Kesälahti facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kesälahti
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Former municipality
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| Kesälahden kunta Kesälahti kommun |
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Location of Kesälahti in Finland
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| Country | Finland | |
| Region | North Karelia | |
| Sub-region | Central Karelia sub-region | |
| Charter | 1873 | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 583.08 km2 (225.13 sq mi) | |
| • Land | 387.89 km2 (149.77 sq mi) | |
| • Water | 195.19 km2 (75.36 sq mi) | |
| Population
(2012)
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| • Total | 2,326 | |
| • Density | 3.9892/km2 (10.3319/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) | |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) | |
| Website | www.kesalahti.fi | |
Kesälahti was a small municipality in Finland. A municipality is like a local government area. It was joined together with a larger town called Kitee on January 1, 2013. This means Kesälahti is no longer a separate municipality.
Kesälahti was located in the eastern part of Finland. It was part of the North Karelia region. In 2012, about 2,326 people lived there. The area covered about 583 square kilometers (225 square miles). A large part of this area, about 195 square kilometers (75 square miles), was water.
The main language spoken in Kesälahti was Finnish. Although it was sometimes called "Kesälax" in Swedish, this name is now considered old-fashioned.
A Look at Kesälahti's History
Kesälahti was first mentioned a long time ago, in 1589. At that time, it was part of a larger church area called Uukuniemi parish. Sometimes, the main church for Uukuniemi was in Kesälahti village. Because of this, the whole parish was sometimes called Kesälahti. However, Uukuniemi was the more common name.
In 1700, Kesälahti became a "chapel community." This meant it had its own small church and priest, but it was still connected to the main Uukuniemi parish.
Becoming an Official Parish
A big change happened in 1721 because of a peace treaty called the Treaty of Nystad. This treaty ended a war called the Great Northern War. As a result of the treaty, some areas, including Uukuniemi, were given to Russia. But Kesälahti was not part of these areas.
Because it was no longer connected to Uukuniemi, Kesälahti became its own official parish in 1728. This meant it had its own independent church and local administration.
Joining Kitee
Many years later, in 2013, Kesälahti joined with the nearby town of Kitee. This was a common change for smaller municipalities in Finland.
