North Savo
Region of Finland
North Savo (or Northern Savonia; Finnish: Pohjois-Savo; Swedish: Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the region and Lake Kallavesi is the largest lake in the region.
The region's traditional food is a fish and bacon filling pie called Kalakukko.
01Historical provinces
For history, geography and culture see: Savo
02Municipalities
The region of North Savo consists of 19 municipalities, five of which have city status (marked in bold).
Municipalities on the map
Sub-regions
- Joroinen (Jorois)
- Leppävirta
- Varkaus
- Iisalmi (Idensalmi)
- Keitele
- Kiuruvesi
- Lapinlahti
- Pielavesi
- Sonkajärvi
- Vieremä
List of municipalities
| Coat of arms |
Municipality | Population | Land area (km2) |
Density (/km2) |
Finnish speakers |
Swedish speakers |
Other speakers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iisalmi | 20,205 | 763 | 26 | 95 % | 0 % | 5 % | |
| Joroinen | 4,494 | 575 | 8 | 92 % | 0.4 % | 8 % | |
| Kaavi | 2,547 | 674 | 4 | 97 % | 0 % | 2 % | |
| Keitele | 1,922 | 483 | 4 | 96 % | 0 % | 3 % | |
| Kiuruvesi | 7,255 | 1,328 | 5 | 98 % | 0 % | 2 % | |
| Kuopio | 126,572 | 3,242 | 39 | 93 % | 0.1 % | 7 % | |
| Lapinlahti | 8,803 | 1,097 | 8 | 97 % | 0.1 % | 3 % | |
| Leppävirta | 8,924 | 1,136 | 8 | 97 % | 0.1 % | 3 % | |
| Pielavesi | 3,873 | 1,153 | 3 | 97 % | 0.3 % | 2 % | |
| Rautalampi | 2,928 | 539 | 5 | 95 % | 0 % | 5 % | |
| Rautavaara | 1,398 | 1,151 | 1 | 97 % | 0 % | 3 % | |
| Siilinjärvi | 21,348 | 401 | 53 | 97 % | 0.1 % | 2 % | |
| Sonkajärvi | 3,521 | 1,466 | 2 | 98 % | 0 % | 2 % | |
| Suonenjoki | 6,549 | 714 | 9 | 95 % | 0 % | 5 % | |
| Tervo | 1,388 | 348 | 4 | 97 % | 0 % | 3 % | |
| Tuusniemi | 2,270 | 543 | 4 | 97 % | 0 % | 3 % | |
| Varkaus | 19,433 | 386 | 50 | 93 % | 0.2 % | 7 % | |
| Vesanto | 1,787 | 423 | 4 | 96 % | 0 % | 4 % | |
| Vieremä | 3,295 | 925 | 4 | 95 % | 0 % | 5 % | |
| Total | 248,512 | 17,346 | 14 | 94 % | 0.1 % | 6 % |
03Demographics
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 265,040 |
| 1995 | 266,308 |
| 2000 | 259,639 |
| 2005 | 255,683 |
| 2010 | 253,337 |
| 2015 | 253,239 |
| 2020 | 248,265 |
| 2025 | 248,512 |
04Politics
For parliamentary elections, North Savo, together with the region of North Karelia, is part of the Savo-Karelia constituency. As of 2023, the constituency elects 15 of the 200 members of the Parliament of Finland.
05Tertiary education
- University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus (enrollment c. 6,000, in Kuopio)
- Savonia University of Applied Sciences (enrollment c. 6,000, in Kuopio (about 4,500), Varkaus and Iisalmi)
- Kuopio department of Sibelius Academy (c. 150 studying for Master of Music in Church music or Master of Arts in Arts Management)
- Kuopio department of Humak University of Applied Sciences (c. 100 studying to be Sign language Interpreters)
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “North Savo”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Pohjois-Savo sijainti Suomi.svg by Fenn-O-maniC, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kalakukko at the Old Market Hall in Helsinki Finland June 2024.jpg by Sinikka Halme, CC BY 4.0
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