North Karelia

North Karelia
Pohjois-Karjalan maakunta
landskapet Norra Karelen
Region

Flag
Coat of arms

North Karelia on a map of Finland
Coordinates: 63°00′N 30°00′E / 63.000°N 30.000°E / 63.000; 30.000Coordinates: 63°00′N 30°00′E / 63.000°N 30.000°E / 63.000; 30.000
Country Finland
Historical province Karelia
Area
 • Total 21,584.41 km2 (8,333.79 sq mi)
Population (2009)
 • Total 166,500
 • Density 7.7/km2 (20/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code FI-13
NUTS 133
Regional bird Cuckoo
Regional fish Lake salmon
Regional flower Prickly rose
Website pohjois-karjala.fi

North Karelia (Finnish: Pohjois-Karjala; Swedish: Norra Karelen) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, Northern Savonia (Pohjois-Savo), Southern Savonia (Etelä-Savo) and South Karelia, as well as Russia (Republic of Karelia).

The city of Joensuu is the capital of North Karelia.

North Karelia is renowned among public health officials.[1] In the 1960s Finland led industrialized nations in heart disease mortality rates; North Karelia had Finland's highest incidence. In 1972 a long-term project was undertaken which targeted this risk in North Karelia.[2] The resulting improvement in public health is still considered remarkable, a model for the rest of the nation.[3]

Historical province

Municipalities

The region of North Karelia is made up of 13 municipalities, of which five have city status (marked in bold).

Heraldry

The coat of arms of North Karelia is composed of the arms of Karelia.

Education

Institutions of higher education in North Karelia include:


Politics

Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in North Karelia:

References

  1. ↑ "The North Karelia Project: 30 years successfully preventing chronic diseases" (PDF). International Diabetes Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  2. ↑ Puska, P; Salonen, JT; Nissinen, A; Tuomilehto, J; Vartiainen, E; Korhonen, H; Tanskanen, A; Rönnqvist, P; Koskela, K; Huttunen, J. "Change in risk factors for coronary heart disease during 10 years of a community intervention programme (North Karelia project)" (PDF). Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 287: 1840–4. doi:10.1136/bmj.287.6408.1840. PMC 1550066. PMID 6423038. After the second world war cardiovascular diseases, predominantly coronary heart disease, became the leading public health problem in most of the industrialised world. Mortality statistics and other studies showed that in the 1960s the highest heart disease mortality rates were observed in Finland, predominantly in men. Within Finland the highest rates were registered in eastern Finland and were particularly high in the county of North Karelia.
  3. ↑ "THE NORTH KARELIA PROJECT: FROM NORTH KARELIA TO NATIONAL ACTION". National Institute for Health and Welfare (Finland). In first five years of the North Karelia Project, for example, most of the reduction in cigarette smoking took place in the first year of the programme; most hypertensive individuals who brought their blood pressure under control achieved this by the end of the third year; dietary changes took place gradually over a five-year period; and, as noted earlier, at the end of five years, a net reduction in risk-factor levels was observed. Concerning mortality, CHD incidence and mortality rates started to decline surprisingly quickly after the start of the intervention in North Karelia. In the rest of the country, a similar decline started several years later. Thus a significant net change in favour of North Karelia was observed, especially in 1974 to 1979 (Salonen et al, 1983). Thereafter, although the decline in North Karelia continued, the net decline was gradually reduced. Thus maximal difference in favour of the intervention area was observed some 5-8 years after its start (Puska et al, 1995). For cancer mortality, a net reduction in favour of North Karelia could be observed much later, i.e., 5 to 10 years after the intervention commenced.
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