Ranua

Ranua is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of 3,594 (30 September 2023)[2] and covers an area of 3,694.79 square kilometres (1,426.57 sq mi) of which 241.09 km2 (93.09 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 1.04 inhabitants per square kilometre (2.7/sq mi).

Ranua
Municipality
Ranuan kunta
Ranua kommun
Ranua Church
Ranua Church
Coat of arms of Ranua
Coat of arms
Location of Ranua in Finland
Location of Ranua in Finland
Coordinates: 65°56′N 026°31′E
Country Finland
RegionLapland
Sub-regionRovaniemi
Charter1917
Government
 • Municipal managerTuomas Aikkila
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total3,694.79 km2 (1,426.57 sq mi)
 • Land3,453.73 km2 (1,333.49 sq mi)
 • Water241.09 km2 (93.09 sq mi)
 • Rank14th largest in Finland
Population
 (2023-09-30)[2]
 • Total3,594
 • Rank201st largest in Finland
 • Density1.04/km2 (2.7/sq mi)
Population by native language
[3]
 • Finnish98.6% (official)
 • Swedish0.2%
 • Others1.2%
Population by age
[4]
 • 0 to 1417.5%
 • 15 to 6452.8%
 • 65 or older29.7%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Websitewww.ranua.fi

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Geography

Neighbouring municipalities are Ii, Simo, Tervola, Rovaniemi, Posio and Pudasjärvi.

Villages

Villages within the municipality of Ranua are inclusive of:

  • Asmunti
  • Hosio
  • Impiö
  • Kelankylä
  • Kortteenperä
  • Kuha
  • Kuukasjärvi
  • Mauru
  • Nuupas
  • Petäjäjärvi
  • Pohjaslahti–Piittisjärvi
  • Portimo
  • Putkivaara
  • Raiskio
  • Rovastinaho
  • Saariharju
  • Saukkojärvi
  • Sääskilahti
  • Teerivaara
  • Telkkälä
  • Tolja

Nature of Ranua

There are 569 lakes in Ranua.[5] The biggest of them are lake Ranuanjärvi and lake Simojärvi. There are also quite many rapids and natural salmon living in the rapids.

History
The formation of Ranua.

Ranua was originally the name of a farm established in the 18th century. It gets its name from the lake Ranuanjärvi, which was first mentioned in 1553. Its name is likely of Tavastian origin, as ranu- toponyms are rare and mainly found in Tavastia.[6]

The parish of Ranua was formed from parts of Simo, Pudasjärvi and Rovaniemen maalaiskunta in 1899. The area became a separate municipality in 1917. A part of it was given to the newly formed Posio municipality in 1926. It is the only municipality in Lapland where the dialect is a Northern Ostrobothnian one, albeit with some influence from the Kainuu dialects, which are a subset of Savonian dialects.[7]

Tourism

Perhaps the most well known attraction is the Ranua Zoo, the northernmost zoo in the world,[8] which has many arctic animals, including the polar bear, which is the mascot of the zoo. Ranua Zoo is the only place where you can see a living polar bear in Finland.

Other notable attractions within the municipality of Ranua are inclusive of the Saukkojärvi Local History and School Museum located in the village of Saukkojärvi, Finland, the Hillamarkkinat, Poro Island and the Church of Ranua.

Sister cities

Notable people

References
  1. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. "Preliminary population statistics 2023, September". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  3. "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. The number of lakes in Ranua. Jarviwiki.
  6. "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja e-kirja kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 371. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  7. "Savolaismurteiden alue". sokl.uef.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  8. Ranua Zoo - Northernmost Zoo in the World - Nordic Adventures – Visit Rovaniemi
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