Kolosjoki (form. Nikel', Russ. Колосречный) is a Uralican city in Sapmi - the northernmost city in all of Uralica. Close to the pre-Cataclysm border between Russia and Norway, it serves as a strategic position even though the nearest actual border crossing is 25 kilometres to the north.
The area in general is home to some of the richest nickel ore deposits in Northern Europe, and as such Kolosjoki is an administrative centre for mining operations as well as a major centre of metallurgy. The city's former names ("Nikel'" in Russian, "Nikkeli" in Finnish, and "Nihkkel" in Northern Saami) bear testimony to this. Besides nickel, ores of copper, iron, cobalt, and even trace amounts of silver have been found in the area.
Kolosjoki, being as far north as it is and as relatively isolated, was practically unaffected by the Cataclysm and the first two Great Wars. Great War III saw it take on extra population, though, as it became a city of refuge for Uralics, especially Saami and Karelians, fleeing the Uralic Purges. Even the population Kolosjoki has now is smaller than it had as of June 2007.
This has had other advantages as well as infrastructure remaining completely intact. In late 2007, in the aftermath of the Unjust War, the city began an economic diversification project with help from nations within Norden Verein and the Finnish Cooperation Organization. This brought into the city a retail industry, a community college, and a small manufacturing sector, which has grown into a significant presence in the three years since the fact.
Culture[]
The vast majority of Kolosjoki's population is Finnish, with Western Saami (that is, those that speak Northern, Southern, and Lule Saami) and Norwegian Uralican sympathisers making up the balance of the population.
In spite of Kolosjoki being a fairly young city, there is still a decent museum there. It chronicles the city's history since its founding in the late 1920s, as well as the larger history of the region, plus it features a wing of Saami ethnography.
Besides this, the main tourist trap in the area is the large lake the city sits on, Salmijärvi, which is an H-shaped lake running outside of Uralica and into Old Norway. The town of the same name can be seen from the Kolosjoki shoreline.
Sport[]
Neighbourhoods and Suburbs[]
- Salmi
- Yuzhnoye