Keitele is located in an economic area called Upper-Savo. It is 100 kilometres northwest of Kuopio and it has some 2,700 inhabitants. Keitele was founded in 1879, and it is a part of Kuopio-province. The whole area of the Keitele-municipality is 577,85 qkm, of which land is 481,88 qkm.

Keitele is easy to get to as it lies on the popular tourist route, the Blue Highway. This highway (KT 77) begins in Norway, on the Atlantic coast, and runs via Keitele and Pielavesi right the way across to the Karelian Republic. You can now travel to Keitele by boat, as well, following the completion of the Keitele Canal. Opened in 1993, the canal links Kansallisvesi with the Päijänne waterway. And yachtsmen sailing into Keitele can literally cast anchor right in the centre of the village.

There are not even many cottages in this area. Nilakka ranks among the top 20 Finnish lakes in size and is a great favourite with fishermen. The most common fish are pikeperch, whitefish, pike and perch. It will not therefore come as any surprise to find plenty of fish on the Keitele menu.

Keitele offers you typical Finnish scenery with imposing ridges. The length of the shoreline in Keitele is 216 kilometres. The largest lakes are called Nilakka and Koutajärvi.

The sights of Keitele:
House museum (017) 273 100, Keitele summer theatre, Church, Dance pavilion, Orthodox chapel (017) 858 373, Textiles shed (017) 273 1151.

Distances: Kuopio 100 km Nearest railwaystation 85 km (Siilinjärvi) Rissala-airport 100 km Helsinki 430 km