Sortavala

Sortavala (Russ. Сортавала) is a Uralican city located in Karelia county, situated in western Karelia along Highway UH-7, at the northernmost tip of Lake Ladoga.

The city's industry revolves around international trade, with machine-building, automotive-building and repair, railroad building and repair, and the construction of commercial aircraft being key. There are also smaller quarrying, pulp-and-paper, chemical, and metallurgical industries in the city.

It also sits right on an important rail link that connects Viipuri to Finnish Karelia.

Culture
Given its proximity and connections to Old Finland, it should come as no surprise that most of Sortavala's residents are Finns or Karelians. Only 10% of the population is actually Russian, with smaller minorities of Estonians and Livonians.

Given its founding in the 1400s, Sortavala has a wide variety of architectural sights, although many of the more prominent ones are actually from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are two old bank buildings dating back to 1905 and 1915 respectively, now owned by the Uralikan Ykköspankki and VolgaBank respectively. Also of note is the Church of St. John The Baptist, which was actually built in 1935, when Finland controlled the area.

There is also a large historical museum in the city.

Neighbourhoods and Suburbs

 * Serdobol (actually the former name of the whole city!)
 * Hympelä
 * Karmala
 * Myllykylä
 * Helylä