North Karelia

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

The city of Joensuu is the capital of North Karelia.

North Karelia is renowned among public health officials. 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. The resulting improvement in public health is still considered remarkable, a model for the rest of the nation.

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

Joensuu sub-region:
 * Ilomantsi (5,693)
 * Joensuu (74,475)
 * Juuka (5,355)
 * Kontiolahti (14,104)
 * Liperi (12,288)
 * Outokumpu (7,396)
 * Polvijärvi (4,772)

Central Karelia sub-region: Pielinen Karelia sub-region:
 * Kitee (9,083)
 * Rääkkylä (2,528)
 * Tohmajärvi (4,975)
 * Lieksa (12,568)
 * Nurmes (8,358)
 * Valtimo (2,438)

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

Education
Institutions of higher education in North Karelia include: Both of these institutions are found in Joensuu.
 * University of Eastern Finland
 * North Karelia University of Applied Sciences

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


 * Social Democratic Party 26.4%
 * Centre Party 26.2%
 * True Finns 23.1%
 * National Coalition Party 10.5%
 * Green League 5.4%
 * Left Alliance 4.2%
 * Christian Democrats 2.8%