Liperi

Liperi [ˈlipɛri] (Swedish Libelits) is a municipality in eastern Finland with 11,994 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2020). It is located in the North Karelia County, on the border with Savo, about 20 km west of Joensuu.

The municipality is strongly agricultural and is considered the "granary of North Karelia". The numerous lakes and nature make Liperi a popular holiday destination. There are a total of 3000 summer cottages in the municipality. Liperi has benefited from its proximity to Joensuu, the largest city in the region. Unlike many other municipalities in North Karelia, the population growth has been positive. The population is mainly distributed among the three settlement centres of Liperi, Viinijärvi and Ylämylly. The church village of Liperi is located on a peninsula between the lakes Pyhäselkä, Ukonselkä and Heposelkä at the northern end of the Lake Saimaa area. Ylämylly is located in the neighbourhood of Joensuu at the northern end of Lake Pyhäselkä. The road from Joensuu to Kuopio passes Ylämylly as well as Viinijärvi. In addition to the three main villages, the municipality includes the villages of Ahonkylä, Honkalampi, Jyri, Kaarnalampi, Kaatamo, Kompero, Käsämä, Leppälahti, Liperinsalo, Mattisenlahti-Puromäki, Puoliväli, Ruokalahti, Salokylä, Tutjunniemi and Vaivio-Härkinvaara.

The etymology of the name Liperi is not entirely clear. It probably comes from the Russian word липа lipa for "linden tree". The Lutheran parish of Liperi was founded as early as 1630. It initially also included the parishes of Kuusjärvi (Outokumpu), Kontiolahti, Kaavi and Polvijärvi. The four ends of the red recross in Liperi's coat of arms represent these parishes, which broke away from Liperi in the 19th century.

Liperi maintains community partnerships with Orsa (Sweden), Saku (Estonia), Rendalen (Norway), Büchen (Germany) and Sejlflod (Denmark).

Twin Cities

• Sweden Orsa, Sweden

Coat of arms

Description of the coat of arms: In the silver shield floats a red re-cross.