Kajaani

Kajaani [ˈkɑjɑːni] (Swedish: Kajana) is a city in central Finland with 36,567 inhabitants as of 31 December 2020.

It is situated on the Kajaaninjoki River, which flows in a northwesterly direction into the Oulujärvi (German: "Oulusee"), whose outflow in turn is formed by the Oulujoki. Kajaani is the centre of the Kainuu landscape. Elias Lönnrot, the author of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, worked in Kajaani as a medical officer and undertook his research trips to Karelia from here. Since the incorporation of the municipality of Vuolijoki in 2007, the city area has covered 2265.5 square kilometres. Finnish is the only language spoken in the city.

Kajaani, like many other Finnish towns, was founded in 1651 by the Swedish Governor General Per Brahe. At that time, the trade in wood tar was of great importance. This was transported in tar barrels via the Oulujärvi and Oulujoki to the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia near Oulu, where it was then shipped to the whole of Europe to be used for sealing ship joints (kalfatern).

Sights in the town include the market square with the tiny wooden town hall, the ruins of Kajaaninlinna Castle (17th century) on the small river island of Linnasaari, and the church from 1896. In the immediate vicinity of Kajaani are the ski resort of Vuokatti, the picture church of Paltaniemi and the home of the Finnish poet Eino Leino (19th/20th century).

Today, the timber industry is an important economic pillar. Kajaani airport is located 8 kilometres north of the city.

Education and science

The city runs the Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (KAMK), a university of applied sciences founded in 1992. It offers courses in business, sports, nursing, tourism, engineering and computer science in Finnish and partly in English. Cooperation with the University of Oulu takes place in some areas. A total of 9 Bachelor's programmes are offered in Finnish, 4 Bachelor's programmes in English, five Master's programmes in Finnish and one Master's programme in English. Noteworthy are programs in e-sports and game development. There are currently 2200 students enrolled at KAMK. KAMK has numerous university partnerships worldwide, in German-speaking countries for example FH Joanneum (A), FH Kufstein (A), FH Technikum Kärnten (A), Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) (D), Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences (D), University of Bayreuth (D), Hochschule Bremen (D), Hochschule Harz (FH) (D), Hochschule Heilbronn (D), Hochschule Neu-Ulm (D), Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (D), Westsächsische Hochschule (D), Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (D), Hochschule Landshut (D), Hochschule Kempten (D), Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (D).

CEMIS - Centre for Measurement and Information Systems is a joint venture of the Universities of Oulu, Jyväskylä, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. and CSC - IT Centre for Science Ltd. and KAMK. It provides measurement and IT solutions for the cleantech sector and for sports, well-being and healthcare.

The government-run Kainuu Music Institute was founded in 1957 and is part of the Kaukametsä Congress and Cultural Centre. Music and dance (ballet) are taught. In addition to Kajaani, teaching is provided at Hyrynsalmi, Paltamo, Puolanka, Ristijärvi, Suomussalmi, Vaala and Vuolijoki. The Kajaani Public Library is located on Kauppakatu Street and has free internet access and a mobile library service.

Twinning

• Sweden Östersund, Sweden, since 1943
• Russia Rostov-on-Don, Russia, since 1956
• Germany Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Germany, since 1973
• Hungary Nyíregyháza, Hungary, since 1981
• United States Marquette, United States, since 1997
• China People's Republic of Jiujiang, People's Republic of China, since 2006