Mikkeli is located on the shores ofLake Saimaa, the largestlake in the country, andEurope's fourth largest. Prior to being located within South Savo, the city was inMikkeli Province (until 1997), before becoming part ofEastern Finland Province (1997-2009). The city covers an area of 3,229.57 square kilometres (1,246.94 sq mi), of which 424.7 km2 (164.0 sq mi) is water. Mikkeli is one of the largest towns in the South Savo region, and one of the main hubs in the region'shospital districts, along withSavonlinna.[5]
The earliest signs of human life in Mikkeli are theAstuvansalmi rock paintings inRistiina, dating back to 4100-2000 BCE.[7] The Astuvansalmi is the largest rock painting site in the Nordic countries.[8]
The peacetreaty of Nöteborg in 1323, with which thepogost (church parish) ofSavilahti was transferred from the control ofNovgorod toSweden, is the oldest written record of the settlement in the present region of Mikkeli. The locality received its present name Mikkeli afterArchangelMichael by the early 16th century at the latest.[9]
On 23 January 1597, more than 200 peasant rebels were killed in the parsonage of Kenkävero in part of the largerCudgel War. In the war waged by KingGustav III of Sweden against Russia, theBattle of Porrassalmi took place a few miles south of Mikkeli on 13 June 1789. In the battle the Swedes (Finns) victoriously defended their positions against superior numbers of Russians.
Mikkeli was granted town rights in 1838.[10] The provincial government of the province of Mikkeli that had been established in 1831, moved fromHeinola to Mikkeli in 1843.
In 1918, during theCivil War, the headquarters of theWhite Army were established in Mikkeli.[11] Mikkeli was located in a conservative farming area and it was a White stronghold, but elements of the Russian Army garrison in the area supported the Reds. A major engagement was fought around the railway station at Mäntyharju, about 20 km (12 mi) to the south of Mikkeli, when the Whites blocked a Red thrust coming north out ofKouvola. During theWinter War andContinuation War, the headquarters of the Finnish Army was located in Mikkeli.[12] The Army staff made their base in a local secondary school. At the site of that school is the smallPäämajamuseo (Finnish for 'Headquarters Museum') containing photographs and memorabilia of the era. As a result of serving as the headquarters of the army that was based there, Mikkeli was bombed heavily, but since there was almost no high-rise development at the time the damage was quickly repaired. Architecturally, most of pre-war Mikkeli doesn't exist anymore.
PresidentRisto Ryti (left) and prime ministerJ. W. Rangell (behind Ryti) on their first visit to Marshal Mannerheim (center) at headquarters in Mikkeli in 1941
Wartime Mikkeli is identified withMarshalC. G. E. Mannerheim, the supreme commander of theFinnish Defence Forces and later President of Finland. His personal railway carriage, which he used as a command post during the war, is parked in a siding at Mikkeli Station. It is possible to look inside the carriage through its windows at any time, but public entry to the carriage is permitted only once a year, on Mannerheim's birthday (4 June). The carriage was the venue of Mannerheim's famous 1942 meeting withHitler nearImmola, during which their private conversation was secretly recorded; photographs of this meeting are on display in the carriage. Mannerheim was a regular diner at the Mikkelin Klubi, where his favourite drink wasschnapps.
One of the main museums in the town is theJalkaväkimuseo (Finnish for 'Infantry Museum'), located in one of the former army barracks, close to the University of Applied Sciences.[13] It contains exhibits from the four wars in Finland's modern history – the Civil, Winter, Continuation andLapland Wars. The museum also contains an exhibit dedicated to Finnish war heroLauri Törni.[14]
In 1986, there was ahostage crisis in Mikkeli when a bank robber drove fromHelsinki with three hostages and parked there. When the police shot at the hostage taker's car he detonated explosives contained inside, killing himself and one hostage.
In 1997, there was a province reform, which made Mikkeli the capital of the new province ofEastern Finland. In a separate reform, therural municipality of Mikkeli which had surrounded the town and the municipality ofAnttola were consolidated into Mikkeli in early 2001. The municipality ofHaukivuori was consolidated with Mikkeli on 1 January 2007, and likewise withRistiina andSuomenniemi in 2013.
In 2024, there were plans to establish a sub-staff ofground forces working under the military alliance in Mikkeli following Finland's admission intoNATO.[15][16][17] NATO's Multi-Corps Land Component Command (MCLCC) began operations on 1 September 2025 and its official opening ceremony was held on 3 October 2025.[18][19]
The centre of Mikkeli is located on a low rise, near the shore of abay of LakeSaimaa.[20] There are several smaller lakes in and around the town; the lakes to the east of town belong to theRiver Vuoksi system, while to the west, the town reachesLake Puula, which belongs to the system of theRiver Kymijoki.
In 2022, in addition to educational institutions, Mikkeli's largest employers are the Suur-Savo Cooperative,Rejlers andSavonlinja, and among the companies with the largest turnover are also the subsidiaries ofSuur-Savon Sähkö [fi], Järvi-Suomen Energia and Lumme Energia.[23] Mikkeli's development company Miksei Oy is responsible for the development of business and industry in Mikkeli.[24]
The city of Mikkeli has 51,661 inhabitants, making it the 18th most populous municipality in Finland. TheMikkeli region has a population of 67,923. The city'spopulation density is 20.27 inhabitants per square kilometre (52.5/sq mi).[2]
Population size of Mikkeli (and merged municipalities) 1990–2020[26]
Mikkeli is a monolingualFinnish-speaking municipality. As of 2024[update], the majority of the population, 48,551 persons (93.6%), spoke Finnish as their first language. In addition, the number ofSwedish speakers was 90 persons (0.2%) of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by6.3% of the population.[27] AsEnglish andSwedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 30 different languages are spoken in Mikkeli. The most common foreign languages areRussian (1.4%),Ukrainian (1.1%),Arabic (0.4%) andEstonian (0.3%).[27]
As of 2024[update], there were 3,302 persons with a foreign background living in Mikkeli, or 6% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 3,234, or 6% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Mikkeli was 2,356. Most foreign-born citizens came from the formerSoviet Union,Russia,Estonia andThailand.[27]
The relative share of immigrants in Mikkeli's population is below to the national average. However, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.
In 2023, out of the total population of 51,919; 41,929 people lived inurban areas and 9,524 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 466 people were unknown. The urban population in the municipality was divided between six statistical urban areas as follows:[29]
In 2023, theEvangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 71.4% of the population of Mikkeli. Other religious groups accounted for 1.9% of the population. 26.7% of the population had no religious affiliation.[30]
South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences
A central campus ofSouth-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) is located in Mikkeli and is a major employer in the city. Its history dates back to 1965, when Mikkeli was selected as the site for a new higher education college specializing in professional, engineering and vocational studies, enrolling its first class of students in 1969 while situated in an old Russian Army barracks on the outskirts of town. Purpose-built accommodations have since been added, but the old buildings are still in use, with the student union located in the "Officers' Club" building. The Polytechnic changed its name toMikkeli University of Applied Sciences in 2006 and merged in the beginning of 2017 withKymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences to constitute a new university:South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk).
Mikkeli has a fast road connection to theHelsinki metropolitan area throughFinnish national road 5 andFinnish national road 4, which is a four lane highway. Mikkeli has arailway station on theSavo railway with five trains to and from Helsinki, daily. There are also bus connections to neighboring cities and municipalities and a small local bus transit network within the city limits. Mikkeli also has its ownairport, which however has had no scheduled commercial flights since 2005.
Mikkeli boasts its own concert hall, which is a world class facility built in 1988 to commemorate Mikkeli's 150th anniversary as a town. The concert hall is the home ofSt. Michel Strings chamber orchestra, and also provides the main venue for the annual Mikkeli Music Festival, which attracts musicians and audiences from across Europe.[33] TheMariinsky Opera, led byValery Gergiev, performs there regularly.[33]
Mikkeli is a major holiday resort within theFinnish lakeland area. A well-known and populartravel centre andtheme parkVisulahti is in Mikkeli, located in the shores of Lake Saimaa.[34] Mikkeli is a popular area for summerhouses due to its vast amount of lakes; in 2020, there were over 10,000 summer houses in Mikkeli, the second most in Finland increasing the population during the summer months.[35] A major part of tourism is based on nature and especially lakes.
Due to Mikkeli's role as the headquarter city inWorld War II, the town has several museums dedicated to that period of time. These museums include the Infantry museum, the Lokki Communications Center, and the Headquarters museum.[36]
The annual trotting event St Michel ravit is Mikkeli's largest event with approximately 20 000 spectators.
Hotels are concentrated in the center of Mikkeli. In other areas, there are rental cottages scattered in the smaller villages and countryside.
Jukurit is an ice hockey team from Mikkeli, which competes in the Finnish premier league,Liiga. The team has won sixMestis (second highest league) championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2015).[37]
Mikkeli has two major football teams,Mikkelin Palloilijat (MP) andMikkelin Pallo-Kissat (MiPK). Both of them have played in the Finnish premier league, currently MP is playing on the second highest level and MiPK on the third highest. The former EU commissionerOlli Rehn used to play for MP for 13 years (youth teams 1968–78, first team 1979–82).[40]
TheMikkeli City Council [fi] consists of 51 councillors. The current chairman of the council is Oskari Valtola (NCP).[41] The City Board consists of 11 members and is chaired by Pekka Pöyry (Centre).[42]
^Iltanen, Jussi (2013).Suomen kuntavaakunat. Kommunvapnen i Finland [Finnish municipal coats of arms] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Karttakeskus. pp. 133–134.ISBN9789522660923.
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