Introduction
For the 2007 film titled Lieksa! in Finnish, see The Matriarch (film).
Town in North Karelia, FinlandLieksaTownLieksan kaupunkiLieksa stadTown center of Lieksa
FlagCoat of armsLocation of Lieksa in FinlandInteractive map of LieksaCoordinates: 63°19′N 030°01′E / 63.317°N 30.017°E / 63.317; 30.017Country FinlandRegionNorth KareliaSub-regionPielinen KareliaCharter1973Government • Town managerPirre Seppänen Area (2018-01-01) • Total4,067.60 km2 (1,570.51 sq mi) • Land3,417.86 km2 (1,319.64 sq mi) • Water649.14 km2 (250.63 sq mi) • Rank15th largest in FinlandPopulation (2025-12-31) • Total9,846 • Rank97th largest in Finland • Density2.88/km2 (7.5/sq mi)Population by native language • Finnish93.2% (official) • Others6.8%Population by age • 0 to 149.9% • 15 to 6452% • 65 or older38.1%Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET) • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)Websitewww.lieksa.fi
A railway station building in Lieksa
Lieksa (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈlie̯ksɑ]) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 9,846 (31 December 2025) and covers an area of 4,067.60 square kilometres (1,570.51 sq mi) of which 649.14 km2 (250.63 sq mi) is water. The population density is 2.88 inhabitants per square kilometre (7.5/sq mi).
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
The town of Lieksa was established in 1973 when the Market town of Lieksa and the Municipality of Pielisjärvi were consolidated.
Geography
[edit]
Neighbouring municipalities are Ilomantsi, Joensuu, Juuka, Kontiolahti, Kuhmo and Nurmes.
Populated places[edit]
Populated places within Lieksa include:
Koli
Mätäsvaara
Vieki
Climate[edit]
Lieksa has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc), 0.7°C away from the threshold of the humid continental climate. Lieksa has more continental characteristics than most of the Nordics and Finland, making it prone to extreme temperatures, especially in winter. In summer temperatures regularly exceed 20.0 °C (68.0 °F), and the highest temperature ever recorded was 35.6 °C (96.1 °F) in July 1934. Also, during the Heatwave of 2010, the temperature in Lieksa reached 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) degrees. In winter, the snow cover is usually around 60 cm deep. On a typical winter night, the temperature drops to around −15.0 °C (5.0 °F) and readings as low as −30.0 °C (−22.0 °F) are not unusual. The coldest temperature ever observed in Lieksa was −47.0 °C (−52.6 °F) in December 1919.
Climate data for Lieksa, 1991-2020 normals, extremes 1916-present
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
6.7(44.1)
6.6(43.9)
11.6(52.9)
23.6(74.5)
30.2(86.4)
31.8(89.2)
35.6(96.1)
31.9(89.4)
25.9(78.6)
18.4(65.1)
10.9(51.6)
7.6(45.7)
35.6(96.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
−6(21)
−5.5(22.1)
−0.1(31.8)
6.2(43.2)
13.7(56.7)
18.8(65.8)
21.7(71.1)
19.2(66.6)
13.3(55.9)
5.8(42.4)
0.1(32.2)
−3.4(25.9)
7.0(44.6)
Daily mean °C (°F)
−9.4(15.1)
−9.4(15.1)
−4.7(23.5)
1.5(34.7)
8.4(47.1)
13.8(56.8)
16.6(61.9)
14.3(57.7)
9.3(48.7)
3.2(37.8)
−2(28)
−6.2(20.8)
3.0(37.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
−13.4(7.9)
−13.9(7.0)
−9.6(14.7)
−3.2(26.2)
2.8(37.0)
8.3(46.9)
11.4(52.5)
9.6(49.3)
5.4(41.7)
0.7(33.3)
−4.6(23.7)
−9.4(15.1)
−1.3(29.6)
Record low °C (°F)
−41.8(−43.2)
−42.4(−44.3)
−38.8(−37.8)
−21.4(−6.5)
−15.0(5.0)
−6.5(20.3)
−1.5(29.3)
−2.0(28.4)
−7.8(18.0)
−21.5(−6.7)
−30.5(−22.9)
−47.0(−52.6)
−47.0(−52.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
55(2.2)
46(1.8)
43(1.7)
37(1.5)
55(2.2)
75(3.0)
93(3.7)
83(3.3)
76(3.0)
76(3.0)
67(2.6)
66(2.6)
772(30.6)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)
21
18
16
12
13
14
14
16
17
18
20
22
201
Source 1: FMI
Source 2: FMI (record highs and lows)
