Kitee
Kides | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Kiteen kaupunki Kides stad | |
 Kitee Church | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Kitee in Finland | |
 Interactive map of Kitee | |
| Coordinates: 62°06′N 030°08′E / 62.100°N 30.133°E / 62.100; 30.133 | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Region | North Karelia |
| Sub-region | Central Karelia |
| Charter | 1631 |
| City rights | 1992 |
| Government | |
| • Town manager | Kirsi Hämäläinen |
| Area (2018-01-01)1 | |
• Total | 1,724.41 km2 (665.80 sq mi) |
| • Land | 1,253.82 km2 (484.10 sq mi) |
| • Water | 275.61 km2 (106.41 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 57th largest in Finland |
| Population (2025-12-31)2 | |
• Total | 9,397 |
| • Rank | 102nd largest in Finland |
| • Density | 7.49/km2 (19.4/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 91.2% (official) |
| • Others | 8.8% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 11.2% |
| • 15 to 64 | 51.8% |
| • 65 or older | 37% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Website | www |
Kitee (Finnish: [ˈkiteː]; Swedish: Kides) is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of Joensuu and about 175 kilometres (109 mi) northeast of Lappeenranta. The municipality has a population of 9,397 (31 December 2025)2 and covers an area of 1,724.41 square kilometres (665.80 sq mi) of which 275.61 km2 (106.41 sq mi) is water.1 The population density is 7.49 inhabitants per square kilometre (19.4/sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neighbouring municipalities are Parikkala, Rääkkylä, Savonlinna and Tohmajärvi.
History
Kitee is known as the ''moonshine city of Finland'' due to its legal and illegal moonshine Finnish: Pontikka manufacturing.
Villages
- Haapasalo
- Haarajärvi
- Hammaskallio
- Heinoniemi
- Jaakkima
- Juurikka
- Kantosyrjä
- Kiteenkylä
- Kiteenlahti
- Kontiola
- Kunonniemi
- Lahdenkylä
- Leinovaara
- Loukunvaara
- Misola
- Muljula
- Niinikumpu
- Nivunki
- Närsäkkälä
- Ojamäki
- Piimäjärvi
- Potoskavaara
- Puhos
- Puhossalo
- Päätye
- Riihijärvi
- Rokkala
- Ruppovaara
- Satulavaara
- Suoparsaari
- Suorlahti
- Särkijärvi
- Säynejärvi
- Taipale
- Tasapää
- Tolosenmäki
- Varmoniemi
- Välivaara
Sports
The men's pesäpallo club Kiteen Pallo -90 competes in the Superpesis national league, playing at Shore Field.
Notable people
- The founding members of symphonic metal band Nightwish all hail from the town of Kitee:
- Tarja Turunen, singer
- Emppu Vuorinen, guitarist
- Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist
- Sami Vänskä, bassist
- Jukka Nevalainen, drummer
- Only Holopainen and Vuorinen remain in the band to this day. (Forced by health issues to stop performing, Nevalainen remains part of the band's management).
- Antti Aalto, ski-jumper
- Nils Ludvig Arppe, industrialist
- Tomek Valtonen, ice hockey coach and player
References
References
- "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- "Population growth slowed down in 2025". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 1 April 2026. ISSN 2243-3627. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
- "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.
- "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
External links
External links
Media related to Kitee at Wikimedia Commons
- Town of Kitee – official website