Puumala

Puumala is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
The main road route through the region is route 62, which connects to Mikkeli to the north and Imatra to the south. Until the year 1995 a cable ferry connected the two sides of Puumalansalmi-strait. In 1995, a bridge replaced the ferry. The bridge is a very dominant structure when looking Puumala town center from a distance.
Puumala has relatively good services compared to the amount of population. In the town center is situated a post office, an Alko store, a kiosk, several supermarkets and a few restaurants. The reason for the survival of these entrepreneurs is the arrival of summer inhabitants who triple the population of Puumala during the season
In June 1788, Swedish soldiers wearing uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army, staged an attack against the town. This would allow King Gustav III to declare a defensive war against the Russian Empire, as Swedish law prohibited starting offensive wars without approval by the Riksdag.
The Puumala virus is named after this place as it was first isolated from samples from the Puumala area.