Rantsila
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rantsila is a municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 2,079 (2003) and covers an area of 746.32 km² of which 15.93 km² is water. The population density is 2.8 inhabitants per km².
The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The municipality has previously also been known as "Frantsila" in Swedish documents, but is today referred to as "Rantsila" also in Swedish.[1]
During the Finnish War (1808-1809), which resulted in Finland being ceded to the Russian Empire, the last battle engaged within Finland was held in the Kerälä village of Rantsila, between the Russian and Swedish-Finnish armies. General J.A. Sandels was perhaps the most highly respected commander of the Finnish troops, and in honour of him and his noble and highly renowned horse Bijou, an equestrian statue was erected in the center of Rantsila in 1989.