Every design for Sievi

Sievi takes its name from an esker. In the local dialect sievä meant smooth, and the word described the sandy ridge where the farm of Sievi stood, long before the parish grew around it. Those gravel ridges once gave the place its character, though much of the sand has since been dug away.

The municipality sits in the south-west of North Ostrobothnia, right on the border with Central Ostrobothnia, with Kannus, Ylivieska, Nivala and Toholampi among its neighbours. The Vääräjoki, a western branch of the Kalajoki, flows through it from south-east to north-west, and the land on either side is gently rolling forest and mire. Roughly half of Sievi is bog, most of it pine-covered, and the Pesänneva area is protected. There are no big lakes, only small ones such as Iso-Juurikka and Saarijärvi, and Huuhankallio is the highest point. When the railway arrived, Asemakylä and Kukonkylä grew into busy timber yards, and industry has stayed: Sievi is among the most industrialised municipalities in Finland.

In the centre, Sievin Kirkkopuisto, the church park, gives the village its green centre and the Villenjärven Puistoalue offers a green break. Follow the river valley home and the wide sky over the mires tells you that you have arrived.