Kitee (Finnish: [ˈkiteː]; Swedish: Kides) is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of Joensuu and about 175 kilometres (109 mi) northeast of Lappeenranta. The municipality has a population of 9,397 (31 December 2025)[2] and covers an area of 1,724.41 square kilometres (665.80 sq mi) of which 275.61 km2 (106.41 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 7.49 inhabitants per square kilometre (19.4/sq mi).

Kitee
Kides
Town
Kiteen kaupunki
Kides stad
Kitee Church
Kitee Church
Coat of arms of Kitee
Location of Kitee in Finland
Location of Kitee in Finland
Map
Interactive map of Kitee
Coordinates: 62°06′N 030°08′E / 62.100°N 30.133°E / 62.100; 30.133
Country Finland
RegionNorth Karelia
Sub-regionCentral Karelia
Charter1631
City rights1992
Government
  Town managerKirsi Hämäläinen
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
  Total
1,724.41 km2 (665.80 sq mi)
  Land1,253.82 km2 (484.10 sq mi)
  Water275.61 km2 (106.41 sq mi)
  Rank57th largest in Finland
Population
 (2025-12-31)[2]
  Total
9,397
  Rank102nd largest in Finland
  Density7.49/km2 (19.4/sq mi)
Population by native language
  Finnish91.2% (official)
  Others8.8%
Population by age
  0 to 1411.2%
  15 to 6451.8%
  65 or older37%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Websitewww.kitee.fi/en/web/eng Edit this at Wikidata

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neighbouring municipalities are Parikkala, Rääkkylä, Savonlinna and Tohmajärvi.

History

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Kitee is known as the ''moonshine city of Finland'' due to its legal and illegal moonshine Finnish: Pontikka manufacturing.

Villages

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  • Haapasalo
  • Haarajärvi
  • Hammaskallio
  • Heinoniemi
  • Jaakkima
  • Juurikka
  • Kantosyrjä
  • Kiteenkylä
  • Kiteenlahti
  • Kontiola
  • Kunonniemi
  • Lahdenkylä
  • Leinovaara
  • Loukunvaara
  • Misola
  • Muljula
  • Niinikumpu
  • Nivunki
  • Närsäkkälä
  • Ojamäki
  • Piimäjärvi
  • Potoskavaara
  • Puhos
  • Puhossalo
  • Päätye
  • Riihijärvi
  • Rokkala
  • Ruppovaara
  • Satulavaara
  • Suoparsaari
  • Suorlahti
  • Särkijärvi
  • Säynejärvi
  • Taipale
  • Tasapää
  • Tolosenmäki
  • Varmoniemi
  • Välivaara

Sports

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The men's pesäpallo club Kiteen Pallo -90 competes in the Superpesis national league, playing at Shore Field.

Notable people

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Population growth slowed down in 2025". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 1 April 2026. ISSN 2243-3627. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  3. "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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