Kestila
Kestilä [ ˈkɛstilæ ] is a former municipality with around 1,600 inhabitants in northern Finland . At the beginning of 2009 it merged with the municipalities of Piippola , Pulkkila and Rantsila to form the new municipality of Siikalatva .
Kestilä is located on the middle course of the Siikajoki River , about 90 km away between the cities of Oulu and Kajaani .
Since 1845 Kestilä has been an independent evangelical parish; the village's wooden church was built in 1855. The political municipality of Kestilä has existed since 1867 and, in addition to the parish of Kestilä, includes the towns of Hyvölänranta, Mäläskä, Järvikylä, Leiviskänranta, Pihkala and Väyrylänsaari.
A large part of the community area is taken up by pine forests and swamps, and arable farming is also practiced on both sides of the river. The Siikajoki flows through the municipality in a wide arc and flows in the southwest of the municipality into the reservoir Uljuan tekojärvi ; the dam wall, like most of the lake, is located in the neighboring municipality of Pulkkila .
In 1950 the community had around 4,000 inhabitants, today there are only around 1,600. Many families emigrated from the structurally weak and quite remote region to Sweden or to Finnish metropolitan areas. The largest employers today are the municipal administration, the Kestilä open correctional facility and agriculture and forestry.
Significant sons Kestiläs are the opera singer Raimo Laukka, the harmonica player Jarmo Tinkala and Marko Lämsä, the 2006 Finnish Tango King was crowned.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Helsingin Sanomat : Uusi Siikalatvan kunta sai sinetin Pohjois-Pohjanmaalla , February 25, 2008 (Finnish)
Coordinates: 64 ° 21 ' N , 26 ° 17' E