Ranua

Ranua [ rɑnuɑ ] is a municipality in northern Finland with 4227 inhabitants ( 31 December 2012).

Geography

Ranua located in the south of Lapland at the border with Northern Ostrobothnia landscape. The nearest major town 82 kilometers north of Rovaniemi. Ranua bordered to the north by the district of Rovaniemi, on the east by Posio, to the south Pudasjärvi and Ii and to the west by Simo and Tervola.

The territory of Ranua is extended with almost 3700 km ² (about a half times of Luxembourg ), but at the same time very sparsely populated: In 4227 population results in a population density of 1.2 inhabitants per square kilometer land area. Scenic Ranua not heard the actual Lapland, but the greater metropolitan area of the Bothnian coastal plain. The municipal area is flat and marshy - about 70 % of the land area Ranuas consists of swamps. The largest lake in Ranua is 90 km ² Simojärvi. He springs from the Simojoki River, which flows through Simo in the Gulf of Bothnia.

The settlement center of the municipality is situated on the shores of Lake Ranuajärvi Kirchdorf Ranua. Here lives half the population Ranuas. The remaining population is distributed over the following scattered villages in the municipality ( population figures for 1998):

• Asmuntti (100 inhabitants)
• Hosio (124 inhabitants)
• Impiö (155 inhabitants)
• Kaisto (69 inhabitants)
• Kelankylä (110 inhabitants)
• Korte (88 inhabitants)
• Kuha (203 inhabitants)
• Kuukasjärvi (71 inhabitants)
• Mauru (259 inhabitants)
• Nikkilä (103 inhabitants)
• Petäjäjärvi (65 inhabitants)

• Peurajärvi (88 inhabitants)
• Pohjalahti - Pitti Järvi (140 inhabitants)
• Portimão (197 inhabitants)
• Putkivaara (86 inhabitants)
• Rovastinaho (259 inhabitants)
• Saariharju (123 inhabitants)
• Sääskilahti (102 inhabitants)
• Saukkojärvi ( Inhabitants )
• Telkkälä (67 inhabitants)
• Tolia (212 inhabitants)

The most important trade of the municipality is crossed by the main road south of 78 Pudasjärvi to Rovaniemi, the Ranua from the north. Made from Kirchdorf daily bus to Rovaniemi, Oulu and Kajaani. The other districts are connected by a sparse road network.

Approximately 9 km north of the church village is run by the community aerodrome Ranua. He has a 1200 m long asphalt runway and is used exclusively by sport pilots. the ICAO code of the airport is EFRU.

Ranua is a possible location for the mining of uranium in Finland. In November 2008, the French company Areva began preparations for exploratory drilling.

Population

End of February 2007 had Ranua 4,616 inhabitants. Like most communities in underdeveloped north and east of Finland is also Ranua affected by the migration to the urban areas of Southern Finland. In the late 1960s the town had about 7000 inhabitants. After the inhabitants consolidated in the 1980s, followed the Finnish economic crisis in the early 1990s a new wave of migration that continues to this day: Since 1993, the population had fallen by an average of 85 per year. The negative population balance is also reflected in the fact that the proportion of over -65s, at 17.2 % is disproportionately high, and women are under-represented with 47.5 % of the population. In Ranua there are numerous holiday homes ( mökki ); particularly during the summer holidays doubled by the population of the municipality by the tourists almost.

Ranua is officially monolingual Finnish speakers. The community belongs to the transition zone between three dialect areas: the language spoken in the Ranua nordösterbottnische dialect is here already in the north in the Lappish Peräpohjola dialects and in the east in the belonging to the group of Savo dialects dialects of the Koillismaa region over.

Policy

As generally in the rural areas of northern Finland, the Centre Party is also in Ranua the strongest political force. In the local elections in 2008, she received more than half of the votes in the parliamentary elections in 2007 it was even close to 70 %. In council, the highest decision-making body for local affairs, it represents 17 of 27 deputies. The second largest group is the local electoral list Parempi Ranua ( " a better Ranua " ) with five seats. The other two major parties of the country, the Social Democrats and the National Coalition Party play with three and two seats hardly matters. The strong in the rest of Lapland Left Alliance managed no longer a place in the council in 2008.

Community director of Ranua is Kimmo Sarapää.

Ranua is twinned with the Norwegian community Balsfiord ( since 1980) and the Japanese community Iwasaki (since 1992).

Coat of arms

Description: Green with a silver for sign foot -shifted wave bar above the floats a silver whipsaw.

Culture and sights

The main attraction of the village is the animal park opened in 1983 by Ranua. With 80,000 visitors a year, he is the most popular destination for families Lapland. The zoo presents Nordic and Arctic species in a natural environment. Among them, in addition to native species such as wolves, brown bears, moose, etc. also the only polar bears in Finland. A total of about 200 animals live in the zoo in 50 species. At the zoo a 3.4 km nature path is connected.

On the banks of Simojärvi is the " Japan House " ( japan italo ), a building in traditional Japanese architecture and interior design, in which exhibitions, courses and lectures are offered to Japanese culture. The complex also has accommodation and is marketed by the community as a conference center of high society.

In Ranua there are two historic village ensembles, which are examples of the northern Finnish architecture of the 18th and 19th century listed historical monument. It is historic farms in the villages Kuha and Kuukasjärvi.

Church

The Lutheran church was Ranua following a decision by the Finnish Senate created in 1899 from parts of the parishes Pudasjärvi, Simo and Rovaniemi, but took until 1917 after the construction of the parish church and parish activity on.

The 1914 parish church was when built according to the plans of Jarl Eklund in the style of the Finnish National Romanticism in rather simple design. It is a small cruciform church with a gable roof in wood construction; The bell tower is built at an angle of transverse and longitudinal ship next to the portal in the entire complex. Built in 1916 adjacent parish now serves as a museum of local history.

As in the whole of Lapland Laestadianism in Ranua is quite strong. Although these revivalist acts within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and thus also under the umbrella of the Protestant church Ranua, but also organizes its own devotions, Bible study groups and youth groups. While the Laestadianism elsewhere has split into numerous groups, the movement in Ranua represents fairly homogeneous; almost all members of the movement belong to the " altlaestadiansistischen " branch. This is one round in Ranua around 900 believers who were sind.1987 organized into six " peace clubs " ( rauhanyhdistys ) caused approximately eight kilometers from the center of the Christian community college Ranua to life, which is headed by a laestadianistichen sponsoring organization. It is named after the folk high schools in Reisjärvi and Jämsä the third laestadianische school's foundation and in the summer venue of one of the three " study meetings " ( opistoseura ) of Altlaestadianismus; the three-day event annually attracts up to 10,000 worshipers.