Paltaniemi

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Paltaniemi

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| settlement_type = Village

| image_skyline = Paltaniemi church.jpg

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| image_caption = Paltaniemi Church from 1726.

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| pushpin_map = Finland

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| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Finland

| coordinates = {{Coord|64|16|51|N|27|39|06|E|region:FI-ES_type:city|display=inline,title}}

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| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Finland

| subdivision_type1 = Region

| subdivision_name1 = Kainuu

| subdivision_type2 = Municipality

| subdivision_name2 = Kajaani

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| unit_pref = Metric

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| area_total_km2 = 2.55

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| population_total = 291

| population_as_of = 31 December 2020

| population_density_km2 = 114,1

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| timezone1 = EET

| utc_offset1 = +2

| timezone1_DST = EEST

| utc_offset1_DST = +3

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Paltaniemi is a village on the shores of Lake Oulujärvi, about {{convert|10|km}} north of the Kajaani's town center in Kainuu, Finland. It has a population of 291 inhabitants (in December 2020).{{cite web | url = https://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/fi/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11s8.px/table/tableViewLayout1/| title = Taajamat väkiluvun ja väestöntiheyden mukaan 31.12.2020| publisher = Statistics Finland| accessdate = 1 October 2022 |language=fi}} The Kajaani Airport is located in the eastern side of the village.

From the 17th century until the end of the 19th century, Paltaniemi was the spiritual center of Kainuu, where the most important priests and officials of the parish lived. Paltaniemi's current wooden church, completed in 1726, is the village's third; the first church was destroyed in an earthquake in 1626 and the second church was burned by the Russians during the Great Wrath in 1716. Paltaniemi belonged to Paltamo municipality until 1954, before the village was incorporated into Kajaanin maalaiskunta.{{cite web|url=https://www.kainuunsanomat.fi/artikkeli/kotiseutuna-kajaani-maanjaristys-tuhosi-ensimmaisen-kirkon-paltaniemella-kirkkoaholla-on-toiminut-erikoinen-elaintarha-197176727/|title=Kotiseutuna Kajaani: Maanjäristys tuhosi ensimmäisen kirkon Paltaniemellä – Kirkkoaholla on toiminut erikoinen eläintarha|first=Tiina|last=Suutari|work=Kainuun Sanomat|date=16 March 2021|access-date=1 October 2022|language=fi}}

Paltaniemi is especially known as the birthplace of the Finnish poet Eino Leino,{{cite web|url=https://www.kainuuneinoleinoseura.fi/paltaniemi-synnyinseutu/|title=Paltaniemi, synnyinseutu|publisher=Kainuun Eino Leino -seura ry|access-date=1 October 2022|language=fi}} and the Eino Leino House museum is located on the site of his former birthplace.{{cite web|url=https://visitkajaani.fi/palvelu/eino-leino-talo/|title=Eino Leino -talo Kajaanin Paltaniemellä|publisher=Visit Kajaani|access-date=1 October 2022|language=fi}} Elias Lönnrot, known as the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, also lived in the village while working as a doctor in Kajaani.{{cite web|url=https://www.kainuunsanomat.fi/artikkeli/nakokulma-elias-lonnrotin-hovelon-aika-196185427/|title=Näkökulma: Elias Lönnrotin Hövelön aika|first=Esko|last=Piippo|work=Kainuun Sanomat|date=28 February 2021|access-date=1 October 2022|language=fi}} The German zoologist {{ill|Fritz Remmler|fi|Fritz Remmler}}, who also worked as a Gestapo spy, maintained a zoological station in Paltaniemi between 1928 and 1939.