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Sotkamo

Sotkamo
Municipality
Sotkamon kunta
Church of Sotkamo
Church of Sotkamo
Coat of arms of Sotkamo
Coat of arms
Location of Sotkamo in Finland
Location of Sotkamo in Finland
Coordinates: 64°08′N 028°23′E / 64.133°N 28.383°E / 64.133; 28.383Coordinates: 64°08′N 028°23′E / 64.133°N 28.383°E / 64.133; 28.383
Country  Finland
Region Kainuu
Sub-region Kajaani sub-region
Government
 • Municipality manager Petri Kauppinen
Area (2016-01-01)
 • Total 2,649.15 km2 (1,022.84 sq mi)
 • Land 2,649.50 km2 (1,022.98 sq mi)
 • Water 302.61 km2 (116.84 sq mi)
Area rank 20th largest in Finland
Population (2016-03-31)
 • Total 10,507
 • Rank 96th largest in Finland
 • Density 3.97/km2 (10.3/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish 98.6% (official)
 • Others 1.3%
Population by age
 • 0 to 14 16.1%
 • 15 to 64 64%
 • 65 or older 19.9%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate 19.75%
Urbanisation 55.8%
Unemployment rate 16.7%
Website www.sotkamo.fi

Sotkamo is a municipality of Finland, located in the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of 10,507 (31 March 2016) and covers an area of 2,649.15 square kilometres (1,022.84 sq mi) of which 302.61 km2 (116.84 sq mi) is water. The population density is 3.97 inhabitants per square kilometre (10.3/sq mi).

Vuokatti, west of Sotkamo, is a popular skiing resort. The Hiidenportti National Park is located in the municipality.

In sports, Sotkamo is known for its Finnish baseball team, Sotkamon Jymy.

One of the major landmarks of Sotkamo is the sandy beach of Hiukka, which locates by the lake Iso Sapsojärvi, just beside the Sotkamo center. In Vuokatti ski center you can find the lake Nuasjärvi and the Vuokatti Hill.

Sotkamo has grown beside a water route formed by a continuous band of lakes and rivers. The waters of the Sotkamo route run through Kajaaninjoki into Oulujärvi and finally to the Baltic Sea, but in the past the waterways also created an important commercial route to White Sea in the east. The same water route has been used by soldiers of Russia, Sweden and Denmark to rob and ravage this remote countryside for centuries. The name Sotkamo comes either from the Finnish word "sotku" which means a mess and refers to the obscure water route, or from the word "sotka" which was a general name for water birds in ancient Finnish and now designates the common goldeneye.

During the 19th century Sotkamo was visited by notable Finnish artists such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Hugo Simberg.

On November 17, 2007 first pictures of the Kern arc were made in the town of Sotkamo by Marko Mikkilä.


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Wikipedia

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