Kajaani (Swedish: Kajana) is a city in Finland and the provincial
center of Kainuu, located east of Lake Oulujärvi along the
Kajaaninjoki River in Kainuu Province.
Kajaani's neighboring
municipalities are Paltamo, Pyhäntä, Siikalatva, Sonkajärvi,
Sotkamo, Vaala and Vieremä, of which Paltamo and Sotkamo belong to
Kainuu, Pyhäntä, Siikalatva and Vaala to Northern Ostrobothnia,
Sonkajärvi and Vieremä to Northern Savonia.
Elias Lönnrot
worked as a district doctor in Kajaani from 1833 to 1853, collecting
poems for the Kalevala from Viena Karelia. The poet Eino Leino is
also one of Kajaani's great figures, and President Urho Kekkonen
attended his school at Kajaani Lyceum.
The Kainuu Brigade is
located in Kajaani, with a strength of about 4,000 conscripts and
about 500 personnel.
In Kajaani, the six-day weekly newspaper Kainuun Sanomat (1918) and the local newspaper Koti-Kajaani are published. In addition to these, numerous communities and associations publish their own newsletters, the most regularly published is the Seurakuntalehti (1958) of the Lutheran congregation in Kajaani.
Cultural landscape of Kajaaninjoki
Kajaani Castle
(1604)
Lussitupa 1880 and tar canal 1846
Kajaaninjoki power
plants (Koivukoski power plant 1943 and Ämmäkoski power plant 1917)
Karolineburg Manor 1836
Kajaani church Jac. Ahrenberg 1896
Kajaani Orthodox Church Ilmari Ahonen 1959
Vuolijoki church J.
Stenbäck 1906
Paltaniemi landscape area
Paltaniemi picture
church 1726
new and old (died's yard) cemetery
Emperor's
Palace (Memorial of Alexander I's visit)
Eino Leino's house
Hövelö (reconstruction near Paltaniemi church 1978)
Paltaniemi
museum road
renovated courtyards of old country houses (KUMARA,
Finnish Museum Agency, EU, LUMO)
Paltaniemi school museum shed
Town hall C. L. Engel's intendant's office 1831
Kainuu Museum
Kajaani railway station Gustaf Nyström 1905
Seminar area
(original buildings Jac. Ahrenberg 1900–1904, current main building
1930)
Eino Pitkänen's functionalist architecture (e.g. Koskikara,
Ipati house, Art Museum and Central National School)
Kainula
Civic College (architect Alvar Aalto 1956–1957)
Kaukametsä
congress and culture center
Urho Kekkonen's home 1906 and school
1880-l.
Urho Kekkonen's memorial Pekka Kauhanen 1990
Elias
Lönnrot's lodge
Pekka Heikkinen bakery (rye bread baked in a wood
oven)
Otanmäki mining community from the 1950s
Otanmäki's bird
pond
Talaskanka Nature Reserve
Riihipiha Peasant Museum
Weapons & Equipment Museum Kajaani
Visual arts
The Kajaani
Art Museum has been operating in Kajaani since 1993, located in the
premises of the former police house. The art museum owns an art
collection specializing in domestic modern art, which has been
collected since the 1980s.
Theater
Theater activities were
practiced in Kajaani throughout the 20th century, and since 1969,
the Kajaani City Theater has operated in the city. It is currently
also the regional theater of Oulu county, and it was chosen as the
theater of the year in 2003 when Kristian Smeds was its director.
The Generator (Archived – Internet Archive) project was launched
in autumn 2003 as part of the regional center program for the
Kajaani urban region. The goal of the project was to create working
conditions for regional artists and to train both young and
professional artists. The most visible part of the Generator was the
lively activity on its own stage and several different events. The
culture project has been continued by the Kulttuuriosuuskunta
G-voima, which started its operations in early 2007. G-voima is a
cooperative made up of Generaator, Routa ry, Kajaani amateur theater
and local performing and visual art professionals.
Music
Kainuu music school was founded in 1957. It is a provincial art
school owned by the city of Kajaani. The college is part of the
Kaukametsä congress and culture center. There are about 60 student
concerts every year. Kainuu Music College's dance department, Ballet
Kaukametsä, organizes creative dance and artistic dance basic
education for dancers of different ages. Arts are also taught at the
civic college, Kaukametsä college.
At the end of the 1950s,
an orchestra started operating in Kajaani, which expanded when the
Kuopio Garrison Band moved to Kajaani in 1963. By 1968, a big band
took shape in collaboration with local dance musicians. In 1974,
regional music activities were started and at that time the Kajaani
Big Band became the first municipal full-time professional light
music orchestra in Finland. It initially employed four full-time
professional musicians. At its most extensive, there was a
conductor, 3 sound directors and 14 musicians. Among the woodcutters
were Ilpo Saastamoinen, Sakari Kukko and Arto Piispanen. Kajaani
Quartet's soloists included Richie Cole, Bob Stewart, M. A.
Numminen, J. Karjalainen, Pepe Ahlqvist, Ailu Gaup, Raoul
Björkenheim and Carola. The Kainuu Military Band continued to
operate from 1990 until 2013, when it was discontinued in connection
with the structural reforms of the Defense Forces.
Among the
composers who influenced Kajaani are Martti Hela and Eero Sipilä.
Kajaani's most significant cultural events are the annual Kajaani
Runoviikko and Kajaani tanssii.
Several large Christian summer
events have been organized in Kajaani. The summer clubs of old stadium
players have been organized in Kajaani six times, in the years 1913,
1923, 1930, 1938, 1960 and 1978. The revival party has been organized in
Kajaani twice: 1932 and 1998.
The annual Kajaani International
Oak Show organized by the Kainuu kennel district is a significant event.
Kainu Rastiviikko is run approximately every fifth year in Kajaani, the
responsibility of the attraction changes between sports clubs in Kainuu
each year. Markkinakatu is also organized every summer in Kajaani, when
150 stalls take over Kauppakatu.
Kajaani Hevosharrastekeskus and
Kajaani Riding Society jointly organize the Lady Meeting school riding
event every year, where women over the age of 18 ride dressage programs
like in regular dressage competitions, the only difference being the
ladylike outfit of each rider. In addition to the Lady Meeting, KRS and
KHK organize the Kainuu Pojjaat show jumping competition, which is open
to all male and boy riders.
In the fall of 2010, the Kajaani
Equestrian Club organized a ride in connection with the
Ponikunkinkuustrot. 845 stick horse riders were gathered at the Kajaani
race track, who frolicked on the race track for 5 minutes. The event
tried to get people of different ages to move in a new way, and at the
same time achieved a world record, which also entered the Guinness Book
of Records.
The biggest public event of the summer in Kajaani is
the Seppälä Country Market at the end of August, which gathers more than
13,000 people at the school farm. In the two-day event, it is possible
to buy products from local producers and artisans, get to know dozens of
different farm animals and rarer pets, and shows. The event is organized
by the teachers and students of Kainuu vocational college.
Food
culture
In the 1980s, muikkukeitto was named Kajaani's signature
dish.
The roots of the settlement of the Kajaani region go back thousands
of years.
The city of Kajaani was founded by Count Pietari Brahe
on March 6, 1651 as the center of his free lordship. A separate rural
municipality of Kajaani existed in the years 1655–1786 and 1897–1977.
Its center was north of the city and the river. In the 1650s, the
population of Kajaani was only 400, and there were a few dozen houses in
the town. In 1815 the population was 313 and in 1900 it was only 1,264
people.
The 20th century was an important time for Kajaani in
terms of growth. During the Second World War, Kajaani had to experience
hardships, as a significant part of its residential buildings were
destroyed in several bombings. Many business buildings in the core were
also destroyed. Construction and population growth was particularly
strong, especially in the period after the Continuation War. Since the
mid-1990s, the city has suffered from a loss of emigration, when young
people in particular have moved to, for example, Oulu.
Kajaani's natural landscapes are varied, as the city is located in the transitional zone between the Kainuu danger zone and Suomenselkä. The framework of the landscapes is formed by bedrock, which varies in rock type composition, and formations from the time of the continental ice age.
The Kajaani area is divided into two distinct parts by its rocky base. In the western part, south of Kajaaninjoki, there is a large uniform granite area. The eastern and northern parts, on the other hand, are an area formed by slates. A few kilometers long granite wedge extends from the city center also to the north side of the river. It is surrounded by a slate belt with various gneisses and migmatite. The gneiss belt continues to the south of the river, where large areas of quartzite, mica schist and phyllite are also found. Quartzite occurs especially in the bedrock of the highest elevations such as Lehtovaara. Dolomite bedrock is also found in the Lehtavaara area. In the western part of the municipality there are deposits of peridotite, gabbro and amphibolite.
The most important type of mineral soil in the Kajaaninki region is
naturally moraine. The thickness of the moraine cover varies and it is
thinner at the elevations than in the lower areas. However, for example,
in the southeastern parts of Kajaani, moraine occurs in some places as
drumlin-like formations. Mound moraines are also found in the southern
part of Kajaani. The bends between the hills, as well as the wider flat
areas, especially in the western and southern parts of the city, are
covered with peat deposits. There are significantly more peatlands in
the southern part of the Kajaani region than in the northern part.
Glasifluvial material occurs in rare places as well-defined ridge
formations. It is most commonly found in broad plains or pit fields.
Kajaani's largest occurrences of differentiated painters are related to
the ridge period. There are also sand deposits, for example, in
Koutalahti and at the bottom of Vuoreslahti. There are small occurrences
of clay soil types, for example, in Paltaniemi, Koutaniemi and on the
banks of Kajaaninjoki.
A considerable ridge section runs through
Kajaani. It starts from the North Karelia side, passes through the
church village of Sotkamo and Vuokatti to Kajaani, and from there
continues through Manamansalo and Rokua towards the northwest. In the
Kajaani area, the ridge section includes the Matinmäki - Mustikkamäki
area, Paltaniemi, Koutaniemi and Ärjänsaari. The Pekonkanka - Salmijärvi
ridge section is part of the national ridge protection program. In terms
of relative height, the main part of the Kajaani region is gently
rolling, mostly heather land. The height changes increase towards the
east and north, and in some parts of the area, mountain country is also
opened up. The absolute height rises from the Oulujärvi shore towards
the east and southeast. In the southeastern part of the city in the
Karsikkovaara-Lahnasjärvi region, the average height is over 220 m, in
the northeastern part the average height is almost 200 m. The highest
hazard in Kajaani is Leihunvaara (277 m) rising on the border opposite
Sotkamo. The well-known Lehtovaara also rises over 270 meters. In the
western part of the municipality, the terrain slopes gently from south
to north. There is also a lot of high hilly land here, but the highest
elevation in the area, Saaresmäki, is only 229 m.
South of
Kajaaninjoki, approximately in the area south of the line
Sarvivaara-Hoikankanga, the terrain is exceptionally rocky and washed
out. The floodplain of the ancient Sotkamo glacial lake was probably
located in these places. Uomi occurs in the entire area between
Kattilamäki and Sarvivaara, and the last of them is on the west side of
Sarvivaara. The eruption of the Sotkamo glacial lake has started approx.
200 m from the current level, and the fall height to the Baltic Sea
level at that time was 25 m, so there must have been great rapids in the
area. This explains the stony and washed-out nature of the area's
current terrain.
The waters of the Kajaani region mainly belong to the Oulujärvi
watershed. Only a very small part of the water belongs to the Vuoksi
watershed. The shore of Oulujärvi stretches a long way to Kajaani,
from the Jormuanlahti region in the north to the south of
Kouraniemi. Among other things, Paltaniemi, known for its steep
rolling beaches, is located in between. In the east, the Kajaani
area includes Kuluntalahti and the main part of Rehjanselkä in
Nuasjärvi at the western end of the Sotkamo route. The Kajaaninjoki,
which flows through the city center, drains the waters coming along
the Sotkamo route into Oulujärvi. The height of the water level of
Nuasjärvi, which extends to Sotkamo, is 137 m, and the water level
of Oulujärvi is 122 m, so the falls are almost 15 m in a short
distance. There are two hydroelectric power plants near the town,
the Koivukoski and Ämänkoski power plants. In the west, the most
prominent rivers are Vuolijoki and Vuottojoki. There are also
numerous small lakes and rivers in the city area. Most of the water
bodies in the city area belong to the Kajaaninjoki catchment area,
but there are also smaller rivers or streams that empty their
catchment area directly into Oulu Lake. Mainuanjoki, located in the
southwestern part of the Kajaani region, deserves a mention.
The ridges of Kajaani, located on the shore of Lake Oulu, are known
for their high and steep cliffs. Tyrsky has eroded the slopes of the
ridge due to steep landslides in Paltaniemi, Koutaniemi and
Ärjänsaari. As Lake Oulunjärvi slowly tilts towards the southeast
due to land uplift, the lake level has risen and eroded the shores.
The old burial ground in Paltaniemi has also partially collapsed
into the waves. However, the regulation of Oulujärvi since the 1950s
has almost stopped the erosion and the banks have started to become
forested.
Botanically, Kajaani is located in a transition zone where both
northern and southern influences are found. The regional variation of
the vegetation largely follows the variations of the surface forms and
soil and subsoil. The most important forms of vegetation are naturally
forests and swamps. Kajaani belongs to an area where more than a third
of the land is swamp. In the watershed regions of the southern part and
in the lowlands of the western part, swamps are even more than 60% of
the land area. At the same time, however, a significant part of the
marsh area must be considered forest land.
The Kajaani area
belongs to the Ostrobothnia-Kainuu forest vegetation zone. Relatively
most of the forest area is fresh forest, but there are also plenty of
dry forests. Grove-like fabrics, even grove forests are also found in
the city area. In the driest areas of the sorted ground species, there
are also dry fabrics of the crowberry-heather type. Half of Kajaani's
forests are dominated by pine. These include not only the forests of dry
cloths, but also the thickets commonly found in the southern part of the
city. Spruce forests are abundant and deciduous forests dominate about
five percent of the forest area, while the rest are treeless.
Kajaani belongs to the monkey swamp area of Ostrobothnia. The average
thickness of the peat layers of the examined bogs has varied between 0.5
and 2.3 meters. Most of the swamps have been drained. In the west, the
area of the former Vuolijoki keeper is abundant. The largest bogs in the
area are Humpinsuo, Kaakkurisuo, Lämpsänneva and Väyryneva.
The annual average temperature in Kajaani is approx. +1.1...+2.0 °C. The average temperature of the warmest month, July, is approx. +15 °C and the coldest month, February -16...−18 °C. The length of the thermal growing season in Kajaani is approx. 145 days. On average, Kajaani receives a permanent snow cover on November 15, and the snow cover disappears from open lands between April 30 and May 10. The depth of the snow cover in March is 75 cm on average.
A total of 36,493 people lived in Kajaani on 31 December 2021. Of
these, there were 34,841 Finnish speakers, or 95.5% of the population.
There were 39 Swedish speakers, or 0.1%. Two people spoke Sami. There
were 1,611 foreign speakers in the municipality, or 4.4%. These
languages included at least Russian (622 speakers), Arabic (186
speakers), Kurdish (68 speakers), Somali (67 speakers), English (53
speakers), Thai (48 speakers), Estonian (40 speakers), Farsi (34
speakers ), Tigrinya (33 speakers), Spanish (28 speakers), Chinese (26
speakers), Polish (25 speakers), Ukrainian (22 speakers), Swahili (21
speakers), Portuguese (19 speakers), Vietnamese (19 speakers), Amharic
(18 speakers), Rwandan (18 speakers), Turkish (18 speakers), Tagalog (17
speakers), Turkmen (17 speakers), German (14 speakers) and Albanian (10
speakers).
In 2021, 71% of the population belonged to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and 2.9% to other religious
communities. 26.1% did not belong to any religious community.
Škoda Transtech Oy is a Finnish manufacturer of rail equipment, whose
factory is in Otanmäki, Kajaani.
Companies and business life
Current, former and planned companies from Kajaani include:
Antti
Arola Oy
Imagon Oy (formerly Kymppineon)
Kainuu Energia Oy
Kainuu Etu Oy
Kainuu Osuusmeijeri, Kajaani dairy
Kainuu surface
treatment Oy
Kainuu brigade, garrison in Kajaani
Kainuu Voima Oy
Kajaani Oy (later UPM-Kymmene Oyj Kajaani), the pulp mill ceased
operations in 1982, the paper mill in 2008, Pölkky oy's sawmill
continues to operate for the time being
LVI-Aitta Oy
Pohjan Sellu
Oy
Rockseri Oy
RTG Companies
Sunit Oy
Finnish RH company
Eurolla Oy (formerly Suomi-Soffa)
Transtech Oy
Ykkösmetalli Oy
Ltl-Kainuu
Suomen Kalustemyinti Oy
Machine shop Alm
Pohjola's
small machine
Valmet Automation Oy
There are 12 elementary schools in Kajaani: Lehtikkanka school, Kätönlahti school, Pietari Brahe school, Lyseo, Central school, Jormua school, Nakertaja school, Kuluntalahti school, Lohtaja school, Otanmäki school, Teppana school, and Vuolijoki school. Kajaani High School and Kainuu Vocational College form the Kajaani city's educational institution. Kajaani University Center and Kajaani University of Applied Sciences operate in cooperation with the University of Oulu.
According to the 2018 regional distribution, Kajaani has the
following parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland:
Kajaani parish (formerly Kajaani city and country parish)
Former
parishes
In the following list, parishes dissolved in historical time
in the current area of Kajaani municipality are mentioned.
Vuolijoki parish (joined to Kajaani parish in 2007)
Revivalist
movements and other denominations
Among the revivalist movements
within the church, there is revivalism and the old-timers in the
community, which has two peace associations in the community: the
Kajaani peace association and the Vuolijoki peace association.
Evangelicalism also occurs in the community. The fifth is represented by
Kansansäteits, which operates a regional department in the village,
Kainuu Ev.lut. Kansansähetys ry, which owns, among other things, the
Christian daycare Pikku Karitsa in the village, and Suomen Evangelical
Lutheran Student Mission and School Mission, which organizes student
evenings in the premises of Kansansähetys in Kajaani. In Kajaani, the
Philippus Lutheran congregation, which is part of the Evangelical
Lutheran mission diocese of Finland, operates.
Other
denominations are represented by the Orthodox Church of Kajaani
belonging to the Finnish Orthodox Church, whose area of activity is the
whole of Kainuu and whose membership was 1,830 people at the beginning
of 2011, the Pentecostal Church of Kajaani, which is part of the
Pentecost revival, the Free Church of Kajaani belonging to the Free
Church of Finland, the congregation of the Baptist Church of Finland,
the Adventist Church of Kajaani of Finland and the City Church of
Kajaani.
Other religions are represented by the Islamic community
of Kainuu in Finland, which had 98 members in 2009 and whose mosque is
located in Kajaani. Mormons also have their own congregation in the
city. In addition, there is a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses in the
city.
Kajaani has a diverse range of sports. Vimpelinlaakso's outdoor
recreation and sports center has a multipurpose field for athletics and
football, Kajaani ice hall and tennis hall. Kajaani's sports park has
sand artificial grass for baseball players and a new up-to-date soccer
field equipped with artificial grass. Kajaani's new water sports center,
Kaukavesi, was commissioned on November 29, 2013. The water sports
center is located in the immediate vicinity of Hotel Kajanus and the
Kaukametsä cultural and congress center. One option for indoor sports
enthusiasts is Kajaanihalli. There are also places for bowlers and
golfers. Football and baseball players, as well as golfers, have the
opportunity for winter training at the Kajaani ball hall. The city also
maintains an extensive network of trails for cross-country skiing
enthusiasts, in winter there is a trail connection to Vuokatti's
Katikulta and Vuokatinvaara's cross-country trails when the ice
conditions permit.
In ice hockey, Kajaani is represented by
Kajaani Hokki, who won Mestis in 2007. The flagship of baseball in
Kajaani is Kajaani Pallokerho. In football, the reputation of Kajaani's
men is maintained by AC Kajaani, FC Tarmo, Kajaani Haka, Kajaani
Palloliijat and the newest newcomer, Spartak. The women's football team
is FC Wimma, founded at the end of 2007.
In floorball, Kajaan is
represented by Papas, who played in the 2013-2014 season in the 2nd
division in the Northern Finland section. They play in Kajaanihalli.
The Kajaani Riding Club also operates in Kajaani, which is the
riding club awarded by the Young Suomi Seal Society. The club has been
selected several times as the best riding club in Finland. The Kajaani
Horse Hobby Center in Kuluntalahti cooperates with KRS. Kuluntalahti has
two arenas, the Kajaani trotting track, two large sand fields, a large
crushed gravel field, cross-country riding opportunities, and round
fences.
There are several dance and gymnastics clubs in Kajaani,
such as Kajaani Elo, Kajaani Casamba, Kajaani Dance and Kajaani
Gymnastic.
Kajaani Honka is a basketball breeding club whose
representative team plays in the III division.