Kuopio

Kuopio is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of 122,615, which makes it the 8th most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cultural hubs of Eastern Finland. At the end of 2018, its urban area had a population of 89,307.Kuopio has a total area of 4,326.35 square kilometres, of which 719.85 km2 is water and half is forest. Though the city's population is spread out 77/km2, the city's urban areas are populated comparably densely, making Kuopio Finland's second-most densely populated city.

Kuopio is known nationwide as one of the most important study cities and centers of attraction and growth. The city's history has been characterized by several municipality mergers since 1969, as a result of which Kuopio now includes much countryside; Kuopio's population surpassed 100,000 when the town of Nilsiä joined the city at the beginning of 2013.