Kuopio is a city in Finland and the regional center of
Pohjois-Savo, located on the shores of Kallavesi in the province of
Pohjois-Savo. The city has a population of about 119,000 and covers
an area of 4,326.35 km², of which 1,085.34 km² are water bodies.
The center of Kuopio is mostly located on Kuopionniemi, which
protrudes south from Kallavesi, which divides Kallavesi into two
almost separate parts. The population density is 36.74 inhabitants /
km². Half of the area is forest, and most of the water area is
Kallavesi. Kuopio is an archipelago association in accordance with
the Archipelago Act. Kuopio is the fifth largest municipality in
Finland in terms of area after Rovaniemi, Pudasjärvi, Kuusamo and
Kuhmo.
At the end of 2018, the population of the city center
was 89,307.
Kuopio is the center and largest city of the
Eastern Finland Empire. Kuopio's neighboring municipalities are
Lapinlahti, Iisalmi, Leppävirta, Rautavaara, Siilinjärvi,
Suonenjoki, Tervo, Pielavesi, Kaavi, Juuka and Tuusniemi. Kuopio was
the capital of Kuopio County until 1997, when Kuopio County and the
counties of North Karelia and Mikkeli were merged into the province
of Eastern Finland, whose capital became Mikkeli.
Kuopio is
known nationwide as one of the most significant study cities and
centers of attraction and growth. On the other hand, the history of
Kuopio since the end of the 1960s has been marked by several
municipal associations, as a result of which Kuopio now also has a
lot of countryside. When Maaninka joined Kuopio at the beginning of
2015, Kuopio became Finland's largest milk producer community and
Finland's second largest beef producer community. In addition, at
the end of the 2010s, Kuopio was marked by numerous large projects
and projects, which are the largest in the city nationwide
immediately after the Helsinki metropolitan area. With the large
tourist center in Tahko, Kuopio has also grown into a major tourist
city.
According to Kuntarating in 2017, Kuopio has the most
satisfied residents among the 20 largest cities, and according to
the 2018 survey, Kuopio is the best city for housing investors. In
the image of municipalities in the 2018 survey, Kuopio is the second
largest city. In a survey published by the Confederation of Finnish
Industries EK in February 2019, the Kuopio region ranked 14th, which
is the second highest ranking in Eastern Finland. In the survey,
which measures the satisfaction of business representatives, the
Kuopio region ranks higher than the national average by all
measures. The overall investment is pulled down by the weak
performance of the private sector in the statistical comparison,
which takes into account the level of entrepreneurship, the number
of enterprises in relation to the population and the number of
start-ups in relation to the total enterprise stock.