the Motala ström and the good harbour were factors that facilitated the rapid growth of this once industrial city, known for its textile industry. It has several nicknames such as: "Sweden's Manchester", "Peking" and "Surbullestan" (Surbulle [sour bun] was a local nickname for the textile workers, and stan is short for Staden, which means The City or The Town in Swedish)
The city has medieval foundations by settlers around the Norrköping twin city with Linköping Motala stream estuary, who used the falls and rapids to power their mills. The stream was also full of fish such as salmon. Exact dates are uncertain, but there are mentions of a church in the 12th century. It was dedicated to Saint Olaf, Norway's patron.

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Northern Savonia
Northern Savonia (Finnish: Pohjois-Savo; Swedish: Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. Kuopio is the largest city in the region.
For history, geography and culture see: Savonia
Northern Savonia includes 21 municipalities. Seven of them are cities.
Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in Northern Savonia:
Kuopio Market Place, famous all around Finland; in the background Kuopio City Hall, the symbol of the city
Birthplace of President Urho Kekkonen in Pielavesi
Lake Syväri
M/S Koski in inwaters transport on Lake Kallavesi
View from Puijo Tower towards Kuopio town and Lake Kallavesi
Kuopio Cathedral
Taipale Canal, Varkaus
Kiuruvesi Railway Station
Nilsiä Church in National Romantic Style
Koljonvirta Straits, Iisalmi
Stora Enso Pulp Mill in Varkaus
Ice Marathon in Kuopio
Iisalmi, New Church
Bonfires are burnt at Midsommer night; Lake Pielavesi
Siilinjärvi Church
Kalakukko, a traditional food; rye bread filled with fish
The home of Paavo Ruotsalainen, a traditional Savonian countryside house

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Norway
Norway ⁱ/ˈnɔrweɪ/ (Norwegian: Norge (Bokmål) or Noreg (Nynorsk)), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and the subantarctic Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of about 5 million. It is the second least densely populated country in Europe. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east; in its south Norway borders the Skagerrak Strait across from Denmark. The capital city of Norway is Oslo. Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords.

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Odense
The city of Odense (Danish pronunciation: [ˈoðˀn̩sə] ( listen)) is the third largest city in Denmark. Odense City has a population of 168,798 (as of 1 January 2012 (2012 -01-01)^[update]) and is the main city of the island of Funen. The city is the seat of Odense Municipality, with a population of 191,610 (as of 1 January 2012 (2012 -01-01)^[update]), and was the seat of Odense County until 1970, and Funen County from 1970 until 1 January 2007, when Funen County became part of the Region of Southern Denmark.
Odense (from Odins Vé, meaning "Odin's shrine", referring to the god Odin of Denmark's indigenous Norse mythology), is one of the oldest cities of Denmark and had its 1000th anniversary in 1988. To celebrate this, a forest named "the Thousand Year Forest" (Danish: Tusindårsskoven) was cultivated. The shrine of Saint Canute (Danish: Sankt Knud / Knud den Hellige) in Saint Canute's Cathedral held great attraction for pilgrims throughout the Middle Ages.
In the 16th century, the town was the meeting-place of several parliaments, and down to 1805 it was the seat of the provincial assembly of Funen.

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Opole
Opole [ɔˈpɔlɛ] ( listen) (German: Oppeln, Silesian German: Uppeln, Silesian: Uopole) is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River (Odra). It has a population of 125,992 (June 2009) and is the capital of the Upper Silesia, Opole Voivodeship and, also the seat of Opole County. Today, many German Upper Silesians and Poles of German ancestry live in the Opole region; in the city itself, Germans make up less than 3% of population.
The name Opole likely originated from the medieval Slavic term for a group of settlements.
Opole's history begins in the 8th century. It this time, according to the archeological excavations, the first Slavic settlement was founded on the Ostrówek - the northern part of the Pasieka island in the middle of the Odra river. In the early 10th century it developed into one of the main gróds of the Slavic Opolanie. At the end of the century Silesia became part of Poland and was ruled by the Piast dynasty; the land of the pagan Opolanie was conquered by Duke Mieszko I in 992. From the 11th-12th centuries it was also a castellany. After the death of Duke Władysław II the Exile, Silesia was divided in 1163 between two Piast lines- the Wrocławska line in Lower Silesia and the Opolsko-Raciborska of Upper Silesia. Opole would became a duchy in 1172 and would share much in common with the Duchy of Racibórz, with which it was often combined. In 1281 Upper Silesia was divided further between the heirs of the dukes. The Duchy of Opole was temporarily reestablished in 1290.

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Oslo
Oslo (English pronunciation: /ˈɒzloʊ/, OZ-loh,Norwegian pronunciation: [²ʊʃlʊ] ( listen) or [²ʊslʊ]) is the capital of and most populous city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 and with Sweden from 1814 to 1905 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Castle during the reign of King Christian IV and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, when its original Norwegian name was restored.
Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are amongst the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.

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Oulu
Oulu (pronounced [ˈoulu] ( listen), Swedish: Uleåborg [ˈʉːleɔˌbɔrj]) is a city and municipality of 143,988 inhabitants (31 January 2012) in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world.
Oulu was founded on April 8, 1605, by King Charles IX of Sweden opposite to the fort built on the island of Linnansaari. This took place after favourable peace settlements with the Russians, which removed the threat of attack via the main east-west waterway, the river Oulu. The surrounding areas were populated much earlier. Oulu is situated by the Gulf of Bothnia, at the mouth of river Oulujoki, which is an ancient trading site. One possible source for the name Oulu is a word in the Sami language meaning 'flood water', but there are other suggestions. Oulu was the capital of the Province of Oulu from 1776 to 2009.
In 1822, a major fire destroyed much of the city. The architect Carl Ludvig Engel, chiefly known for the neoclassical (empire style) buildings around Helsinki Senate Square, was enlisted to provide the plan for the rebuilding of the city. With minor changes, this plan remains the basis for the layout of Oulu's town center. The Oulu Cathedral was built in 1832 to his designs, with the spire being finished in 1844.

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Pielavesi
Pielavesi is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 5,002 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 1,406.57 square kilometres (543.08 sq mi) of which 253.27 km² (97.79 sq mi) is water. The population density is 4.34 inhabitants per square kilometre (11.2 /sq mi).
Urho Kekkonen, a former President of Finland who ruled the country over two decades, was born in Pielavesi.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Pielavesi is also well known for its successful volleyball club, Pielaveden Sampo.
Media related to Pielavesi at Wikimedia Commons

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Pitkyaranta
Coordinates: 61°34′30″N 31°28′40″E / 61.575°N 31.47778°E / 61.575; 31.47778
Pitkyaranta (Russian: Питкяранта; Karelian: Pitkyrandu; Finnish: Pitkäranta) is a town and the administrative center of Pitkyarantsky District in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the northeastern coast of Lake Ladoga. Population: 11,484 (2010 Census preliminary results); 13,347 (2002 Census); 14,361 (1989 Census). Telephone code is 81433.
The town was founded in the 19th century.
Pitkyaranta is twinned with:
vep:Pit'krand

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Poland
Poland ⁱ/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.

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Pori
Pori (Swedish: Björneborg) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some 15 kilometres (9 mi) from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, which is the largest in Finland. It was established in 1558 by John III (Finnish: Juhana III or Juhana-herttua). Pori is the most important town in the Satakunta region.
The municipality has a population of 83,192 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 1,704.07 square kilometres (657.95 sq mi) of which 870.01 km² (335.91 sq mi) is water. The population density is 99.74 /km² (258.3 /sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Pori is the 11th largest city in Finland, and the 7th largest urban area.
The Neo-Gothic Juselius Mausoleum, located in the Käppärä cemetery in central Pori, was built in 1903 by the wealthy industrialist F.A. Juselius for his daughter Sigrid, who died when she was only 11 years old. The mausoleum was designed by the architect Josef Stenbäck. The mausoleum originally had frescoes painted by artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela, but these decayed after a short time. The frescoes were restored by Akseli's son Jorma Gallen-Kallela using his father's sketches.

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Pskov
Pskov (Russian: Псков; IPA: [pskof] ( listen), ancient Russian spelling "Плѣсковъ", Pleskov) is an ancient city and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of Russia about 20 kilometers (12 mi) east from the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population: 203,281 (2010 Census preliminary results); 202,780 (2002 Census); 203,789 (1989 Census).
The name of the city, originally spelled "Pleskov", may be loosely translated as "[the town] of purling waters". Its earliest mention comes in 903, which records that Igor of Kiev married a local lady, St. Olga. Pskovians sometimes take this year as the city's foundation date, and in 2003 a great jubilee took place to celebrate Pskov's 1,100th anniversary.
The first prince of Pskov was Vladimir the Great's younger son Sudislav. Once imprisoned by his brother Yaroslav, he was not released until the latter's death several decades later. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the town adhered politically to the Novgorod Republic. In 1241, it was taken by the Teutonic Knights, but Alexander Nevsky recaptured it several months later during a legendary campaign dramatized in Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 movie.

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Puijo
Coordinates: 62°54′34″N 27°39′21″E / 62.90944°N 27.65583°E / 62.90944; 27.65583 Puijo is a 150 metres high hill, the famous landmark of city of Kuopio in Finland and a tourist attraction.
The ridge of Puijo is a well-known and popular recreation area. A 75 metres high observation tower, Puijo tower is atop the hill, near the city centre of Kuopio. The tower affords a memorable mosaic of blue lakes and green islands and a large primeval forest. A revolving panoramic restaurant is located at the top of tower, featuring local specialities.
Many paths and a large track network are located on the ridge, including two nature trails. People can move freely on most of Puijo ridge, but are restricted to the paths in the nature conservation area and in some areas less resistant to use. Gathering of plants is allowed.
Puijo and nearby resort town of Tahkovuori have some co-operative programs to promote sports and tourism.
In Puijo area there is one the first nature conservation areas of Finland, it was established in 1928. The size of the area is currently about 2.08 square kilometres.

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Puijo tower
The Puijo tower is a 75 metre high observation tower in Kuopio, Eastern Finland. The tower has a revolving restaurant with 100 seats, which has worked flawlessly since its opening in 1963. It was the first tower with a revolving restaurant in the Nordic countries. The restaurant was an inspiration to Erkki Lindfors, the mayor of Tampere, who got the idea to build a similar one in his home town, resulting in the Näsinneula tower, which opened in 1971. The current Puijo tower has been visited by over 5.5 million tourists.
The current tower is the third overall. When it was completed in 1963 the second was dismantled (it was built in 1906 (see the Finnish- and German-language Wikipedia articles on Puijo and the Puijo tower)). The first tower was built in 1856. On the western side of the tower there are three ski jumping hills. An FIS Ski Jumping World Cup event is held yearly in Puijo along with many smaller events. The event is hosted by a local ski jumping club, Puijon Hiihtoseura. Most of the Puijo hills area is preserved as a nature park in which there are excellent hiking and skiing routes that are popular with the inhabitants of Kuopio.

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Randers
Randers (Danish pronunciation: [ˈʁɑnɐs]) is a city in Randers municipality (Aarhus County, Region Midtjylland) on the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 61,121 (1 January 2012). Randers city is the main town of the municipality and the site of its municipal council.
Randers municipality has 94,750 inhabitants (2010). The municipality is also a part of the East Jutland metropolitan area, which has 1.2 million inhabitants..
Randers, Denmark's only natural river harbour, is on the banks of the River Guden (Gudenå), about 6 miles (10 km) above its mouth in Randers Fjord, and 111 miles (179 km) west-northwest of Copenhagen. This location has had great significance for trade by sea. Barges on the Guden River and the Northern River (Nørreå) transported goods into Randers from Silkeborg and Viborg for export. In return, items were imported.
A vast agricultural area, and good transportation by land and by water, helped make Randers a dynamic center for trade and commerce. Known for the many access roads leading into the city, it has engendered the popular saying, "Where the waterway meets the 13 highways" ("Hvor søvejen møder de 13 landeveje").

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Rautalampi
Rautalampi is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 3,481 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 761.97 square kilometres (294.20 sq mi) of which 222.99 km² (86.10 sq mi) is water. The population density is 6.46 inhabitants per square kilometre (16.7 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Rautalampi at Wikimedia Commons

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Rautavaara
Rautavaara is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 1,857 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 1,234.96 square kilometres (476.82 sq mi) of which 84.09 km² (32.47 sq mi) is water. The population density is 1.61 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.2 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Rautavaara at Wikimedia Commons

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Riistavesi
Riistavesi is a lake of Finland.

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Romania
Romania (ⁱ/roʊˈmeɪniə/ roh-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Roumania; or Rumania;Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza in 1859. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on 9 May 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.

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Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi ( pronunciation (help·info); Inari Sami: Ruávinjargâ; Northern Sami: Roavenjárga and Roavvenjárga; Skolt Sami: Ruäˊvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its tributary, the Ounasjoki. The city and the surrounding Rovaniemen maalaiskunta (Rural municipality of Rovaniemi) were consolidated into a single entity on January 1, 2006. The new municipality has an area of 8,016.72 square kilometres (3,095.27 sq mi) and an approximate population of 61,000.
The rova part in the name Rovaniemi has often been considered to be of Saamic origin, as "roavve" in Saami denotes a forested ridge or hill or the site of an old forest fire. In Southern Saami dialects, however, rova means a heap of stones, a rock or a group of rocks in a stretch of rapids, or even a sauna stove.^{[citation needed]} The niemi part of the name means "cape".

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Ruokolahti
Ruokolahti is a municipality of Finland, situated in south-eastern Finland, in the region of South Karelia. Neighbouring municipalities are Imatra, Lappeenranta, Taipalsaari, Puumala, Sulkava, Punkaharju, Parikkala and Rautjärvi. Ruokolahti covers an area of 1,219.90 square kilometres (471.01 sq mi) of which 23% is water.
Ruokolahti has 5,587 inhabitants (31 January 2012), but the population is doubled in summer as holidaymakers occupy the 3,000 summer cottages in the region.
Ruokolahti is especially known for its natural beauty. In the west there is the shimmering Lake Saimaa and in the east there are hundreds of smaller lakes. The big Salpausselkä ridges run through the area. It is also the town in which famed sniper Simo Häyhä, considered to be one of the greatest of all time, spent the last years of his life.
Media related to Ruokolahti at Wikimedia Commons

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Russia
Russia ⁱ/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.

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Seinäjoki
Seinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960. In the beginning of 2009, the neighbouring municipalities of Nurmo and Ylistaro were consolidated with Seinäjoki.
The Town library, Lakeuden Risti church and central administrative buildings are designed by Alvar Aalto.
The asteroid 1521 Seinäjoki bears the town's name.
Seinäjoki was historically called Östermyra in Swedish. Today this name is very seldom used even among the Swedish speakers. Literal translation for Seinäjoki is "Wallriver".
Seinäjoki Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Ilmajoki, 11 kilometres (10 mi) south of Seinäjoki city centre.
The settlement spread in the area of the present Seinäjoki during the first half of the 16th century. During the 1550s there is said to have been three houses in Seinäjoki, Marttila, Jouppi and Uppa houses. House of Jouppila, which separated from the house of Jouppi, was established during the same century. All of the houses were located on the shore of the river.

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Siilinjärvi
Siilinjärvi is a municipality of Finland. The name, in Finnish, means "Hedgehog Lake."
It is located in Eastern Finland, in Northern Savonia, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the city of Kuopio. The median age is relatively low; 23% of the population are under 15 years old. The main sources of income are services and industry. Siilinjärvi has 11 elementary schools and 2 secondary schools (one is located in Suininlahti and one downtown). One of the most important employers in Siilinjärvi is Yara International. Another big employer is Lujabetoni.
The airport of Kuopio is located in the village of Rissala in Siilinjärvi. The airport is also the home of the Karelian Air Command and the 31st Squadron of the Finnish Air Force.
Siilinjärvi is the birthplace of politician and prime minister Jyrki Katainen.
The educational department takes part in Lifelong Learning Programme 2007–2013 in Finland.
Media related to Siilinjärvi at Wikimedia Commons

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Skien
Skien (help·info) is a city and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien. Skien is also the administrative centre of Telemark county.
The municipality of Skien was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipalities of Gjerpen and Solum were merged into the municipality of Skien on 1 January 1964.
The conurbation of Skien and Porsgrunn is considered by Statistics Norway to be the seventh largest city in Norway straddling an area of three municipalities: Skien municipality (about 52% of the population), Porsgrunn (35%), and Bamble (11.5%). The area is home to more than 90,000 people.
Skien was historically Norway's most important port town for shipping timber. The city was the birthplace and boyhood home of playwright Henrik Ibsen, and many of his famous dramas are set in in places reminiscent of 19th century Skien.
The Old Norse form of the name was Skiða (from the word skiða which means "straight plank"), and the town is probably named after a brook (with a straight run) with this name.

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Sonkajärvi
Sonkajärvi is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 4,596 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 1,576.77 square kilometres (608.79 sq mi) of which 110.86 km² (42.80 sq mi) is water. The population density is 3.14 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.1 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Sonkajärvi has gained a worldwide name for Wife Carrying (Finnish: akankanto or eukonkanto) which is a sport of carrying women. The first Wife Carrying World Championship dates to 1994, but the creation of the contest, apart from its humorous aspects, has deep roots in the local history. In the late 19th century there was in the area a brigand called Rosvo-Ronkainen, who is said to have accepted in his troops only those men who proved their worth on a challenging track. In those days, it was also a common practice to steal women from the neighbouring villages.
In the Wife Carrying competition each team has one male and one female member, the objective being for the male to carry the female through a special obstacle track. The basic rules are that the woman must be over 17 years of age and have a weight of at least 49 kilograms (110 lb). If she is below that weight, she must be burdened with such a heavy rucksack so that the total weight to be carried by the man is at least 49 kilograms. The only equipment allowed is a belt worn by the carrier. The track in Sonkanjärvi used annually for the World Championship has a length of exactely 253.5 metres (832 ft).

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Stavanger
Stavanger (Norwegian pronunciation: [stɑˈʋɑŋər] (listen)) is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway. Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway. Stavanger is the centre of the Stavanger metropolitan area, which has a population of 297,569, and the administrative centre of Rogaland county. The city is commonly referred to as the Petroleum Capital of Norway.
Despite its age, dating back at least to the Viking Age, Stavanger only grew to its position among the most important Norwegian cities in the second half of the 20th century, after oil was discovered in the North Sea. Today, the city is marked by noticeable foreign influences as a result of the presence of several major international oil companies. Stavanger also houses the NATO Joint Warfare Center.
Norway's oldest cathedral, Stavanger domkirke, is situated in the city centre, right next to Breiavatnet lake. The two most popular recreational areas are situated around lakes, namely Mosvatnet and Stokkavatnet.

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Stockholm
Stockholm (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈstɔkːˈhɔlm, ˈstɔkːˈɔlm, ˈstɔkːɔlm]( listen to the second one)) is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 864,324 in the municipality (2010), 1.4 million in the urban area (2010), and around 2.1 million in the 6,519 km² (2,517.00 sq mi) metropolitan area (2010). As of 2010, the Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden's population.
Founded no later than c. 1250, possibly as early as 1187, Stockholm has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Its strategic location on 14 islands on the south-central east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important. Stockholm has been nominated by GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-. In The 2008 Global Cities Index, Stockholm ranked 24th in the world, 10th in Europe, and first in Scandinavia. Stockholm is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks. It is sometimes referred to as Venice of the North.

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Suonenjoki
Suonenjoki is a town and municipality of Finland.
Suonenjoki is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The town has a population of 7,561 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 862.33 square kilometres (332.95 sq mi) of which 148.78 km² (57.44 sq mi) is water. The population density is 10.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (27 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Suonenjoki is famous for its strawberries. It is also known as "the Strawberry Town". Lots of foreign people, mainly from Russia, come to Suonenjoki in summer to work on strawberry farms. That makes Suonenjoki the most international town of Finland at summer. There is a party in Suonenjoki in July called Mansikkakarnevaalit, "Strawberry Carnival". There was also a rock festival named Jörisrock, the last "Jöris" was held in 2006. Nowadays, "Jöris" has been replaced by a music event called Iisrock.
Suonenjoki is situated between two important cities, Kuopio and Jyväskylä, and the main road 9 (E63) between those cities goes through Suonenjoki. The railway between Kuopio and Helsinki goes also through the center of Suonenjoki.

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Sweden
Sweden (ⁱ/ˈswiːdən/ SWEE-dən; Swedish: Sverige [ˈsværjɛ] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of about 9.4 million. Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. About 85% of the population live in urban areas. Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city.
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. The eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, practicing "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime". However, Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD.

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Södertälje
Södertälje (Swedish pronunciation: [sœdəˈʈɛlːˈjə] ( listen)) is a city and the seat of Södertälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 64,619 inhabitants in 2010.
The industrial city, about 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of Stockholm, is the home to truck maker Scania AB and a top 10 pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Södertälje is an international municipality and this fact is reflected in business, cultural life and the population.
Prior to 600 AD, the lake Mälaren was connected to the sea. Due to land elevation, the lake was slowly cut off, and boats had to be carried over land to and from the lake.
The name Telje is mentioned in the 11th century. To resolve a name conflict with another town that was founded north of Stockholm in the 17th century, Söder (meaning south) was added to create Södertälje; Norr (North) was added to the other to create Norrtälje.
In the 18th century Södertälje had a charter. Due to the Great Northern War and a series of plague epidemics, the population of the city dipped to barely above 200.

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Tampere
Tampere (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈtɑmpere] ( listen); Swedish: Tammerfors [tamərˈfɔrs] or [tamərˈfɔʂ]) is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of 215,315, growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in Finland, after the Greater Helsinki municipalities of Helsinki and Espoo. In 2007, the entire Pirkanmaa region had around 470,000 residents, of which 230,000 were employed, and a turnover of 25 billion euros.
Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. Since the two lakes differ in level by 18 metres (59 ft), the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity. Tampere is dubbed the "Manchester of Finland" for its industrial past as the former center of Finnish industry, and this has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms such as "Manserock".

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Tervo
Tervo is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 1,690 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 494.23 square kilometres (190.82 sq mi) of which 146.52 km² (56.57 sq mi) is water. The population density is 4.86 inhabitants per square kilometre (12.6 /sq mi).
Marco Hietala, the bass player for Nightwish is from Tervo.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Tervo at Wikimedia Commons

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Trabzon
Trabzon (Turkish: Trabzon, see other names, Turkish pronunciation: [ˈtrabzon]) is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast. The Venetian and Genoese merchants paid visits to Trebizond during the medieval period and sold silk, linen and woolen fabric; with the Republic of Genoa having an important merchant colony within the city that was similar to Galata near Constantinople (across the Golden Horn) in present-day Istanbul. Trabzon formed the basis of several states in its long history and was the capital city of the Empire of Trebizond between 1204 and 1461. During the Ottoman period, Trabzon, because of the importance of its port, became a focal point of trade to Iran and the Caucasus. The population of the center urban is 230,399 (2009 census).

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Tromsø
Tromsø (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈtrʊmsø] (listen); Northern Sami: Romsa;Kven: Tromssa) is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.
Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population. It is the largest city and the largest urban area in Northern Norway, and the second largest city and urban area in Sápmi (following Murmansk). Most of Tromsø, including the city centre, is located on the small island of Tromsøya in the county of Troms, 350 kilometres (217 mi) inside the arctic circle. Substantial parts of the urban area are also situated on the mainland to the east, and on parts of Kvaløya - a large island to the west. Tromsøya is connected to the mainland by the Tromsø Bridge and the Tromsøysund Tunnel, and to the island of Kvaløya by the Sandnessund Bridge. The city is warmer than most other places located on the same latitude, due to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream.

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Trondheim
Trondheim (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈtrɔnhæjm]), historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 176,348, it is the third most populous municipality in Norway and city in the country, although the fourth largest urban area. It is the administrative centre of Sør-Trøndelag county. Trondheim lies on the south shore of the Trondheimsfjord at the mouth of the river Nidelva. The city is dominated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), SINTEF, St. Olavs University Hospital and other technology-oriented institutions.
The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post, and was the capital of Norway during the Viking Age until 1217. From 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Archdiocese of Nidaros; since it has remained the seat of the Diocese of Nidaros and the Nidaros Cathedral. It was incorporated in 1838. The current municipality dates from 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda and Tiller.

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Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.

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Turku
Turku (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈturku] ( listen); Swedish: Åbo [ˈoːbu] ( listen)) is a city on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed to have been first settled around the end of the 13th century, making it the oldest city in Finland. It quickly became the most important city in Finland, a status it retained for hundreds of years. After Finland became part of the Russian Empire (1809), and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was moved to Helsinki (1812), Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland, until the end of the 1840s. Today it remains a regional capital and an important business and cultural center.
Because of its long history it has been the site of many important events, and has extensively influenced Finnish history. Along with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996 it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.

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Tuusniemi
Tuusniemi is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 2,818 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 699.43 square kilometres (270.05 sq mi) of which 156.15 km² (60.29 sq mi) is water. The population density is 5.19 inhabitants per square kilometre (13.4 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Tuusniemi at Wikimedia Commons

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Täby
Täby is a trimunicipal locality and the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 61,272 inhabitants in 2010. It is also partly located in Danderyd Municipality (the Enebyberg area) and Sollentuna Municipality. However, Täby kyrkby in the northern part of Täby Municipality, forms part of the Vallentuna urban area.
Täby consists of the following districts: Arninge, Ella Gård, Ella Park, Enebyberg, Ensta, Erikslund, Gribbylund, Hägernäs, Lahäll, Löttingelund, Lövbrunna, Näsbypark, Roslags Näsby, Skarpäng, Täby Centrum, Viggbyholm, Vallatorp, and Visinge.
Täby is famous for its racecourse, which is called "Täby Galopp". The course opened in 1960 and it replaced the earlier course Ulriksdal in Solna. The Center of Täby is called "Täby centrum", and it is the largest mall in Sweden.
European route E18 and Norrortsleden pass through Täby, as does the urban railway Roslagsbanan.
The name Täby is derived from tä, which is an old word that was used for "narrow road between roundpole fences", and by which means village. It is therefore believed that the Täby area was rich in such roads in the Viking age. The name Täby is found carved into the Jarlabanke Runestones, close to Täby church.

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Umeå
Umeå (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈʉːmɛo] ( listen); Finnish: Uumaja, Northern Sami: Ubmi) is a university town in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. The city is located at the Ume River.
Umeå is the biggest city in Norrland and the twelfth biggest in Sweden, with 79,594 inhabitants in 2010. The municipality has 115,229 inhabitants as of 2010. When the university was established in 1965, growth sped up, and the number of housing has doubled in the last 30 years. As of 2011^[update], 700 to 800 new apartments are constructed each year.
Umeå is a center of education, technical and medical research in Sweden, with two universities and over 30,000 students. The city is elected European Capital of Culture of 2014.
The first written mention of Umeå is from the 14th century. The northern parts of Sweden, including the counties of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, were settled by Sami people before this time, though not necessarily in the city's exact location. Umeå in its first form was a parish with a wooden church and trade post located in the section of town now known as Backen (or Kyrkbacken). Its location near the coast and on a river was probably one of the reasons that people chose to settle there.

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United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.

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Uppsala
Uppsala (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈɵpːˈsɑːla]; older spelling Upsala) is the capital of Uppsala County and the fourth largest city of Sweden. It had 140,454 inhabitants in 2010.
Located 67 km north of the capital, Stockholm, it is also the seat of the Uppsala Municipality. Since 1164, Uppsala has been the ecclesiastical centre of Sweden, being the seat of the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest centre of higher education in Scandinavia.
Uppsala was originally located a few kilometres to the north, at a location now known as Gamla Uppsala (Old Uppsala). Today's Uppsala was then called Östra Aros. (Old) Uppsala was, according to medieval writer Adam of Bremen, the main pagan centre of Sweden, and the Temple at Uppsala contained magnificent idols of the Æsir gods.
As a replacement for the Scandinavian gods, Uppsala was made into a strong Christian centre. A bishop was soon consecrated, and in 1164 Uppsala was made into an archdiocese, with Stefan, a monk from Alvastra Abbey, being consecrated the first Archbishop of Uppsala and primate of Sweden.

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Vaasa
Vaasa (Swedish: Vasa) is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden and is named after the Royal House of Vasa. Today, Vaasa has a population of 60,435 (31 January 2012) (approximately 90,000 in the Vaasa sub-region), and is the regional capital of Ostrobothnia (Swedish: Österbotten, Finnish: Pohjanmaa).
The city is bilingual with 69.8% of the population speaking Finnish as their first language and 24.8% speaking Swedish. The city is an important centre for Finland-Swedish culture.^{[citation needed]}
Over the years, Vaasa has changed its name several times, due to alternative spellings, political decisions and language condition changes. At first it was called Mustasaari or Mussor after the village where it was founded in 1606, but just a few years later the name was changed to Wasa to honor the royal Swedish lineage. Mustasaari (Finnish) or Korsholm (Swedish) remains as the name of the surrounding mostly rural municipality, which since 1973 surrounds the city. The city was known as Wasa between 1606 and 1855, Nikolaistad (Swedish) and Nikolainkaupunki (Finnish) between 1855 and 1917, Vasa (Swedish) and Vaasa (Finnish) beginning from 1917, with the Finnish spelling of the name being the primary one from ca 1930 when Finnish speakers became the majority in the city.

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Varkaus
Varkaus (before year 1929 Warkaus) is a Middle-Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 22,587 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 524.49 square kilometres (202.51 sq mi) of which 138.45 km² (53.46 sq mi) is water. The population density is 58.51 inhabitants per square kilometre (151.5 /sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Oddly enough, 'Varkaus' translates to 'theft', even though it is not the reason for giving that name to the city. In old Finnish, the same word also meant strait, and this city is located in the lake district.
The town is located on straits between two parts of Lake Saimaa. An extension of the Saimaa Canal passes through the town. The town became an industrial center in the end of the 19th century with the A. Ahlström paper mills. During the Finnish Civil War in 1918 the town was taken over by the "Reds", but because of its isolated location in rural Finland, it was soon taken by the "Whites". The whites proceeded to mercilessly execute every tenth Red soldier.

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Varpaisjärvi
Varpaisjärvi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the municipality of Lapinlahti on January 1, 2011.
The municipality was located in the Northern Savonia region. It had a population of 2,899 (31 October 2010) and covered a land area of 483.02 square kilometres (186.50 sq mi). The population density was 6.00 inhabitants per square kilometre (15.5 /sq mi).
The municipality was unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Varpaisjärvi at Wikimedia Commons

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Vehmersalmi
Vehmersalmi is a former municipality of Finland. It has been a part of the city of Kuopio since January 1, 2005.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of 2,053 (2003) and covered an area of 550.59 km² of which 202.47 km² is water. The population density was 5.9 inhabitants per km².
The municipality was unilingually Finnish. Vehmersalmi ceased to exist as of 1 January 2005 when it was merged into Kuopio.
Coordinates: 62°45′40″N 28°01′45″E / 62.76111°N 28.02917°E / 62.76111; 28.02917

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Vesanto
Vesanto is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 2,386 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 569.70 square kilometres (219.96 sq mi) of which 147.1 km² (56.8 sq mi) is water. The population density is 5.65 inhabitants per square kilometre (14.6 /sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Media related to Vesanto at Wikimedia Commons

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Vieremä
Vieremä is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 3,964 (31 January 2012) and covers an area of 973.38 square kilometres (375.82 sq mi) of which 48.2 km² (18.6 sq mi) is water. The population density is 4.28 inhabitants per square kilometre (11.1 /sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Vieremä has an active musical life, despite its small size. It has long traditions in folk and religious music, and it is especially known for its active kantele-playing scene. A kantele camp for young players is organized every summer, and Vieremä church and Kyrönniemi Center of Culture and Religion host many concerts throughout the year.
Media related to Vieremä at Wikimedia Commons

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Västerås
Västerås [vɛstərˈoːs] (English exonym: West Aros) is a city in central Sweden, located on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province Västmanland, some 100 km west of Stockholm. The city has a population of 110,877 inhabitants in 2010, out of the municipal total of 137,207 (2010).
Västerås is the seat of Västerås Municipality, the capital of Västmanland County and an episcopal see.
Västerås is one of the oldest cities in Sweden and Northern Europe. The name originates from Västra Aros, which refers to the river mouth of Svartån. The area has been populated since the Nordic Viking Age, before 1000 AD. In the beginning of the 11th century it was the second largest city in Sweden, and by the 12th century had become the seat of the bishop.
Anundshög is located just outside the City of Västerås. Anundshög is Sweden's largest burial mound. "Hög" is derived from the Old Norse word haugr meaning mound or barrow. It was built about 500 AD and is over 74 yards wide and is almost 10 yards high.
In the ensuing centuries a cathedral and a monastery were built. The first City Arms date from the end of the 13th century.

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Örebro
Örebro [œrəˈbruː] is a city, the seat of Örebro Municipality and the capital of Örebro County in Sweden with 107,038 inhabitants in 2010.
Örebro received its Royal Charter and city privileges not later than 1404.
Örebro literally means a bridge over gravel banks, which is how the geography looks, with the stream Svartån draining into the lake Hjälmaren. The location became a natural seat of commerce in the (Scandinavian) medieval time, and is mentioned in print in the 13th century. Old buildings from the early days include the foundations of the city church, a building which has undergone several modifications. The natural center of the city is otherwise the magnificent Örebro Castle, situated on an islet in the Svartån, and dividing the town into a northern and a southern part. This castle was constructed during the stewardship of Birger Jarl during the early 13th century and then modified and enlarged during the reign of King Gustav Vasa in the 1560s.
Notable events in Örebro's history include the national diet meeting at Örebro in 1810, where Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was elected crown prince of Sweden.

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Aarno Ruusuvuori
Aarno Emil Ruusuvuori (14 January 1925, Kuopio – 22 February 1992, Helsinki) was a Finnish architect, professor and director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture. He studied at Helsinki University of Technology, completing his studies in 1951.
Aarno Ruusuvuori was one of the central architects in Finland during the 1960s, well known for designing modern buildings, often using exposed concrete, often in a Brutalist style. His best-known works are the Weilin & Göös Print Works in Espoo (1964–66) and the Church of Hyvinkää (1961).
Ruusuvuori courted much controversy during the early 1970s with his ambitious plans for the modernisation of the Helsinki City Hall in the very centre of Helsinki. The City Hall takes up an entire city block, consisting mostly of several buildings built in the neo-classical style, including buildings designed by C.L. Engel. Ruusuvuori preserved the main festival hall, but demolished many of the interiors, preserving only their facades. This saga, together with many other developments where historical buildings were demolished was captured in an influential book by architects Vilhelm Helander and Mikael Sundman, titled Kenen Helsinki? (Whose Helsinki?) (1970). Ruusuvuori continued to work on the large scheme throughout the 1970s, completing it in 1988, but toned down the scale of the earlier proposed demolitions.

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Atso Almila
Atso Almila (born in Helsinki on 13 June 1953¹) is a Finnish orchestral conductor, musical director, composer, trombonist and teacher.
He has worked with most Finnish orchestras as a guest conductor or otherwise. Though he primarily operates in Finland he also works heavily in Sweden and Estonia. His composition style may be deemed neo-classical though he has been seen to be sometimes chromatic and expressive (as in his 1985 Flute Concerto and his 1989 Violin Concerto). His works show appreciation for the individual instrument and for natural musicianship.
He studied the trombone and orchestral conducting at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki under Jorma Panula graduating in orchestral conducting in 1979. He would later work in the institution as the senior assistant in conducting between 1991 and 2002 and a lecturer in orchestral conducting since 2002. He has been the conductor of several choirs including the Radio Symphony Choir (1975–1976), Sibelius Academy chamber choir Cantemus (1979–1984) and the Akateeminen Laulu choir (1991–1995). He has also served as the conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (1987–1989) and the Joensuu Municipal Orchestra between 1993 and 2000 (of which he also been the artistic chief). He was the music director and the artistic director of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra between 1995 and 2000 after which he became the Principal Guest Conductor of the Seinäjoki City Orchestra where he has been since. He was also the musical director of the National Theatre of Finland between 1982 and 1995 and has been the conductor of the Finnish National Opera (1980–1987 and 1989–1995). At the FNO he has conducted Einojuhani Rautavaara's Vincent, Markus Fagerudd's Gaia, Vajda's Mario and the Magician and Igor Stravinsky's The Nightingale. In 1982 he won the Norrköping Nordic Conducting Competition along with Jukka-Pekka Saraste.

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Aulis Rytkönen
Taavi Aulis Rytkönen (born 5 January 1929 in Karttula) is a Finnish football legend. He became the country's first professional player when he signed for France's Toulouse FC in 1952.
In total Rytkönen spent eight seasons (1952–1960) in France, winning the French Cup in 1957. A forward, he started his career in Finland with KuPS Kuopio in 1945, and after returning from France he worked as player-coach of HJK Helsinki 1960–1966 and as coach 1967–1971.
Rytkönen earned 37 caps for the Finnish national team, scoring seven goals. He played for Finland at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He also worked as national coach from 1975 to 1978. He was chosen Finland's Player of the Year in 1949, 1950, and 1952.

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Ferdinand von Wright
Ferdinand von Wright (March 19, 1822 — July 31, 1906) was a Finnish painter. He is known especially for his paintings of birds and landscapes, but was also a portrait painter.
Von Wright's parents, Henrik Magnus von Wright and Maria Elisabet Tuderus, owned the Haminalahti manor in Kuopio. His brothers Magnus and Wilhelm were also painters.
In 1838, Ferdinand traveled to Sweden to assist his brother Wilhelm in his illustration work, and worked as his brother's substitute as an illustrator at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. During 1842 he studied for some time at the academy, and then returned to Finland in 1844. He lived a secluded but productive life in a cottage he built near his family's home. In 1885, he was granted an artist's pension by the government. Despite suffering paralysis beginning in 1884, Ferdinand continued to produce artistic works until his death. It was during this time that he produced his work The Fighting Capercaillies, one of Finland's most famous paintings.

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Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III (Stockholm, 24 January [O.S. 13 January] 1746 – Stockholm, 29 March 1792 ) was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Louisa Ulrika of Prussia who was a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia.
A vocal opponent of, as he saw it, abuses by the nobility of a permissiveness established by parliamentarian reforms that had been worked out since the death of Charles XII, he seized power from the government in a coup d'état in 1772, ending the Age of Liberty and venturing into a campaign to restore royal autocracy which was completed by the Union and Security Act in 1789, sweeping away most of the last pretences of Riksdag rule. As a bulwark of enlightened despotism, his expenditure of considerable public funds on cultural ventures contributed to his controversial majesty. Attempts to seize first Norway through Russian aid, then to recapture the Baltic provinces through a war against Russia were unsuccessful, although much of Sweden's former military might was restored. An admirer of Voltaire, Gustav legalized Catholic and Jewish presence in the realm and enacted wide-ranging reforms aimed at economic liberalism, social reform and the abolishment, in many cases, of torture and capital punishment (although freedom of the press was curtailed).

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Hannes Kolehmainen
Juho Pietari "Hannes" Kolehmainen ( pronunciation (help·info)) (9 December 1889, Kuopio – 11 January 1966) was a Finnish long-distance runner. He is considered to be the first of a generation of great Finnish long distance runners, often named the "Flying Finns". Kolehmainen competed for a number of years in the United States, wearing the Winged Fist of the Irish American Athletic Club. He also enlisted in the 14th Regiment of the National Guard of New York, and became a U.S. citizen in 1921.
Kolehmainen, a devoted vegetarian and bricklayer by trade, was from a sportive family from Kuopio (his brothers Willy and Tatu, also an Olympian, were also strong long distance runners). He was one of the stars of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, winning three gold medals. His most memorable was the one in the 5000 m. In that event, he ran a heroic duel with Frenchman Jean Bouin. After leading the field together for most of the race, Bouin was only defeated by Kolehmainen in the final metres – in World Record time. In addition, Kolehmainen won the 10000 m and the now discontinued cross country event. With the Finnish team, he also obtained a silver place in the cross country team event.

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Janne Tolsa
Janne Tolsa (born 7 March 1970) is a Finnish heavy metal musician. Known for his keyboard work in Tarot from the late 1980s, Tolsa also takes part in the melodic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow, which he joined in 2005 for their album Before the Bleeding Sun, as well as the industrial metal band Turmion Kätilöt (under the alias RunQ). Tolsa is also known to work as a composer for television. Janne Tolsa plays keyboards in Marenne Band and is one of the composers in the band's debut album The Past Prelude.
His main keyboards are a KORG Triton Extreme and a KORG CX-3, but he also uses Ensoniq and Proteus keyboards and a Hammond B-100.
In addition, he is the owner of the Kuopio-based studio, Note-On in which bands such as Tarot and Eternal Tears of Sorrow have been partly or completely recorded many of their albums.

wn.com/Janne_Tolsa
Jenni Vartiainen
Jenni Mari Vartiainen (born on March 20, 1983, in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish pop singer. Before her professional musical endeavours, she was a figure skater in her teen-age years and attended the Kuopio Senior High of Music and Dance. Vartiainen rose to publicity by winning the Finnish talent show Popstars in October 2002 with Susanna Korvala, Ushma Karnani (currently Olava) and Jonna Pirinen. The four formed the band Gimmel that released three studio albums, sold over 160,000 records and received three Emma Awards, accolades for outstanding achievements in music, awarded by the Finnish music industry federation, Musiikkituottajat. The band broke up in October 2004.
After Gimmel, Vartiainen started her solo career, releasing her debut single "Tunnoton" in April 2007. In September of the same year, the single was followed by her debut album Ihmisten edessä, which peaked at number six on the Finnish Albums Chart, and its eponymous second single, both of which sold gold in Finland with over 65,000 and 16,000 copies, respectively. In late March 2010, Jenni Vartiainen released her second studio album Seili, after the arrival of its gold-selling debut single "En haluu kuolla tänä yönä". The sophomore album debuted at number one on the Albums Chart, while charting non-consecutively for over a year, and went on to sell over 130,000 copies (multi-platinum), becoming the best-selling album of 2010 in Finland. A combination of pop and ballads, Seili spawned another gold-selling single in August 2010, "Missä muruseni on", which dominated the top-three spots of the Finnish Singles Chart all the way to early 2011, and the gold-selling promotional single "Duran Duran".

wn.com/Jenni_Vartiainen
Juhani Aho
Juhani Aho, originally Johannes Brofeldt, (September 11, 1861; Lapinlahti – August 8, 1921; Helsinki) was a Finnish author and journalist.
Aho's literary output is wide-ranging since he pursued different styles as time passed.
He started as a realist and his first novel Rautatie (Railroad, 1884), which is considered one of his main works, is from this period. Later he moved towards neoromanticism with novels Panu and Kevät ja takatalvi as well as Juha. The last one is one of his most famous works and has been twice as adapted an opera, by Aare Merikanto and by Leevi Madetoja, and to film four times, most recently in 1999 by Aki Kaurismäki.
His novel Yksin (Alone), published in 1890, controversially bold by the standards of Finnish literature in that epoch, is a roman à clef. Its tale of unfulfilled love is the autobiographical novel of Aho's passion for Aino Järnefelt who, at that time, was secretly engaged to Jean Sibelius, whom she would later marry. The initial feelings of anger and jealousy that reading the novel provoked in Sibelius were soon forgotten and, in later life, Aho and Sibelius were close friends as well as neighbours in Järvenpää, where the composer had a villa christened "Ainola" (the Place of Aino).

wn.com/Juhani_Aho
Kimmo Timonen
Kimmo Timonen (born March 18, 1975) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenseman and an alternate captain for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Timonen was the youngest player to represent Finland at the 1993 IIHF World Junior Championships at the age of 17. He recorded the second-highest shot total in the tournament with 44.
Timonen was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the tenth round, 250th overall, of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. After the draft, he continued to play in his native Finland for several years, first for KalPa and then later for TPS. In 1998, Timonen played on the bronze medal-winning Finnish Olympic team in Nagano. Shortly after the Olympics, the Kings traded him along with Jan Vopat to the Nashville Predators organization (the team not yet having begun play) in agreement that Nashville would not select Garry Galley in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft.
During the 1998–99 NHL season, Timonen split time between Nashville and their IHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. The following year, he was promoted to a full-time NHL player. He played the next four seasons for the Predators, steadily improving his offensive output, until the 2004–05 NHL lockout. During the lockout, Timonen played for his hometown team, KalPa, which he partly owns with former Flyers teammate Sami Kapanen. Timonen also persuaded his teammate Adam Hall to play for KalPa for the duration of the lockout.

wn.com/Kimmo_Timonen
Lasse Lehtinen
Lasse Lehtinen (born 23 January 1947 in Kotka) is a Finnish politician, former Member of the Finnish Parliament and former Member of the European Parliament. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which is part of the Party of European Socialists, and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.
He was also a substitute for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, vice-chair of the delegation for relations with Canada, and a substitute for the delegation for relations with the countries of South Asia and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
He hosted the Finnish version of the television quiz "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" (Haluatko miljonääriksi?) for years before becoming an MEP.
He was awarded the Freedom of the City of London on 21 September 2007. See: City of London news release.

wn.com/Lasse_Lehtinen
Leo Makkonen
Archbishop Leo (Makkonen) of Karelia and All Finland, head of the Finnish Orthodox Church, was born in Pielavesi in eastern Finland on June 4, 1948. After completing studies in 1972 at the Kuopio seminary, he was ordained deacon on 20 July 1973 and priest two days later.
He was consecrated Bishop of Joensuu on 25 February 1979, then served as Metropolitan of Oulu from 1980-1996. From 1996-2001 he served as Metropolitan of Helsinki, before taking up his post as Archbishop of Karelia; he was confirmed on 27 October 2001.
From 1979-1993 he served as chair of the Fellowship of Saints Sergius and Herman.

wn.com/Leo_Makkonen
Magnus von Wright
Magnus von Wright (1805 - 1868, Helsinki) was a Finnish painter and ornithologist. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.
Born into a wealthy family in Kuopio, von Wright went to school in Turku and afterwards studied art in Stockholm under C. J. Fahlgranz and J. F. Julin. At the initiative of a fellow ornithologist, Nils Bonde, he began work on Svenska Foglar (1828-1838), a large illustrated volume on Swedish birds, in which he was aided by his younger brother, Wilhelm von Wright.
Following his return to Finland in 1829, von Wright worked as a cartographer, taxidermist and art instructor. In addition to several paintings of birds, he also made several landscapes and still lifes.
It is noteworthy that both of von Wright's younger brothers, Wilhelm (1810-1887) and Ferdinand (1822-1906) were also accomplished artists famous for their work on nature, especially birds.

wn.com/Magnus_von_Wright
Marco Hietala
Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala (born January 14, 1966 in Tervo, Finland) is a heavy metal vocalist and bassist. Internationally, he is most known as the current bassist, male vocalist and secondary composer to Tuomas Holopainen, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish. He is also the vocalist and bassist as well as composer and lyricist for the heavy metal band Tarot.
Marco Hietala was born January 14, 1966, and is the youngest child of the Hietala family. Hietala lived in Tervo until the age of 15, after which he moved to Kuopio to study classical guitar, vocals and musical theory in high school. In 1984, he and his brother, Zachary Hietala, formed heavy metal band Tarot under the name Purgatory. In 1986, Tarot received a deal for their first album and went on tour.
Hietala joined Nightwish for their 2002 album Century Child, following the departure of previous bassist Sami Vänskä. He was a prominent guest musician in Delain, a project involving many members of the gothic and symphonic metal community. He also participated in the recording of Invitation, by Altaria, providing backing vocals. Hietala has also been part of the bands Sinergy, Impaled Nazarene and Northern Kings.

wn.com/Marco_Hietala
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (pronounced [ˈmɑrtti ˈoiʋɑ ˈkɑleʋi ˈɑxtiˌsɑːri] ( listen); born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland (1994–2000), Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work.
Ahtisaari was a UN Special Envoy at the Kosovo status process negotiations, aimed at resolving a long-running dispute in Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. In October 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts". The Nobel statement said that Ahtisaari has played a prominent role in resolving many conflicts in Namibia, Indonesia, Kosovo and Iraq, among other areas.
Martti Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia). His father, Oiva Ahtisaari (whose grandfather Julius Marenius Adolfsen had emigrated with his parents to Finland in 1872 from Tistedalen in Southern Norway) took Finnish citizenship in 1929 and changed his surname from Adolfsen in 1937. The Continuation War (World War II) took Martti's father to the Eastern Front as an NCO army mechanic, while his mother, Tyyne, moved to Kuopio with her son to escape immediate danger from the war. Kuopio was where Ahtisaari spent most of his childhood, eventually attending the Kuopion Lyseo high school.

wn.com/Martti_Ahtisaari
Matti Hautamäki
Matti Antero Hautamäki (born July 14, 1981 in Oulu) is a Finnish ski jumper.
Matti made his first ski-jumping attempts at the age of seven near his home town of Oulu. When his older brother Jussi and his friend Lauri Hakola moved to Kuopio, Matti followed them. At first it was quite difficult to be independent at the age of 16, but he got much help and support from his brother, with whom he was living at the time. The help of his new coach Pekka Niemelä, whom he met at the sports school in Kuopio, also quickly helped him advance. In the same year Matti had his first real successes and won medals at 1997 and 1999 Junior World Cups.
At the Four Hills Tournament in 2001–02 Hautamäki finished second, and in 2005 he won the Nordic Tournament for the second time after 2002, with four back-to-back victories. In the 2004–05 season he won six jumps in a row (including the pre-Olympic rehearsal in Pragelato, the four Nordic Tournament jumps, and the first jump in Planica) and thus matched the record for the most consecutive victories. (Janne Ahonen had six consecutive victories in the same season.) His jumps have been judged with the maximum score of 20 multiple times, and he is considered the best ski flier. From 2003 to 2005 he maintained the world record in ski flying of 231 meters. In March 2005 in Planica he even reached 235.5 m, but lost the world record in the same competition to Bjørn Einar Romøren, who achieved 239 m.

wn.com/Matti_Hautamäki
Mika Kojonkoski
Mika Kojonkoski (born April 19, 1963 in Rauma, Finland) is a Finnish ski jumping coach and politician. Kojonkoski was a ski jumper himself in the 1980s, but he never reached the level of the best Finnish jumpers like Matti Nykänen. His best result was his 9th place in Chamonix, he also achieved a 16th place in the 1985 Ski flying World Championships in Planica.
As a coach however, Kojonkoski quickly became a known figure. After starting up as coach of Finland's junior team, Kojonkoski was hired as the new Austrian coach in 1997. He returned home to Finland to take over the national team in 1999, before he took over the Norwegian team in 2002 where he helped create stars like Sigurd Pettersen, Lars Bystøl, Bjørn Einar Romøren, Anders Jacobsen and Tom Hilde.
Kojonkoski is an active politician in his hometown of Kuopio, where he represents the National Coalition Party.
Mika has three children with his wife Ulla.

wn.com/Mika_Kojonkoski
Minna Canth
Minna Canth (IPA [minna ka:nt], born Ulrika Wilhelmina Johnsson, 19 March 1844, Tampere - 12 May 1897, Kuopio) was a Finnish writer and social activist. Canth began to write while managing her family draper's shop and living as a widow raising seven children. Her work addresses issues of women's rights, particularly in the context of a prevailing culture she considered antithetical to permitting expression and realization of women's aspirations. Her play "The Pastor's Family" is her best known. In her time, she became a controversial figure, due to the asynchrony between her ideas and those of her time, and in part due to her strong advocacy for her point of view.
Minna Canth is the first woman to receive her own flag day in Finland, starting on 19 March 2007. It is also the day of social equality in Finland.
Minna Canth's most important works are the plays Työmiehen vaimo (The Worker's Wife) from 1885 and Anna Liisa, penned in 1895.
In Työmiehen vaimo, the main character Johanna is married to Risto, an alcoholic who wastes all his wife's money. Johanna cannot prevent him - her money is legally his, not hers. The play's premiere caused scandal, but a few months later, parliament enacted a new law about separation of property.

wn.com/Minna_Canth
Olli Jokinen
Olli Jokinen (born December 5, 1978) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings third overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft with whom he made his NHL debut. He has also played for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers. He began his professional career with KalPa and then HIFK of the Finnish SM-liiga. Additionally, he played for EHC Kloten of the Swiss National League A and Södertälje SK of the Swedish Elitserien.
Jokinen began his professional career in his native Finland in 1996 and in 1997 won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy as SM-liiga rookie of the year. He won the Matti Keinonen and Jari Kurri trophies in 1998 as the most effective player of the regular season and most valuable player of the playoffs, respectively. He moved to the NHL full time in 1998–99 and played his best seasons with the Panthers, with whom he served as captain from 2003 to 2008 and played in the 2003 All-Star Game. Jokinen played almost 800 NHL games before making his first playoff appearance in 2009; in 2012, he played his 1,000th game.

wn.com/Olli_Jokinen
Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Tapio Lipponen ( pronunciation (help·info)) (born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as Speaker of the Parliament of Finland from 2003–2007 and was his party's nominee in the 2012 Finnish presidential election but received only 6.7% of the votes, making it the biggest defeat the Social Democratic Party has ever had in Finnish Presidential elections.
Lipponen was born in Turtola (subsequently renamed Pello), son of Orvo Lipponen and his wife Hilkka Iisalo. Paavo's maternal grandparents were Jaakko Antero Ingman/Iisalo (a distant relative of Count Adolf Fredrik Munck af Fulkila and Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim) and his wife Siiri Törnroos. Paavo Lipponen spent his childhood and youth in Kuopio.
Receiving his gymnasium diploma from the Lyceum of Kuopio in 1959, he then studied philosophy and literature at Dartmouth College for one year.

wn.com/Paavo_Lipponen
Pekka Halonen
Pekka Halonen (23 September 1865 – 1 December 1933) was a painter of Finnish landscapes and people. He lived with his family in a home and studio on Lake Tuusula in Järvenpää, Finland that he, himself, designed and named Halosenniemi. The beautiful and serene building is now a museum that includes original furnishings and Halonen’s own art on the walls. There, on the shores of Lake Tuusula where Pekka Halonen resided, an artists’ community developed and flourished, helping to develop a sense of Finnish national identity. Halosenniemi was designed with the two story studios of Paris in mind with high ceilings and tall windows in the studio and second floor living quarters accessible by a set of stairs and a balcony that overlooked the studio. Adjacent to the house, Halonen built a sauna and, in typical Finnish tradition, the sauna also served as a laundry. Halonen stated that he never painted for anyone but himself. He felt that “Art should not jar the nerves like sandpaper – it should produce a feeling of peace.” His father was a peasant from Lapinlahti. Halonen studied at the Art Society's drawing school in Helsinki. In 1890 he moved to Paris where he studied at the Académie Julian and later under Paul Gauguin.

wn.com/Pekka_Halonen
Sami Kapanen
Sami Hannu Antero Kapanen (born June 14, 1973) is a Finnish professional ice hockey right winger currently playing for KalPa of the SM-liiga. He has played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers. He is also the majority owner and general manager of KalPa.
Sami Kapanen was drafted 87th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers. His first NHL season was in 1995–96, when he played 35 games with Hartford. The Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes following the 1996–97 season and Kapanen averaged 24 goals and 35 assists in his next five seasons with Carolina. His best season was in 2001–02 when he scored 27 goals and 42 assists for 69 points. He was selected twice for the NHL All Star Game (2000, 2002), winning the Individual event for "the Fastest skater" on both occasions.
On February 7, 2003, Kapanen was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers along with Ryan Bast for Pavel Brendl and Bruno St. Jacques. In his first two seasons with Philadelphia, Kapanen played 31 playoff games, scoring 17 points.

wn.com/Sami_Kapanen
Spede Pasanen
Pertti Olavi "Spede" Pasanen (10 April 1930, Kuopio – 7 September 2001, Kirkkonummi) was a Finnish film director and producer, comedian, humorist, inventor, TV personality and practitioner of gags.
During his career he directed, wrote, produced or acted in about 50 movies and participated in numerous TV productions, including the comedy Spede Show and the game-show Speden Spelit. Spede Pasanen named Bob Hope as one of his biggest comedy influences. Much of his more commercial work was in collaboration with Vesa-Matti Loiri (whose most popular character created by Pasanen was called Uuno Turhapuro; first in TV sketches and then in a long-lasting series of motion pictures) and Simo Salminen. Pasanen's films and TV shows, often made fast and inexpensively in a conveyor-belt mode, usually didn't gain much recognition from the critics but were extremely popular among Finnish audiences from the 1960s onwards. Another actor Pasanen used in TV-comedy was Pentti Siimes. Together with Tarja Markus they performed as an excellent nervous and shy love-pair in a coffee-table chat.

wn.com/Spede_Pasanen
Zachary Hietala
Sakari "Zachary" Hietala (born August 10, 1962 in Tervo, Finland) is guitarist, co-songwriter and founding member of Finnish heavy metal band Tarot (formerly Purgatory) in early 80's, together with his younger brother Marco Hietala, who joined Nightwish in 2001. Zachary works as a youth instructor in his hometown, Kuopio, as well as teaching music theory to ninth and tenth grade students, and takes part in the management of the official Tarot website, responding to questions and comments made by fans on the forum. Zachary has been said to be very open and friendly in interviews and testimonies.
Tarot has so far released eight studio albums, latest has been released in early 2010. Zachary Hietala plays guitar in Marenne, and is one of the composers in the band's debut album that was released in February 2009.
Zachary married in 2006, to Nina Hietala. They do not have any children.

wn.com/Zachary_Hietala

Kuopio by maydayevening, Finland

A real life document made in the city of Kuopio, Pohjois-Savo district, Eastern Finland 30...

published: 04 May 2011

author: Jormaattori112

Kuopio Real City for Real People

City of Kuopio Kuopio is a modern, developing centre of economic life in Eastern Finland. ...

published: 09 Feb 2011

author: kuopiokanava

Hot summer chill out weekend, Kuopio Finland

Sunny summer snapshots from Kuopio Finland, July 2010. The hottest month ever in Finland. ...

published: 15 Jul 2010

author: MakariosK

The magic winter forest 2010, Puijo Kuopio Finland

Peacefull journey to Puijo hill, February 2010. "The Puijo area is perfect for an afternoo...

published: 05 Oct 2010

author: MakariosK

Medeia Tour: Kuopio 101008

Second weekend of the Finnish tour! Played both Helsinki and Kuopio but we only got footag...

published: 24 Oct 2008

author: lauraonaudio

CS Gaz Metan Medias - KuPS Kuopio 2-0 All Goals & Highlights 21-07-2011

Gaz Metan Medias 2-0 KuPS Kuopio 36' [1 - 0] Petre 53' [2 - 0] Hoban Second Qualifying Rou...

published: 21 Jul 2011

author: forza08forza

Jess And The Ancient Ones @ Kuopio RockCock 2012

Sulfur Giants & Come Crimson Death video clips, 28.7.2012. www.jessandtheancientones.com T...

published: 29 Jul 2012

author: joelpeer

Finnland Kuopio

Flug nach Helsinki Reise nach Kuopio...

published: 08 Jan 2012

author: Daniel Klein

Takanobu Okabe - 20m (?) - Kuopio 2000

One of the shortest World Cup jumps ever!...

published: 19 Aug 2010

author: vychlazenejgambac4

Anna Puu - Linnuton Puu @ Henry's Pub Kuopio 8/10/2009

...

published: 09 Oct 2009

author: AnteroPutki

Poliisi-TV: Poliisin matkassa Kuopiossa (2012)

Esitetty 3.5.2012...

published: 04 May 2012

author: MrWillyVanilli

MiG-21F Memorial at Kuopio airport, Finland

Mikoyan MiG-21F-13 Fighterjet Memorial at Kuopio airport. Finnish airforce has 22 variants...

published: 03 Jun 2008

author: Jontsa73

Blastin' in Kuopio

blasting Kuopio's spots on his new Dartmoor Ghetto. Huge props for my sponsors BestBrakes ...

published: 27 Jul 2011

author: teamJEHU

Olli Muotka 57m Kuopio 2009

Qualification - shortest jump....

published: 11 Mar 2009

author: Jabbarka

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photo: US Navy / HMC Josh Ives

U.S. Army Spc. Jacob Bobbe, security force team member for Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Farah, maintains security on the street during a key leader engagement in the Lash-e Juwayn district of Farah province, Afghanistan, Dec. 11 2012.

Imperial Lockstep

CounterPunch

27 Dec 2012

Imperial adventures are nothing new in the Middle East. Neither is their glorification, as Peter O’Toole’s pained Lawrence of Arabia eternally reminds us. But for a decade or so now, things have been heating up, as if to coincide with climate change and fears of declining petroleum reserves ... The Belly for Belligerence? ... The question loomed over beltway intelligentsia like an ephemeral Gordian knot ... We’re All Hawks Now ... While George W ... ....(size: 9.3Kb)

photo: WN / Janice Sabnal

Six dead as winter snowstorms pound US

Zeenews

27 Dec 2012

Washington. Six people, including two young children, were left dead in weather-related accidents, as winter snowstorms complicated travel for many Americans in the Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday. Snow totals in parts of Indiana ranged from 6 to 12 inches, CNN reported. About 350 snowploughs were clearing roads throughout the city. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told residents they should avoid nonessential travel ... IANS ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)

photo: AP / Ben Curtis

In this Sunday, April 29, 2012 file photo, troops from the Central African Republic stand guard at a building used for joint meetings between them and U.S. Army special forces, in Obo, Central African Republic, where U.S. special forces have paired up with local troops and Ugandan soldiers to seek out Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

CAR seeks foreign help against rebels

Al Jazeera

28 Dec 2012

The president of Central African Republic (CAR) has urgently called on France and other foreign powers to help his government fend off rebels who are quickly seizing territory and approaching the capital. Speaking to crowds in Bangui, a city of some 600,000, Francois Bozize on Thursday pleaded with foreign powers to do what they could. He pointed in particular to France, Central African Republic's former colonial ruler ... 516 Share ... News ... ....(size: 19.5Kb)

photo: AP / K.M.Chaudary

Supporters of Pakistan's slain leader Benazir Bhutto, stand beside her portrait after lighting earth lamps at a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of her death

Pakistan marks fifth anniversary of Benazir Bhutto murder

BBC News

27 Dec 2012

Large crowds of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) supporters are gathering to mark the fifth anniversary of the murder of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Ms Bhutto died in a gun and bomb attack during her 2007 election campaign. Hundreds of thousands of people have set up camp near the Bhutto family's ancestral home in Sindh province ... He cannot contest an election until his 25th birthday. Show of strength ... ....(size: 2.4Kb)

photo: AP / Maya Alleruzzo

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi speaks to reporters during a joint news conference with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, unseen, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt.

Morsi Admits ‘Mistakes’ in Drafting Egypt’s Constitution

The New York Times

27 Dec 2012

CAIRO — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt took responsibility on Wednesday for “mistakes” during the run-up to ratification of the new Constitution and urged Egyptians to appreciate the fierce disagreements about it as a “healthy phenomenon” of their new democracy. Times Topic. Egypt News — Revolution and Aftermath. Related. Egypt Opposition Gears Up After Constitution Passes (December 24, 2012) ... Twitter List....(size: 11.8Kb)

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Boston Bruins in Europe update: Euro teams return to game action

The Examiner

21 Dec 2012

European hockey teams have returned from their mid-December tournament breaks and are back in action just before Christmas. While even more games were canceled on this side of the Atlantic and the NHL lockout continues, on the other side of the ocean, things proceed as normal. Here's what the Boston Bruins in Europe were up to this past week. Patrice Bergeron ... Against EV Zug on Dec ... Johnny Boychuk ... 23 ... 28 against third-place KalPa Kuopio ... ....(size: 4.8Kb)

ISS Hockey Releases December Rankings of Top Prospects for 2013 NHL Draft

Yahoo Daily News

15 Dec 2012

In the December 15th release of the ISS Hockey Rankings, the top 5 players retain their positions, with Nathan MacKinnon and Seth Jones retaining the top 2 spots. A big riser this month is Nikita Zadorov, moving up 8 spots to #11. Boca Raton, Florida (PRWEB) December 15, 2012 ISS Hockey has released its new monthly rankings of the top prospects eligible for the 2013 NHL Draft ... Marie - OHL ... 21 - Lehkonen, Artturi- F - Kuopio - FinE ... ....(size: 4.8Kb)

Children's daytime sleepiness could be due to a vitamin D deficiency or apnea

The Examiner

15 Dec 2012

Is your child or student falling asleep in class too often? Sacramento teachers have experienced an increasing number of children so tired they fall asleep at their desk ... The study, appearing online in the Dec ... According to the study conducted in Kuopio, eastern Finland, the risk of 6 year old children for having sleep-disordered breathing is associated with certain craniofacial morphology traits, but not with excess body fat ... ....(size: 8.0Kb)

Three Islanders Selected To Represent Their Country At 2013 U-20 World Junior Championship (New York Islanders)

noodls

14 Dec 2012

(Source. New York Islanders) Ryan Strome, Griffin Reinhart and Ville Pokka will play in the 10-team tournament beginning later this month in Ufa, Russia. The 2013 World Junior Championship will mark the fifth time Islanders prospect Ville Pokka has represented his native Finland in international competition (Photo ... The tournament, which runs from Dec. 26 - Jan ... 26 against Germany ... Juuso Riikola, KalPa Kuopio ... Artturi Lehkonen, KalPa Kuopio....(size: 6.1Kb)

One in ten six to eight year olds has sleep-disordered breathing

PhysOrg

14 Dec 2012

The symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing vary from mild snoring to obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome ... Sleep disturbances attract growing medical interest, as they have been shown to have many negative health effects ... According to the study conducted in Kuopio, eastern Finland, the risk of 6 year old children for having sleep-disordered breathing is associated with certain craniofacial morphology traits, but not with excess body fat ... ....(size: 3.1Kb)

Rosters forming for World Juniors (International Ice Hockey Federation)

noodls

14 Dec 2012

(Source. International Ice Hockey Federation). Mark Scheifele is among the first-round draft picks and returnees on the Canadian team for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship. Photo. JC Pinheiro / HHOF-IIHF Images ... On Thursday Team Canada became the most recent team to finalize its roster ... Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin from the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads ... Canada ... Juuso Riikola, KalPa Kuopio ... Artturi Lehkonen, KalPa Kuopio....(size: 17.7Kb)

Boston Bruins in Europe update: Last games before breaks for many teams

The Examiner

10 Dec 2012

This past weekend, after NHL lockout negotiations took an unexpectedly sharp turn for the worst, the Boston Bruins playing in Europe continued to play and make impressions on the ice ... Here's more.. Patrice Bergeron. The name of the game this past weekend for HC Lugano was goals, goals, goals ... 18 ... 7, Paille helped out on a goal for Ilves Tampere that tied the game and forced overtime, though KalPa Kuopio ended up winning 2-1 in a shootout....(size: 3.9Kb)

Finland: The next generation (International Ice Hockey Federation)

noodls

05 Dec 2012

KUOPIO, Finland - On December 1, KalPa Kuopio was in first place in the SM-liiga standings, and with former and current Finnish national team players like Sami Kapanen, Jukka Hentunen, Sakari Salminen, Kalle Kerman, and Jukka Voutilainen on the roster, that not may seem like a big surprise to the casual observer ... "I got off to a great start in Kuopio, and got the chance to play with great linemates, which has helped me a lot....(size: 6.7Kb)

Boston Bruins in Europe update: David Krejci's hat trick, Daniel Paille's debut

The Examiner

05 Dec 2012

As news from the world of NHL lockout negotiations turns rather positive, the Boston Bruins playing in Europe kept busy too. Here's what happened in Europe on Dec. 4 and 5.. Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron scored a goal and added two assists as HC Lugano faced EHC Biel on Dec. 4, but that wasn't enough to secure a win as Lugano took a 5-4 loss ... 7. Zdeno Chara ... 5 ... 8 ... 6 ... 19 ... 5 ... 5 ... Ilves, which is in last place in the SM-liiga, faces KalPa Kuopio on Dec ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)

Genes - the link between intrauterine growth and adult diseases (University of Tampere)

noodls

05 Dec 2012

... Affairs and Health, the Sigrid Juselius Foundation, the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, the Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, the Turku University Foundation, the Wellcome Trust (UK), the Medical Research Council (UK), the European Union, the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation and the University Hospitals of Kuopio, Oulu, Tampere and Turku....(size: 4.2Kb)

Lemminkäinen seeks professionals for over 100 jobs in technical building services (Lemminkäinen Oyj)

noodls

19 Nov 2012

LEMMINKÄINEN CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE 19 NOVEMBER 2012 AT 10.00 A.M ... The recruitment need varies, depending on the location ... Regions with open vacancies are the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Uusimaa, Kouvola, Lahti, Kuopio, Joensuu, Lappeenranta, Turku, Tampere, Jyväskylä, Seinäjoki, Vaasa, Kokkola, Ylivieska, Oulu and Pori. ....(size: 3.6Kb)

ISS Hockey Releases November Rankings of Top Prospects For 2013 NHL Draft

Yahoo Daily News

17 Nov 2012

In the November 15th release of the ISS Hockey Rankings, Nathan MacKinnon, Seth Jones and Sasha Barkov retain their numbers 1,2 and 3 rankings. MacKinnon's linemate Jonathan Drouin jumps from number 10 to 4 with great patience, elite playmaking ability and an abundance of hockey sense ... Below are the rankings for the top 30 prospects. A detailed list is available on the company website at ... 13- Lehkonen, Artturi - F - Kuopio - FinE ... ... ....(size: 10.2Kb)

Powerflute Oyj - Transaction in Own Shares (Powerflute Oyj)

noodls

14 Nov 2012

. 12 November 2012. POWERFLUTE. TRANSACTION IN OWN SHARES ... The price paid was 22.50 pence per depositary interest ... - Ends-. For further information, please contact. ... POWR). Through its subsidiary Savon Sellu Oy, the Group operates a paper mill in Kuopio, Finland which produces a specialised form of semi-chemical fluting made from locally sourced birch ... The Kuopio mill is one of only three suppliers of Nordic semi-chemical fluting in Europe....(size: 4.9Kb)

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Kuopio

— City —

Kuopion kaupunki

Kuopio viewed from the Puijo Tower

Coat of arms

Coordinates: 62°53′33″N 027°40′42″E / 62.8925°N 27.67833°ECoordinates: 62°53′33″N 027°40′42″E / 62.8925°N 27.67833°E

Country

Kuopio sub-region

Settled

1653

Charter

1775

Government

• City manager

Petteri Paronen

Area(2011-01-01)^[1]

• Total

2,317.24 km² (894.69 sq mi)

• Land

1,597.39 km² (616.76 sq mi)

• Water

719.85 km² (277.94 sq mi)

Area rank

32nd largest in Finland

Population (2012-01-31)^[2]

• Total

97,552

• Rank

9th largest in Finland

• Density

61.07/km² (158.2/sq mi)

Population by native language^[3]

• Finnish

97.8% (official)

• Swedish

0.1%

• Others

2.1%

Population by age^[4]

• 0 to 14

15.6%

• 15 to 64

68.9%

• 65 or older

15.4%

Time zone

EET (UTC+2)

• Summer (DST)

EEST (UTC+3)

Postal code

FI-70100

Municipal tax rate^[5]

19.5%

Website

www.kuopio.fi

Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of 97,552^[2] makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of 2,317.24 square kilometres (894.69 sq mi), of which 719.85 km² (277.94 sq mi) is water^[1] and half forest. The population density is only 61 /km² (160 /sq mi), but the city's urban areas are populated very densely (urban area: 1 617.6 /km²^[6]), nationally second only to capital Helsinki (urban area: 1,690.0/km²^[6]).^[7] The population of the entire Kuopio region is 119,472.^[8]

1 Name
2 History
3 Geography
4 Transport
5 Education and business
6 People and culture
7 Religion
8 Climate
9 Notable persons
10 Sports in Kuopio
11 International relations
- 11.1 Twin towns — Sister cities
12 References
13 External links

Name [link]

There are several explanations behind the name Kuopio. The first is that in the 16th century, a certain influential person named Kauhanen in Tavinsalmi changed his name to Skopa and the people's pronunciation was Coopia and finally Cuopio. The second explanation is that it comes from the verb kuopia, meaning when, for example, a horse paws the ground with its hoof. A third theory is that it came from a certain Karelian man's name Prokopij, from Ruokolahti in the Middle Ages.^[9] This is the most probable explanation, supported by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland.

History [link]

This section requires expansion.

Kuopio was founded in 1653 by Governor Peter Brahe, but the official date is recognized as November 17, 1775, when King Gustav III of Sweden ordered the establishment of the city of Kuopio. The municipality of Karttula joined the city of Kuopio in 2011,^[10] like did Vehmersalmi in 2005, Riistavesi in 1973 and Kuopion maalaiskunta in 1969.

Kuopio is almost completely surrounded by lake Kallavesi.

Geography [link]

The city is surrounded by lake Kallavesi, and several parts of it are built on islands. Kuopio's ample waterfronts and islands are also utilized in the Saaristokaupunki (lit. Archipelago city) -project, the biggest residential area currently being built in Finland.^[11] Saaristokaupunki will accommodate a total of 14,000 inhabitants in 2015. All houses will be situated no more than 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the nearest lakeshore.^[12]

Transport [link]

The city has a nationally unique feature in its street network, where every second street is practically a pedestrian and cycle street,^[13] so called "rännikatu" (lit. rain gutter street). These streets provide pedestrians a calm environment aside from the main street traffic.^[14] This setup dates back all the way to 1776 and the first town plan by Pehr Kjellman. Originally rännikatu, gränd (in Swedish) were created as a fire barrier to prevent a possible fire escalating in a city mostly built with wood.^[15]

Transport connections to Kuopio include Pendolino trains and air service from Kuopio Airport with Finnair, Blue1 and Finncomm (domestic, to Helsinki-Vantaa

Education and business [link]

Higher Education in Kuopio
University	Students
University of Eastern Finland	6 229^[16]
Savonia University of Applied Sciences	5 000^[17]
HUMAK University of Applied Sciences	~150
Sibelius Academy	~100

Kuopio City Hall (built 1882–1886) on a fair day.

Puijo tower, built in 1963 (3rd; 2nd from 1906 was demolished when this was completed; 1st was built in 1856)

Kuopio has always been a city of education. Some of the first schools offering education in Finnish (such as the School for the Blind in 1871, and the Trade School in 1887) were established in Kuopio. Currently the most important institutions are the University of Eastern Finland, the Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Vocational College of Northern Savonia and the Kuopio department of the Sibelius Academy.

Kuopio is known as a strong center of health (e.g. it has the biggest yearly enrollment rate of medical students in Finland), pharmacy, environment, food & nutrition (all legalized Clinical and Public Health Nutritionists in Finland graduate from the University of Eastern Finland), safety (education in Emergency Services is centered in Kuopio^[18]) and welfare professions, as the major organisations University of Kuopio, Savonia University of Applied Sciences and Technopolis Kuopio are particularly oriented to those areas.

Technology centre Technopolis Kuopio is situated in Kuopio Science Park.

There are about 4,200 enterprises in Kuopio,^[19] of which approximately 180 are export companies.^[20] These provide about 45,000 jobs.^[20]

People and culture [link]

Kuopio is known as the cultural center of Eastern Finland. A wide range of musical (from kindergarten to doctorate-level studies) and dance education is available and the cultural life is active. Notable events include ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival, Kuopio Dance Festival, Kuopio Rockcock, Kuopio Wine Festival and Finland Ice Marathon. A notable place, however, to enjoy the local flavor of Kuopio life and food is Sampo, a fish restaurant loved by locals and tourists as well.

Kuopio is known for its association with a national delicacy, Finnish fish pastry (Kalakukko), and the dialect of Savo, as well as the hill of Puijo and the Puijo tower. Besides being a very popular outdoor recreation area, Puijo serves also as a stage for a yearly World Cup ski jumping competition.

In Finland the inhabitants of Kuopio have a special reputation: they are known as jovial and verbally joking.^{[citation needed]} Within the Savo culture, the onus is placed on the listener to interpret the story. People of Kuopio region and Eastern Finland have always had many health problems and the mortality has been higher than on an average in Finland. Because of this, Eastern Finland has been a sweetspot for Public Health studies. The North Karelia Project by the University of Kuopio in coordination with the National Public Health Institute and the World Health Organization, beginning in the 1970s was one of its first steps towards world class research.

During the 2000s (decade), Kuopio has placed very well in a number image, popularity and city-attractiveness surveys. In 2007 it was placed third, behind Tampere and Oulu.

Religion [link]

The largest church of Finland, Evangelical Lutheran Church has a diocese in Kuopio, which is shepherded by bishop Jari Jolkkonen^[21].

Kuopio is home of the Finnish Orthodox Church where its primate, archbishop of Karelia and all Finland Leo (Makkonen) is seated. This is an autonomous cell within the autocephalous jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It is the only mainstream Orthodox faction to celebrate Easter on the Latin date. The late Archbishop Paul had been successful in producing literature of popular theology.

The town is also home to the first Burmese Buddhist monastery in Finland, named the Buddha Dhamma Ramsi monastery.^[22]

Climate [link]

Climate data for Kuopio
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−6.2 (20.8)	−5.9 (21.4)	−0.3 (31.5)	5.5 (41.9)	14.0 (57.2)	19.2 (66.6)	21.4 (70.5)	18.5 (65.3)	12.3 (54.1)	5.9 (42.6)	−0.2 (31.6)	−4.1 (24.6)	6.68 (44.02)
Average low °C (°F)	−13.2 (8.2)	−13.4 (7.9)	−8.3 (17.1)	−2.8 (27.0)	3.8 (38.8)	10.4 (50.7)	13.1 (55.6)	11.3 (52.3)	6.4 (43.5)	1.5 (34.7)	−4.5 (23.9)	−10.3 (13.5)	−0.5 (31.10)
Precipitation mm (inches)	41.2 (1.622)	31.1 (1.224)	34.2 (1.346)	31.9 (1.256)	38.8 (1.528)	65.4 (2.575)	76.9 (3.028)	80.2 (3.157)	58.6 (2.307)	52.8 (2.079)	51.1 (2.012)	45.6 (1.795)	607.8 (23.929)
Avg. precipitation days	11	8	9	7	8	9	11	11	10	11	12	11	118
Source: World Meteorological Organisation (UN) ^[23]

The Fighting Capercaillies by Ferdinand von Wright in 1886 is one of Finland's best known paintings.

Sports in Kuopio [link]

Kuopio bid for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, a youth sports festival in the tradition of the Olympics. It became a finalist in November 2008, but ultimately lost to Innsbruck, Austria. Kuopio's image as a small city with a large University and many active young people was considered a model of what the International Olympic Committee seeks for the Games.^[24]

KalPa (ice hockey)
KuPS (football)
Kuopion Taitoluistelijat (Figure Skating)
Puijon Hiihtoseura (skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined, biathlon)
Puijon Pesis (pesäpallo)
Kuopion Reippaan voimistelijat (gymnastics)
Finland Ice Marathon (ice skating event)
Kuopio Steelers (american football)

International relations [link]

Twin towns — Sister cities [link]

Kuopio is twinned with:

Győr, Hungary Minneapolis, Minnesota USA Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Trabzon, Turkey Jönköping, Sweden	Svendborg, Denmark Pitkyaranta, Russia Pskov, Russia Castrop-Rauxel, Germany^[25] Bodø, Norway	Gera, Germany Besançon, France Opole, Poland ^[26] Craiova, Romania

References [link]

Notes

^ ^a ^b "Area by municipality as of 1 January 2011" (in Finnish and Swedish) (PDF). Land Survey of Finland. http://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/sites/default/files/pinta-alat_2011_kunnannimenmukaan.xls. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Population by municipality as of 31 January 2012" (in Finnish and Swedish). Population Information System. Population Register Center of Finland. http://vrk.fi/default.aspx?docid=5919&site=3&id=0. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
^ "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=060_vaerak_tau_107_fi&ti=V%E4est%F6+kielen+mukaan+sek%E4+ulkomaan+kansalaisten+m%E4%E4r%E4+ja+maa%2Dpinta%2Dala+alueittain++1980+%2D+2008&path=../Database/StatFin/vrm/vaerak/&lang=3&multilang=fi. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
^ "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=050_vaerak_tau_104_fi&ti=V%E4est%F6+i%E4n+%281%2Dv%2E%29+ja+sukupuolen+mukaan+alueittain+1980+%2D+2008&path=../Database/StatFin/vrm/vaerak/&lang=3&multilang=fi. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
^ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. http://www.vero.fi/nc/doc/download.asp?id=7996;193801. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Taajamissa asuu 84 prosenttia väestöstä". Statistics Finland. 15 January 2008. http://www.tilastokeskus.fi/ajk/tiedotteet/v2008/tiedote_001_2008-01-15.html. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
^ Kuopio 2015: Jalankulku-, joukkoliikenne- ja autokaupunki. Finland’s Ministry of the Environment. p. 42. ISBN 978-952-11-2852-3. http://www.ymparisto.fi/download.asp?contentid=75863&lan=fi.
^ Kuopion Kaupunkilehti, 19 March 2008, bottom of page 4)
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ "Karttula sulautuu Kuopioon" & "Karttula ja Kuopio yhteen". Savon Sanomat: pp. 1 and 3. 1 July 2008
^ "Kuopion korkein asuinkerrostalo nousi harjakorkeuteen". Suomen Kiinteistölehti: p. 14. 2008-10-16. http://www.kiinteistolehti.fi/uutiset.php?id=4289
^ "Kallaveden syleilyssä". Saaristokaupunki. Kuopio. http://www.saaristokaupunki.fi/index.php?id=5. Retrieved 7 January 2009.
^ WP2: Accessibility, Synthesis Report. Universell utforming. 26 March 2004. p. 14. http://www.universell-utforming.miljo.no/file_upload/wp2_accessibility_synthesis.pdf.
^ Description of the Case Areas. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. 2 May 2002. p. 8. http://virtual.vtt.fi/virtual/prompt/case%20areas.pdf.
^ "Napoleon ja Kuopio: Kuninkaiden Kuopio". Memory of Northern Savonia. Museums of Northern Savonia. http://www.pohjois-savonmuisti.fi/verkko_nayttelyt/napoleon_ja_kuopio/kustaa_III.htm. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
^ "Key Data for 2007". University of Kuopio. 2007. http://www.uku.fi/english/data.shtml. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
^ "In English". Savonia University of Applied Sciences. 2009. http://portal.savonia.fi/amk/english. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
^ Emergency Services College
^ Kuopion työpaikat ja elinkeinorakenne 1.1.2008. Kuopion kaupungin yrityspalvelu. 2008. pp. 1–2. http://www.kuopio.fi/attachments.nsf/Files/040607115432639/$File/elinkeinorakenne.pdf?OpenElement.
^ ^a ^b "Elinkeinoelämä". City of Kuopio. 7 October 2008. http://www.kuopio.fi/net.nsf/TD/131103132915063?OpenDocument. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
^ Koskinen, Jerri (6 May 2012). "Jari Jolkkonen vihittiin Kuopion piispan virkaan". Savon Sanomat. http://www.savonsanomat.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/jari-jolkkonen-vihittiin-kuopion-piispan-virkaan/1192715. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
^ "Buddhist Channel | Buddhism News, Headlines | World | Burmese Buddhist monastery opens in Finland". Buddhistchannel.tv. 2009-01-05. http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=71,7596,0,0,1,0. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
^ "World Weather Information Service – Kuopio". United Nations. http://www.worldweather.org/061/c00171.htm. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
^ Innsbruck and Kuopio Make Final Shortlist For 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games
^ "List of Twin Towns in the Ruhr District". © 2009 Twins2010.com. http://www.twins2010.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pic/Dokumente/List_of_Twin_Towns_01.pdf?PHPSESSID=2edd34819db21e450d3bb625549ce4fd. Retrieved 2009-10-28. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Opole Official Website – Twin Towns". (in English and Polish) © 2007–2009 Urząd Miasta Opola. http://www.opole.pl/miasto/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=20&Itemid=108. Retrieved 2009-06-18.

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kuopio

City of Kuopio – Official website (Finnish) (Swedish) (English) (German)
KuopioInfo – Various resources about different areas of interest related to Kuopio History and Life (Finnish) (English) (German) (Russian) (Chinese)
360° panorama of Kuopio Marketplace
Savonia University of Applied Sciences (English)
University of Eastern Finland (English)
Technopolis Kuopio (Finnish) (English) (Russian)
Invest in Kuopio -factsheet (English)
Satellite picture by Google Maps

v t e Municipalities of Northern Savonia

Municipalities	Iisalmi Juankoski Kaavi Keitele Kiuruvesi Kuopio Lapinlahti Leppävirta Maaninka Nilsiä Pielavesi Rautalampi Rautavaara Siilinjärvi Sonkajärvi Suonenjoki Tervo Tuusniemi Varkaus Vesanto Vieremä

Former municipalities	Iisalmen maalaiskunta Karttula Kuopion maalaiskunta Muuruvesi Riistavesi Säyneinen Varpaisjärvi Vehmersalmi

Northern Savonia Finland

50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries

1.	Stockholm	1,372,565
2.	Copenhagen	1,199,224
3.	Helsinki	1,061,798
4.	Oslo	907,288
5.	Gothenburg	549,839
6.	Malmö	280,415
7.	Turku	253,332
8.	Aarhus	252,107
9.	Bergen	234,800
10.	Stavanger	221,616

11.	Tampere	215,337
12.	Reykjavik	195,000
13.	Odense	167,615
14.	Trondheim	160,072
15.	Oulu	144,114
16.	Uppsala	140,454
17.	Jyväskylä	132,115
18.	Fredrikstad	126,971
19.	Aalborg	124,921
20.	Västerås	110,877

21.	Örebro	107,038
22.	Linköping	104,232
23.	Lahti	102,383
24.	Drammen	100,023
25.	Kuopio	97,610
26.	Helsingborg	97,122
27.	Jönköping	89,396
28.	Kouvola	87,548
29.	Norrköping	87,247
30.	Skien	86,923

31.	Pori	83,156
32.	Lund	82,800
33.	Umeå	79,594
34.	Joensuu	73,807
35.	Lappeenranta	72,156
36.	Esbjerg	71,576
37.	Gävle	71,033
38.	Kristiansand	67,547
39.	Hämeenlinna	67,293
40.	Tromsø	66,669

41.	Borås	66,273
42.	Eskilstuna	64,679
43.	Södertälje	64,619
44.	Karlstad	61,685
45.	Täby	61,272
46.	Rovaniemi	60,699
47.	Randers	60,656
48.	Vaasa	60,491
49.	Seinäjoki	58,836
50.	Halmstad	58,577

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuopio

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

For the 2009 film, see For Real (film).

For Real
Genres	R&B, pop, dance
Years active	1993–1999
Labels	Arista Records A&M Records, Rowdy Records
Past members
Wendi Williams Latanyia Baldwin Josina Elder Necia Bray-Gates

For Real was an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1993.^[1] In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Grammy, Billboard Music Award, and Soul Train Music Award.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 Awards and nominations
4 References
5 External links

Biography [link]

For Real secured their recording contract by accident. "We were picking up our manager from the airport. So we decided to greet him with an acappella song. Someone from A&M Records just happened to be in the airport and heard them perform. Not long after, they were signed," said Latanyia Baldwin.^[2]

The band released their debut album, It's a Natural Thang, with production from Brian McKnight on A&M Records in 1994, and it became a critical success, including a rare four stars from Rolling Stone magazine.^[3] Their first single, "You Don't Wanna Miss" hit #28 on the Billboard chart, courtesy of a danceable new jack swing remix by Steve "Silk" Hurley, which was featured in the song's video. A second single, "Easy to Love", peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album scored another chart hit with the a cappella love song, "You Don't Know Nothin'", which was written and produced by Mervyn Warren, and which peaked at #27. The song peaked at #54 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1995.^[4] The album sold over one million copies worldwide, and peaked at #80 on the Billboard 200.

In 1995, the band appeared in Italian Vogue, modeling men's suits. They toured alongside Stevie Wonder,^[5] and lent their voices to the Martin Scorsese film project Grace of My Heart. The foursome also forayed into acting with appearances in the film Shake, Rattle and Rock! starring Renée Zellweger and Howie Mandel^[6] on Showtime.

They also hit the US Top 20 with the single "Freedom (Theme from Panther)" featuring Aaliyah, TLC, En Vogue, BlackGirl, SWV, and Vanessa Williams from the film Panther. They also recorded a duet with Stevie Wonder called "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", which appeared on the Marvin Gaye tribute album, Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye.^[7] For Real also recorded songs for the soundtracks of the films Waiting to Exhale and Fled.

“	Paying homage to the Motown sound with "Like I Do", the Marvelettes-inspired first single and video from their second album, Free (their first for Rowdy Records), they call their sound an answer to "counterfeit R&B". "During the Motown era, artists sang with passion," says Josina, who founded the group back in 1986 in Los Angeles. "That's what's missing from a lot of today's music. But don't worry, we're bringing it back!"	”
— Josina Elder, LookSmartParents.com^[8]

After a label change from A&M to Dallas Austin's Arista imprint Rowdy Records in 1996, For Real struck again with the Austin-produced, 60s-leaning single "Like I Do", from their second album Free. "Like I Do" hit #10 on the Billboard singles chart. The video also earned a Billboard nomination for Best R&B Clip; the album made the Top 100, and sold nearly 400,000 copies in the US. The album's next and last single was the Diane Warren-penned pop ballad "The Saddest Song I Ever Heard" which hit #65 on the Top 100 singles chart. The band performed "Saddest Song" on the TV series All That. Free included production from top R&B/pop producers like Babyface, Mario Winans, and Jon B..

The band also recorded three songs ("I Do", "Born to Love That Boy" and "Unwanted Number") and appeared in the critically acclaimed film Grace of My Heart. The film's soundstrack won a Satellite Award in 1997.^[9]^[10]

In January 1997, the band won an American Music Award for their work on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, in Summer 1997, the group earned a Soul Train Award nomination for Album of the Year (By a Group, Band or Duo) for Free.

In 1999, Wendi Williams lent her voice to the Emmy-winning film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge with Halle Berry, in which Berry plays a singer but Williams is behind her singing voice.^[11]

In 2002, their song "Love Will Be Waiting at Home" appeared in the film Two Can Play That Game, which starred Vivica A. Fox and Morris Chestnut.

In 2009, CoryLavel began to work with Josina Elder on her new album.

Discography [link]

Main article: For Real discography

It's a Natural Thang (1994)
Free (1996)

Awards and nominations [link]

Year	Result	Award	Category	Work
1996	Nominated	Grammy Award	Album of the Year	Waiting to Exhale
1997	Nominated	Billboard Music Award	Best Clip – R&B	"Like I Do"
1998	Nominated	Soul Train Music Award	Album of the Year (By a Group, Band or Duo)	Free

References [link]

^ "Jet - Google 圖書". Books.google.com.tw. http://books.google.com.tw/books?id=9MADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36&dq=%22SOUL+TRAIN+AWARDS%22&lr=&num=100&as_brr=0&as_pt=MAGAZINES&cd=1#v=onepage&q=%22SOUL%20TRAIN%20AWARDS%22&f=false. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
^ Alamhof.org
^ Rollingstone.com
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 207. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ "Jet - Google Books". Books.google.com. 1995-05-08. http://books.google.com/books?id=ezkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=%22Stevie+Wonder%22+%22For+Real%22+%22Conversation+Peace%22&source=bl&ots=PuFfFmehJC&sig=MqpvPtox6tjf0G6-v1gBK42uJWM&hl=en&ei=VhVWTISkHoT68AbVu8SPBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CDUQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22Stevie%20Wonder%22%20%22For%20Real%22%20%22Conversation%20Peace%22&f=false. Retrieved 2012-04-10.
^ IMDb.com
^ Discogs.com
^ Looksmartparents.com
^ Discogs.com
^ Allmovie.com
^ Edition.cnn.com

External links [link]

SingingFool.com Streaming music videos for "Like I Do" and "The Saddest Song I Ever Heard"
Allmusic^{[dead link]} Discography, biographies, and pictures
IUMA Group photos, lyrics, message board, audio streams, and biography
Google Album info, photos, and lyrics

v t e For Real

Album	It's a Natural Thang Free

Singles	"You Don't Wanna Miss" "Easy to Love" "You Don't Know Nothin'" "Like I Do" "The Saddest Song I Ever Heard" "Hold Me"

Guest singles	"Freedom"

Related articles	Discography

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Takanobu Okabe

Personal information

Full name

Takanobu Okabe

Born

26 October 1970 (age 41)

Shimokawa, Hokkaido

Height

1,65 m

Professional information

Club

Megmilk Snow Brand

Skis

Fischer

Personal best

217,5 m (Planica 2006)

World Cup

Seasons

1990, 1993-2003, 2005-2010

Wins

Additional podiums

Total podiums

Medal record

Men's ski jumping
Competitor for Japan
Olympic Games
Gold	1998 Nagano	Team large hill
Silver	1994 Lillehammer	T. large hill
World Championships
Gold	1995 Thunder Bay	Ind. normal hill
Silver	1997 Trondheim	T. large hill
Bronze	1995 Thunder Bay	Team large hill
Bronze	2007 Sapporo	Team large hill
Bronze	2009 Liberec	Team large hill

Updated on October 7, 2011.

Takanobu Okabe (岡部孝信, Okabe Takanobu^?) (born October 26, 1970 in Shimokawa, Hokkaido) is a Japanese ski jumper who has competed in the ski jumping World Cup since 1990.

His debut World Cup performance was on December 16, 1989 in Sapporo and at the moment he is the oldest ski jumper in a world of ski jumping. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won two medals in the team large hill event at the Winter Olympics with a silver in 1994 and a gold in 1998.

Okabe had his biggest successes at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, winning five medals. This included a gold in the individual normal hill (1995), a silver in the team large hill (1997), and three bronzes in the team large hill (1995, 2007, 2009).

Okabe has five individual World Cup victories, three of which came on flying hills. With his latest win in Kuopio on March 10, 2009 he became, at the age of 38 years and 135 days, the oldest ski jumper to ever win a World Cup competition.

World Cup [link]

Victories [link]

Season	Date	Location
1996-97	December 7, 1996	Kuusamo
	February 8, 1997	Kulm (SF)
	March 22, 1997	Planica (SF)
1997-98	March 1, 1998	Vikersund (SF)
2008-09	March 10, 2009	Kuopio

References [link]

Takanobu Okabe at the International Ski Federation

Olympic champions in men's ski jumping team large hill

1988: Finland (Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Matti Nykänen, Tuomo Ylipulli, & Jari Puikkonen) * 1992: Finland (Ari-Pekka Nikkola, Mika Laitinen, Risto Laakkonen, & Toni Nieminen) * 1994: Germany (Hansjörg Jäkle, Christof Duffner, Dieter Thoma, & Jens Weißflog) * 1998: Japan (Takanobu Okabe, Hiroya Saito, Masahiko Harada, & Kazuyoshi Funaki) * 2002: Germany (Sven Hannawald, Stephan Hocke, Michael Uhrmann, & Martin Schmitt) * 2006: Austria (Andreas Widhölzl, Andreas Kofler, Martin Koch, & Thomas Morgenstern) * 2010: Austria (Wolfgang Loitzl, Andreas Kofler, Thomas Morgenstern, & Gregor Schlierenzauer)

World champions in ski jumping individual normal hill

1962: Toralf Engan (NOR)
1966: Bjørn Wirkola (NOR)
1970: Gariy Napalkov (URS)
1974: Hans-Georg Aschenbach (GDR)
1978: Matthias Buse (GDR)
1982: Armin Kogler (AUT)
1985: Jens Weißflog (GDR)
1987: Jiří Parma (TCH)
1989: Jens Weißflog (GDR)
1991: Heinz Kuttin (AUT)
1993: Masahiko Harada (JPN)
1995: Takanobu Okabe (JPN)
1997: Janne Ahonen (FIN)
1999: Kazuyoshi Funaki (JPN)
2001: Adam Małysz (POL)
2003: Adam Małysz (POL)
2005: Rok Benkovič (SLO)
2007: Adam Małysz (POL)
2009: Wolfgang Loitzl (AUT)
2011: Thomas Morgenstern (AUT)

Persondata
Name	Okabe, Takanobu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 26, 1970
Place of birth	Shimokawa, Hokkaido
Date of death
Place of death

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Anna Puu
Born	(1982-02-03) February 3, 1982 (age 30)
Origin	Outokumpu, Finland
Years active	2008-Present

Anna Puu (born Anna Emilia Puustjärvi; February 3, 1982 in Outokumpu, Finland) placed second in Finland's Idols 2008 competition. Her first album, Anna Puu, was released April 29, 2009, with the first single, "C'est la vie" released in mid-April. The album has since sold over 60,000 copies. She released a second album, Sahara. Her third album is expected to be released in 2012.

References [link]

Persondata
Name	Puu, Anna
Alternative names
Short description	Singer
Date of birth	February 3, 1982
Place of birth	Outokumpu, Finland
Date of death
Place of death

This article about a Finnish singer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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Medal record
Olli Muotka
Men's ski flying
World Championships
Bronze	2010 Planica	Team

Olli Muotka (born 14 July 1988 in Rovaniemi) is a Finnish ski jumper and former Nordic combined athlete.

Before 2007 Muotka competed mainly in Nordic combined, in the Junior World Ski Championships and World Cup B competitions.^[1]

Since 2007 Muotka started to concentrate on ski jumping. In 2007 Junior World Ski Championships he finished eighth in the normal hill and won a bronze medal in the team competition. He made his Continental Cup debut in December 2007, his best result being a twelfth place from Zakopane in February 2008. He made his World Cup debut in January 2010 in Sapporo, collecting his first World Cup points with a fourteenth place.^[2]

Muotka earned a bronze in the team event at the FIS Ski-Flying World Championships 2010 in Planica.

References [link]

^ Olli Muotka at the International Ski Federation . Nordic combined
^ Olli Muotka at the International Ski Federation . Ski jumping

Persondata
Name	Muotka, Olli
Alternative names
Short description	Nordic combined skier and ski jumper
Date of birth	14 July 1988
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

This biographical article relating to Nordic skiing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This biographical article relating to Finnish ski jumping is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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