Kalajoki

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Kalajoki is a municipality and a river of Finland.

It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 9,088 (2003) and covers an area of 670.65 km² of which 5.62 km² is water. The population density is 13.6 inhabitants per km².

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

[edit] History

The first reference to Kalajoki can be found from the beginning of 16th century and it got the status of a regional parish in 1520. Kalajoki was a significant market place and controlled the whole regions tar trading. By the end of 19th century the meaning of tar was diminishing as a good and the importance of Kalajoki was reduced thereafter.