It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 12,012 (30 June 2015) and covers an area of 4,067.60 square kilometres (1,570.51sqmi) of which 649.14km (250.63sqmi) is water. The population density is 3.51 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.1/sqmi).