Paltamo

From Freepedia

Paltamo is a municipality of Finland.

It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of 4,220 (2003) and covers an area of 1,134.14 km² of which 215.57 km² is water. The population density is 4.6 inhabitants per km². There are two built-up areas in the municipality: Kontiomäki and Paltamo. Kontiomäki has 600 inhabitants.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

Paltamo was first inhabited 8,500 years ago. The most sophisticated finding yet has been a weapon shaped like a bear's head. In 1552 king Gustav Vasa gave an order in which the areas of the Lake Oulu were to be inhabited. 140 families left there. In 1555 it was counted that there were 133 families living in Paltamo. The picture church of Paltamo was built in 1726 by Johan Simonpoika Knubb. It was the fourth church on the site. One of the most important persons in the Finnish history of literature —Eino Leino— was born in Hövelö in 1878. Today Paltamo is one of the slowly declining municipalities of Finland.

Heraldry

As a word in the Finnish language, the word paltamo means a tar boat, which is the reason the coat of arms of Paltamo has three black tar boats on a golden background.