| Puumala | |
| Official Name: | Finnish: Puumalan kunta Swedish: Puumala kommun |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Coordinates: | 61.525°N 39°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Finland |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Southern Savonia |
| Subdivision Type2: | Sub-region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Mikkeli sub-region |
| Leader Title: | Municipal manager |
| Leader Name: | Matias Hildén |
| Established Title: | Charter |
| Established Date: | 1868 |
| Motto: | Finnish: Saimaan kaunein, Suomen kuumin. (en|The most beautiful in Saimaa, the hottest in Finland.)[1] |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +02:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +03:00 |
| Website: | www.puumala.fi |
Puumala (pronounced as /fi/) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of [2] and covers an area of NaNPuumala}} of which NaNPuumala}} is water. The population density is NaNPuumala.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The main road route through the region is route 62, which connects to Mikkeli to the north and Imatra to the south. Until the year 1995 a cable ferry connected the two sides of Puumalansalmi-strait. In 1995, a 781adj=midNaNadj=mid bridge replaced the ferry. The bridge is a very dominant structure when looking Puumala town center from a distance.
Puumala has relatively good services compared to the amount of population. In the town center is situated a post office, an Alko store, a kiosk, several supermarkets and a few restaurants. The reason for the survival of these entrepreneurs is the arrival of summer inhabitants who triple the population of Puumala during the season.
In June 1788, Swedish soldiers wearing uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army, staged an attack against the town. This would allow King Gustav III to declare a defensive war against the Russian Empire, as Swedish law prohibited starting offensive wars without approval by the Riksdag.
The subject of Puumala's coat of arms refers to the local history: in the Treaty of Åbo in 1743, Puumala became a border parish, but due to its strategic location, the narrow Puumalansalmi has been the scene of several battles since the 16th century, which the flaming bombshells on the coat of arms refer to. The coat of arms was designed by Tapio Vallioja, and the Puumala municipal council approved it at its meeting on September 24, 1962. The Ministry of the Interior approved the coat of arms for use on April 18, 1963.[3] [4]
The Puumala virus is named after this place as it was first isolated from samples from the Puumala area.