Sotkamo

Sotkamo is a municipality of Finland, located in the Kainuu region about east of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu. Vuokatti, in west of Sotkamo, is the most populous village in the municipality and also a popular skiing resort. The Hiidenportti National Park is located in the municipality.
In sports, Sotkamo is known for its Finnish baseball team, Sotkamon Jymy.
One of the major landmarks of Sotkamo is the sandy beach of Hiukka, which locates by the lake Iso Sapsojärvi, just beside the Sotkamo center. In Vuokatti ski center you can find the lake Nuasjärvi and the Vuokatti Hill.
History.
Sotkamo has grown beside a water route formed by a continuous band of lakes and rivers. The waters of the Sotkamo route run through Kajaaninjoki into Oulujärvi and finally to the Baltic Sea, but in the past the waterways also created an important commercial route to White Sea in the east. The same water route has been used by soldiers of Russia, Sweden and Denmark to rob and ravage this remote countryside for centuries. The name Sotkamo comes either from the Finnish word "sotku" which means a mess and refers to the obscure water route, or from the word "sotka" which was a general name for water birds in ancient Finnish and now designates the common goldeneye.
During the 19th century Sotkamo was visited by notable Finnish artists such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela and Hugo Simberg.
On November 17, 2007 first pictures of the Kern arc were made in the town of Sotkamo by Marko Mikkilä.
Delimitation and population.
The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .
Villages.
Alasotkamo, Heinämäki, Halmetvaara, Jormaskylä, Juholankylä, Korholanmäki, Kontinjoki, Laakajärvi, Losovaara, Naapurinvaara, Nuasjärvi, Ontojoki, Paakinmäki, Pohjavaara, Riekinranta, Sipinen, Sipola, Soidinvaara, Sumsa, Suovaara, Tipasoja, Torinkylä, Tuhkakylä, Vuokatti, Ylisotkamo, Ärväänkylä, Maanselkä.
Economy.
Beside tourism, mining is important for the economy of Sotkamo. One of the largest nickel deposits in Europe is located in Talvivaara where the Talvivaara Mining Company started its operation in late 2008. Also Mondo Minerals mines talc in Lahnaslampi.