North Karelia
North Karelia is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia.Photo: Ximonic, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Essential Destinations
Top destinations include Joensuu and Kitee.
Joensuu
Joensuu, the second largest city in Eastern Finland and the capital of North Karelia, and at the outfall of the river Pielisjoki. The city centre is on the right bank of the river around the main square, and this is the place to find sights, restaurants, hotels and shops.
Kitee
Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
Kitee is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region, about 65 kilometres south of Joensuu and about 175 kilometres northeast of Lappeenranta.
Lieksa
Lieksa is a town in North Karelia, at the eastern shore of Lake Pielinen. The municipality reaches from the lake to the Russian border.
Destinations to Discover
Explore places such as Outokumpu and Kontiolahti.
Outokumpu
Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
Outokumpu is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region, 48 kilometres west of Joensuu and 92 kilometres east of Kuopio.
Kontiolahti
Photo: Puolitosi, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Kontiolahti is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region, about 20 kilometres north of Joensuu. The municipality has a population of 15,060 and covers an area of 1,029.82 square kilometres of which 230.1 km2 is water.
Ilomantsi
Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
Ilomantsi is a town and municipality in North Karelia, making up the very easternmost part of Finland.
Nurmes
Nurmes is a town and municipality of Finland, located in the county of North Karelia. The town has a population of 8,759 and covers an area of 1,854.78 square kilometres of which 253.7 km2 is water.
Tohmajärvi
Photo: OlliRiikonen, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tohmajärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 3,925 and covers an area of 895.36 square kilometres of which 57.62 km2 is water.
Liperi
Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
Liperi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. Liperi is a community of 11,980 with the growth rate of 83 newcomers in 11 months in 2007.
Heinävesi
Photo: Ypsilon from Finland, CC0.
Heinävesi is a municipality in North Karelia, in the Finnish Lakeland. The municipality is known for its two religious attractions: the monastery of New Valamo and the Lintula Convent.
Valtimo
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Valtimo is a former municipality of Finland. It was merged with the town of Nurmes on 1 January 2020. It was located in the North Karelia region. In 2019, the municipality had a population of 2,140 and covered an area of 838.07 square kilometres, of which 37.75 km.
Rääkkylä
Rääkkylä is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 1,830, which make it the smallest municipality in North Karelia in terms of population.
Juuka
Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
Juuka is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 4,056 and covers an area of 1,846.58 square kilometres of which 344.78 km2 is water.
Polvijärvi
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Polvijärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 3,942 and covers an area of 958.32 square kilometres of which 154.22 km2 is water.
Koli National Park
Photo: Pentti Rautio, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Koli National Park lies in the municipalities of Joensuu, Lieksa and Kontiolahti in North Karelia, Eastern Finland, on the western shore of Lake Pielinen, and covers 3,000 hectares.
North Karelia
- Type: region of Finland with 161,000 residents
- Description: region of Finland
- Also known as: “Norra Karelen”, “North Karelia Region”, “Northern Karelia”, and “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Neighbors: Karelia, North Savonia, South Karelia, and South Savonia
- Location: Finnish Lakeland, Finland, Nordic countries, Europe
- View on OpenStreetMap
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Satellite Map
Discover North Karelia from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Albanian to Yue Chinese—“North Karelia” goes by many names.
- Albanian: “Karelia Veriore”
- Amharic: “ሰሜን ካሬሊያ”
- Arabic: “كاريليا الشمالية”
- Armenian: “Հյուսիսային Կարելիա”
- Asturian: “Carelia del Norte”
- Azerbaijani: “Norra Karelen”
- Azerbaijani: “Şimali Kareliya”
- Balinese: “Karelia Kalér”
- Basque: “Ipar Karelia”
- Belarusian: “Паўночная Карэлія”
- Bengali: “উত্তর কারেলিয়া”
- Bosnian: “Sjeverna Karelija”
- Catalan: “Carèlia Septentrional”
- Cebuano: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Chinese: “Pak Karelia Tōa-khu”
- Chinese: “北卡爾亞拉”
- Chinese: “北卡累利阿区”
- Chinese: “北卡累利阿區”
- Czech: “Severní Karélie”
- Danish: “Norra Karelen”
- Danish: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Dutch: “Noord-Karelië”
- Dutch: “Norra Karelen”
- Dutch: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Esperanto: “Norda Karelio”
- Esperanto: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Estonian: “Põhja-Karjala maakond”
- Estonian: “Põhja-Karjala”
- Finnish: “Norra Karelen”
- Finnish: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Finnish: “Pohjois-Karjalan maakunta”
- Finnish: “Pohjois-Karjalan Maakunta”
- French: “Carélie du Nord”
- French: “Norra Karelen”
- French: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Galician: “Carelia do Norte”
- Georgian: “ჩრდილოეთი კარელია”
- German: “Nordkarelien”
- German: “Norra Karelen”
- German: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Greek: “Βόρεια Καρελία”
- Gujarati: “નોર્થ કેરેલિયા”
- Hausa: “Arewa Karelia”
- Hebrew: “צפון קרליה”
- Hindi: “उत्तरी करेलिया”
- Hungarian: “Észak-Karjala”
- Icelandic: “Norður-Karelía”
- Ido: “Nord-Karelia”
- Inari Sami: “Tave-Kärjil eennâmkodde”
- Inari Sami: “Tave-Kärjil eennâmkodde”
- Inari Sami: “Tave-Kärjil”
- Indonesian: “Karelia Utara”
- Irish: “An Chairéil Thuaidh”
- Italian: “Carelia settentrionale”
- Italian: “Carelia Settentrionale”
- Italian: “Norra Karelen”
- Italian: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Japanese: “北カルヤラ県”
- Japanese: “北カレリア”
- Japanese: “北カレリア地方”
- Javanese: “Karelia Kulon”
- Kannada: “ಉತ್ತರ ಕರೇಲಿಯಾ”
- Karelian: “Pohjas-Karjal”
- Kazakh: “Солтүстік Карелия”
- Kildin Sami: “Таввь Коа̄рьял”
- Kildin Sami: “Таввял Коа̄рьял”
- Kirghiz: “Түндүк Карелия”
- Komi-Permyak: “Похьёйс Карьяла”
- Korean: “북카리알라 지역”
- Korean: “포흐요이스카리알라”
- Kotava: “SuomiaPohjoisKarjalaGola”
- Latin: “Carelia Septentrionalis”
- Latvian: “Ziemeļkarēlija”
- Lithuanian: “Šiaurės Karelija”
- Livvi: “Pohjas-Karjalan muakundu”
- Lombard: “Carelia del Nord”
- Luxembourgish: “Nordkarelien”
- Luxembourgish: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Macedonian: “Северна Карелија”
- Malay: “North Karelia”
- Marathi: “नॉर्थ केरेलिया”
- Mazanderani: “شمالی کارلیا ناحیه”
- Min Nan Chinese: “Pak Karelia Tōa-khu”
- Northern Frisian: “Nuurdkareelien”
- Northern Sami: “Davvi-Gárjil”
- Northern Sami: “Davvi-Gárjila eanangoddi”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “Norra Karelen”
- Norwegian Nynorsk: “Norra Karelen”
- Norwegian Nynorsk: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Norwegian: “Nord-Karelen”
- Norwegian: “Norra Karelen”
- Oromo: “Kaaba Karelia”
- Ossetian: “Цæгат Карели”
- Panjabi: “ਉਤਰੀ ਕੈਰੇਲੀਆ”
- Persian: “کارلیای شمالی”
- Polish: “Karelia Północna”
- Portuguese: “Carélia do Norte”
- Portuguese: “Norra Karelen”
- Portuguese: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Pushto: “شمالي کاريليا”
- Romanian: “Carelia de Nord”
- Russian: “Похйойс-Карьяла”
- Russian: “Северная Карелия”
- Scots: “North Karelie”
- Serbian: “Severna Karelija”
- Serbian: “Sjeverna Karelija”
- Serbian: “Северна Карелија”
- Serbian: “Сјеверна Карелија”
- Serbo-Croatian: “Sjeverna Karelija”
- Sinhala: “උතුරු කරෙලියා”
- Skolt Sami: “Tâʹvv-Kaʹrjjel mäddkåʹdd”
- Skolt Sami: “Tâʹvv-Kaʹrjjel”
- Slovak: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Slovenian: “Severna Karelija”
- Somali: “Woqooyi Karelia”
- Spanish: “Carelia del Norte”
- Spanish: “Norra Karelen”
- Spanish: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Spanish: “Región de Carelia Septentrional”
- Swahili: “Karelia Kaskazini”
- Swedish: “Landskapet Norra Karelen”
- Swedish: “Norra Karelen”
- Swedish: “Pohjois-Karjala”
- Tajik: “Карелияи Шимолӣ”
- Tamil: “வடக்கு கரேலியா”
- Tatar: “Төньяк Карелия”
- Telugu: “నార్త్ కరేలియా”
- Thai: “นอร์ทแคร์เรีย”
- Turkish: “Kuzey Karelya”
- Ukrainian: “Північна Карелія”
- Urdu: “شمالی کاریلیا”
- Uzbek: “Shimoliy Kareliya”
- Vietnamese: “Bắc Karelia”
- Western Panjabi: “اتلا کریلیا”
- Wu Chinese: “北卡累利阿区”
- Yue Chinese: “北卡爾亞拉”
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