Puolanka

Puolanka [ˈpuɔlɑŋkɑ] (Swedish historically Puolango) is a municipality in northeastern Finland. It is located about 125 kilometres (125 mi) northeast of Oulu.

The extremely sparsely populated municipality is mostly covered by forests and swamps, in which few small settlements are lost: Aittokylä, Askankylä, Auho, Joukokylä, Kivarinjärvi, Kotila, Lylykylä, Puokio, Puolanka, Rasi, Suolijärvi, Väyrylä and Yli-Oterma, all of which have been affected by massive rural exodus for decades and are visibly aging. In January 2007, the municipality had the third highest unemployment rate of all Finnish municipalities, at 21.5 percent.

Originally, the area of the parish belonged to the Paltamo parish. In 1764, a chapel parish was established, which was placed under the Hyrynsalmi parish in 1786. However, the construction of the chapel was delayed at first because of disputes over its location. Finally, in 1792, the church building was erected on the shore of Lake Puolankajärvi. After this, the entire chapel community was given the name Puolanka, which originally means "clearing". In 1867 Puolanka was elevated to an independent municipality.

Sights in the forest and lake area include Hepoköngäs, the highest waterfall in Finland at 24 metres, as well as the Kalliuskoski rapids, through which the Kiiminkijoki flows after its outflow from Lake Kivarinjärvi. Puolanka Church is a functionalist building of brick and wood designed by Olavi Sortta. The towerless building has a rectangular ground plan and a steeply pitched roof, thus harking back to the formal language of medieval Finnish stone churches. The current church replaced an old wooden church that burned down in 1949 after being struck by lightning.

Trivia

The place achieved greater notoriety through press reports about the Pessimist Association founded in Puolanka in 2006 and its activities.