The town is the Finnish national kantele village. It is also known for the Haapavesi Folk Music Festival which gathers folkmusicians together.
Haapavesi is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of 6,670 and covers an area of 1,086.11 square kilometres (419.35 sq mi) of which 36.41 km2 (14.06 sq mi) is water. Neighbour municipalities are Haapajärvi, Kärsämäki, Nivala, Oulainen, Raahe, Siikalatva and Ylivieska.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Nature
The landscape of the northern and southern part of Aspen Water is dominated by extensive marshlands . The central part of the municipality is a more varied, mountainous terrain enlivened by water bodies. The residential and field areas are concentrated in the central part of the municipality along the Pyhäjoki River.
The highest elevation of the municipality is Korkattivuori (186 m) on the northeast side of Lake Korkattijärvi near the church village-Pulkkila road.
About two-thirds of the municipality’s forest lands have been marshy. There are almost 30% of the municipality’s area, which is almost devoid of trees . The largest of the Neva are Piipsanneva on the eastern border of the municipality, Haaponeva south of Pirnesjärvi and Susineva in the southeastern part of the municipality. In addition to Korkattijärvi, Rytkyjärvi and Haapajärvi, the largest lakes are Iso and Pieni Vatjusjärvi to the south of the church village and Osmanki and Ainali to the north of the church village. Osmanki and Ainali are among the best bird lakes in Finland.
Education
The educational institutions located in Haapavesi include Haapavesi Vocational College , Jokihelmi College , Haapavesi College and Haapavesi High School .
There are several primary schools in Haapavesi. Almost every village has its own school. The schools in the center of Haapavesi are the Mäkirinte school and the Hyttikallio school. Both of these schools have several hundred students as well as staff and teachers. Haapavesi junior high school is located next to the Mäkirinte school.
Villages
Ainali , Aittokylä, Alasydänmaa , Etelälahti, Hops, Karhukangas , Karsikas, Kirkonkylä, Koivikonperä , Korkatti , Kytökylä , Käräjäoja, Leppioja, Metsonperä, Mieluskylä , Myllyperä, Ojakylä, Ollala, Ollilanperä, Rytkynkä.
The largest employers
The largest employers in the Haapavesi area are BM Haapavesi Oy, Oy Darekon Ltd, Hasa, Agronic Oy, M-Filter Ab, the Siika-Pyhäjoki area education consortium and Valio .
