Kainuu (; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland (; ). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic of Karelia).

Culturally, Kainuu is part of the larger Eastern-Finnish cultural heritage. The dialect of Kainuu resembles Savonian and Karelian dialects.

Geography

Taiga make up most of the biome in Kainuu. The forest in Kainuu mostly consists of birches, pines and spruces. The atypical regional geography and landscape consist of lakes, hills and vast uninhabited forest areas.

The largest lake in the region is the Oulujärvi (928.09&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), one of the largest lakes in Finland. Its shorelines, open waters and islands in Kainuu belong to the municipalities of Paltamo and Kajaani.

The highest point in Kainuu is the Iso Tuomivaara (385 m), located in the municipality of Hyrynsalmi. The regional climate is continental. The three most populous urban areas in Kainuu (December 31, 2017) are Kajaani town center (30,028), Vuokatti village (6,207) in Sotkamo municipality, and Kuhmo town center (5,349).

History

thumb|left|Värikallio pre-historic rock paintings in Suomussalmi, Kainuu.

Pre-history

The oldest archeological finds of human inhabitation in the area of Kainuu are from around 6800–6000 BCE. The Suomusjärvi culture spread to Kainuu from the south and was strongest around Vaala, which was near the coast of Ancylus Lake. Later finds from the time of the Comb Ceramic culture prove trade connections to the area of Karelia in the east. The Comb Ceramic culture spread to Kainuu quickly, already in the Early Comb Ceramic period (). A style of Comb Ceramic called Säräisniemi Ceramic 1 (Sär 1) emerged in Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia, Southern Lapland, Karelia and Northern Norway. Half of Sär 1 discoveries in Finland are from Kainuu. It is not known where the Sär 1 style originated from, though the area around the Oulujärvi lake has been suggested. Later, when the Comb Ceramic styles of coastal and inland Finland split into two, the style used in Kainuu was Asbestos-ceramic.

Pre-historic people in Kainuu lived by hunting and fishing, most bone findings in human settlements being of beavers and moose. Findings of flax pollen from the turn of the Bronze Age suggest the cultivating of flax in Paltamo. Around the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (c. 1000–0 BCE), metallic findings from Kainuu become nearly non-existent. Despite this, it is considered to be unlikely that human inhabitation had ended in the area. It is thought that in this time period, the people spoke a Proto-Sámic language, but archaeological findings culturally linked to Sámi have not been found this south. The spread of the Asbestos-ceramic culture in the north of Fennoscandia has been thought to be a sign of the area turning Sámi. The inhabitants of Kainuu in the Early Iron Age were likely then hunter-gathering Sámi, even if genetically and linguistically differing from modern Sámi. If the population density at the time was the same as among Forest Sámi in Finland in the year 1600 CE, there would've been around 350 individuals living in pre-historic Kainuu.

Historical province

Municipalities

The region of Kainuu consists of two sub-regions and eight municipalities, two of which have city status (marked in bold). The administrative capital of Kainuu is Kajaani.

thumb|A map of Kainuu with municipalities

Sub-regions

Kajaani sub-region

  • 23px Kajaani ()
  • 23px Paltamo
  • 23px Ristijärvi
  • 23px Sotkamo

Kehys-Kainuu

  • 23px Hyrynsalmi
  • 23px Kuhmo
  • 23px Puolanka
  • 23px Suomussalmi

List of municipalities

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align: right; line-height: normal;"

|-

! class="unsortable" |Coat of<br/>arms

! Municipality

! Population

! Land area<br/>(km<sup>2</sup>)

! Density<br/>(/km<sup>2</sup>)

! Finnish<br/>speakers

! Swedish<br/>speakers

! Other<br/>speakers

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Hyrynsalmi|| Hyrynsalmi || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Kajaani|| Kajaani || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Kuhmo|| Kuhmo || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Paltamo|| Paltamo || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Puolanka|| Puolanka || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Ristijärvi|| Ristijärvi || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Sotkamo|| Sotkamo || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

|50px|border|Coat of arms of Suomussalmi|| Suomussalmi || || ||

|| &nbsp;% || &nbsp;% || &nbsp;%

|-

!!!+ style=text-align:right | Total !!+ style=text-align:right | !!+ style=text-align:right | !!+ style=text-align:right |

!!+ style=text-align:right | &nbsp;%

!!+ style=text-align:right | &nbsp;%

!!+ style=text-align:right | &nbsp;%

|}

Changes in the municipalities

  • 25x25pxKajaanin maalaiskunta (merged with Kajaani in 1977)
  • 25x25pxSäräisniemi (formed Vaala with a part of Utajärvi in 1954)
  • 25x25pxVuolijoki (merged with Kajaani in 2007)
  • 25x25pxVaala (moved to North Ostrobothnia region in 2016)

Demographics

Economy

In 2012 Kainuu region had a total of 29 722 jobs. The largest sector in the employment market of Kainuu is the service sector with (21 915) 73,7 % share of the regions entire employed workforce. The industrial and construction sector follow as the 2nd largest actor with (5 243) 17,6 % of the employed working under these fields. Third largest sector is the forest industry and agriculture with a (2 228) 7,5 % workforce. The smallest uncounted factor in these statistics are the miscellaneous jobs that do not fit easily under any of three general terms mentioned above. The miscellaneous jobs form 336 1,2 % of the region's workforce.

The total unemployment of Kainuu was in 2014 6 001 which is 16,9 % of the workforce of the area. The nationwide average at the time was 12,4 %. The worst unemployment was in the town of Kuhmo with (771) 19,6 % people unemployed. The town with the least amount of unemployment was the municipality of Sotkamo with (684) 14,1 % people unemployed. Kainuu has a total of 4301 firms by each sector in its economy. Three of the largest sectors are Agriculture, forestry and fishing, wholesale and retail trade and construction. The smallest three are education, mining & quarrying and information & communication.

Kainuu has several further education institutes and organizations that are centralized in the town of Kajaani. These are Kajaani University of Applied Sciences, AIKOPA and Kainuu Vocational College (KAO). Many of the municipalities and towns also offer education for the upper secondary education.

Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK) offers education, research, development and innovation services. These happen in the fields of activity tourism, nursing and health care, business and innovation, information systems and mechanical engineering. The students number at 2000 in the KAMK and the staff at 235.

AIKOPA is part of KAMK's and University of Oulu's service that is provided for joint adult and continuing education. AIKOPa offers services like education, expertise, research and development at the higher education level.

Transportation

thumb|The Kajaani railway station

thumb|The [[Vuokatti railway station]]

Kainuu has a total of 4 732 kilometers of road network and the average of 505 private cars / 1000 inhabitants.

Kainuu region has three major sports and ski resorts, which are Paljakka, Ukkohalla and Vuokatti. These resorts offer various sport possibilities for different seasons such as skiing, downhill skiing and hiking among others.

Outside the sport resorts there are also tourism related service clusters and networks such as Wild Taiga which offers various services from different actors of Kuhmo and Suomussalmi municipalities. Other significant regional points of interest from the perspective of tourism are the areas around Oulujärvi, Kajaani and Ristijärvi. Kajaani, the town on the shores of the lake, is the capital of Kainuu and the central transportational hub in the area. The town is central for the tourists who come to the Kainuu region either by train or by plane to the Kajaani Airport. and Elias Lönnrot lived in the same village when he compiled the Finnish national epic Kalevala. The writer Ilmari Kianto also influenced the Kainuu region, and through his works, Kianto made known the description of the Kainuu poor people at the time. Other examples of these cultural services includes the Town Theater, Kaukametsä Culture and Congress Center, Kainuu Museum and the Kajaani Art Museum and many others. Kajawood, a film production company, also known as the "Finnish Hollywood", is located in Sotkamo, Kainuu.

Cultural events and sightseeing

The region of Kainuu and its municipalities offer wide variety of different seasonal events and sightseeing possibilities. Cultural events vary from sports to entertainment and cultural events.

  • Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival
  • Kajaani Poetry Week
  • Kajaani Dance
  • Kajaani International Dog Show
  • Swamp Soccer
  • Swamp Rock
  • Suomussalmi Rock
  • Lanka Fest
  • Kainuu Orienteering Week
  • Lost in Kajaani
  • Kainuun Musiikki juhlat
  • Ethno Music Festival Sommelo
  • Eino Leino House
  • Kainuu museum
  • Winter War Museum
  • Kajaani Castle
  • Kajaani Church
  • The Kalevala Village

Regional food culture

Food products that come from the nature are essential part of the local food culture in Kainuu. These include fish, various berries, game meat and variety of mushrooms. A few examples of these are the traditional vendace soup, smoked meat soup and the sweetened lingonberry porridge.

Bread and bakery are also one of the corner stones of Kainuu-based kitchen. These include rye bread and local specialties such as a traditional sweet delicacy called Rönttönen and the bread cheese / squeaky cheese that is often served together with cloudberry jam or as is.

Local media

The Kainuu region's most popular newspaper is the morning newspaper Kainuun Sanomat with 50 000 daily readers and 16 093 copies in circulation. There are also several other smaller news- and free newspapers which are more local and town based in their news coverage and distribution. The more popular example in the Kainuu region is the Koti-Kajaani with a total of 30 276 - 38 369 copies in circulations in the weekdays of Wednesday and Saturday.

Local newspapers

  • Kainuun Sanomat
  • Koti-Kajaani
  • Kuhmolainen
  • Puolanka-lehti
  • Sotkamo-lehti
  • Ylä-Kainuu
  • Väylä

Local radio stations

Kainuu has two regional radio stations among the statewide radio stations. Radio Kajaus bases it content on pop music, news and interviews on the current affairs. Kainuun Radio is one of the 19 regional radiostations owned by the state company Yleisradio (YLE). Between 6.30 – 17.00 the station broadcasts its own regional content. Outside of that the station will share the contents of the statewide Yle Radio Suomi station.

  • Radio Kajaus
  • YLE Kainuun radio

Regional politics

In the Finnish parliamentary election Kainuu is part of the Oulu electoral district which elects 18 members of the Finnish parliament from the local district.

Parliamentary elections 2019

{| class="wikitable"

| style=background:#cccccc align=center rowspan=2 | Parliamentary elections 2019

| style=background:#cccccc align=center colspan=10 | % Of Votes Cast

|- style=background:#cccccc align=center

|<small>Centre Party</small>

|<small>Finns Party</small>

|<small>Left Alliance</small>

|<small>SDP</small>

|<small>National Coalition</small>

|<small>Green League</small>

|<small>Christian Democrats</small>

|<small>Movement Now</small>

|<small>Blue Reform</small>

|<small>Seven Star Movement</small>

|<small>Swedish People's Party</small>

|<small>Other</small>

|- style=background:#efefef align=center

|style="background:#fffacd;"|Kainuu

|31.28

|20.42

|18.54

|9.57

|7.75

|6.23

|2.20

|0.40

|0.38

|0.21

|0.08

|2.94

|- style=background:#efefef align=center

|style="background:#fffacd;"|Whole country

|13.76

|17.48

|8.17

|17.73

|17.00

|11.49

|3.90

|2.25

|0.97

|0.37

|4.53

|2.35

|}

A municipal election is held every 4 years and the members of the elected municipal councils also elect members amongst themselves to represent their respective municipality in the regional council of Kainuu. Traditionally, up to this date, the Centre Party has been the largest political entity in both the Oulu electoral district and in the region of Kainuu.

Municipal elections 2012

{| class="wikitable"

| style=background:#cccccc align=center rowspan=2 | Municipal Elections 2012

The establishing treaty of the Regional Council of Kainuu (accepted in December 2015) defines the Assembly tasks as follows:

  • The Regional Assembly elects a council chairman and also the 1st and 2nd vice chairmen to whom the assembly also grants a right to be present and to speak at the meetings of the Board of the Regional Council.
  • The Regional Assembly approves an estimated budget for the Regional Council for each financial year and a financial plan for the Regional Council at least for 3 years.
  • Regional Assembly decides based on the preparations of the audit board, auditor’s report and reminders in the report on how these give rise to action. While approving the financial statement the Regional Assembly also decides on the discharge for the entities and persons accountable.
  • The Regional Assembly chooses the members of the Regional Board and also chooses the chairman and the vice chairmen and decides upon the length of the term of the Regional Board.
  • Regional Assembly also has the ability to establish such institutions and actors which it sees fit for the moment.
  • Regional Assembly appoints an audit board for the inspection of the management and the financial situation. The Assembly also decides upon the proposal of the audit board whether there is a call for one or two auditing firm.

Regional Assembly's tasks, Regional Council of Kainuu

Areas of responsibility

  • Land Use and Planning

Land use planning, cooperation with interest groups and other authority related tasks which are the key fields of responsibility in the regional land use planning. The changes in the legislations deemed that the need for the validation of the Ministry of Environment was no longer necessary.

From the perspective of the municipalities involved in the regional development, regional land use plan is the guide and framework that has to be taken into account when the municipalities plan or change their local master plans or local detailed plans. Regional land use plans should also be noted by the authorities of whose decision making the plans affect. The regional land use plan is a map which contains the planning entries, instructions and descriptions. These affect the contents of the land use plan, give background to the decisions made and bring forth the meaningful data about the effectiveness factors. Phased regional land use land works as supplement and provide information to the previously mentioned regional land use plan.

  • Regional Development

Regional development unit is responsible for the regional development plan. This task is given by the law to the regional councils. Regional development also has the task of leading, planning and implementing both the national and EU level regional- and cohesion policymaking in the region of Kainuu. This is done in cooperation with neighboring regions. Regional development views that developing and maintaining the regions vigor is important. This relates to the work that is done on both the local, national and international level in cooperation with other actors.

Cooperation and Supervision of Interests

According to 5§ of the establishing treaty of the regional council of Kainuu the mission for the council is to observe and take into account in their own work the aspects of interest driving between other actors and cooperation. In this the establishing treaty emphasizes the importance of managing the partnerships both inside the region and outside of it. The later refers to national, EU and other international level of activities. The themes for interest driving are changed depending how the situation and times dictate it and these themes and their changes can be found from the project catalog document that is kept by the regional council.

For the project work the regional council has to do tasks that relate to requisitioning, co-financing and being as a partner in the projects. The project preparations are divided in the responsibilities inside the regional council teams (land use & planning, regional development etc.) depending on their field of expertise that are for example in charge of the international funding of the project. In the years of the 2014 – 2020 EU funding is offered towards the region of Kainuu in the programs of Baltic Sea Region Programme, Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme, Interreg Europe, ENI Kolarctic and the Karelia CBC.

Key strategies and documents driving the Regional Councils actions

  • The Regional Plan of Kainuu 2035

The Kainuu Regional Plan of 2035 represents the political intentions of the region. This document has the strategies that hold inside of them the vision for the region and the politically desired outcomes for the future. The regional plan is approved by the Regional Assembly of Kainuu.

  • The Regional land use plan

From the perspective of the regional planning and land use the regional land use plan is the most important document that drives their actions. The timeframe for this plan varies between 10 – 30 years and the examination for the current regional land use plan started in the year of 2014...

Regional policymaking

Regional Assembly 2013–2016

{| class="wikitable"

| style=background:#cccccc align=center rowspan=2 | Representatives in the Regional Assembly

  • Kajaani: 15 representatives in total.
  • Kuhmo, Sotkamo and Suomussalmi: 4 representatives each.
  • Hyrynsalmi, Puolanka, Paltamo and Ristijärvi 2 representavies each.

The Regional Board of 2015-2016

  • Timo Korhonen, Chairman
  • Eija Hakkarainen, 1st Vice Chairman
  • Marisanna Jarva 2nd Vice Chairman

Regional Youth Council of Kainuu

Kainuu region also has its own Regional Youth Council, which is also the only regional level youth council in Finland. The council was formed in 2008 and it is meant to be a nonpartisan influencing group for the regions youth. Two members are selected from each municipality and town and also from the local higher education institutions – KAO & AMK.

The members of the youth council are appointed by their local municipal councils or their institutions student council. The term if two years long and during that time the youth council will also get a total of seven sponsor representatives from the Regional Assembly and the Kainuus Social and Welfare Council. The Regional Councils office will help the Youth Council with such things as setting up meetings, compile agenda for the next meeting and giving counsel and guidance on how to make meeting records, how decision making works and so forth.

Youth councils work is not defined by law, but the Regional Assembly has decided that the Youth Council should have four main tasks among more minor ones. The main tasks are: