Luumäki in the context of "Provinces of Finland"

Nuijamaa (Finnish: [ˈnui̯jɑˌmɑː]; literally translated the "club land") is a former municipality in the province of South Karelia in Finland. The municipality had 1,199 inhabitants and an area of 136 km² in 1988. Nuijamaa was a Finnish-speaking municipality. Nuijamaa bordered the municipalities of Lappee, Lappeenranta, Lauritsala, Taipalsaari, Lemi, Luumäki, Ylämaa, and Joutseno. It also shared a border with Russia. It is 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Nuijamaa to the city center of Lappeenranta and 39 kilometres (24 mi) to the medieval town of Vyborg, Russia.

Before the Winter War, Nuijamaa had an area of 356 km (137 sq mi). With the Continuation War in 1944, 220 km (85 sq mi) of the municipality was ceded to Russia. In 1975, an international border with Russia opened in Nuijamaa. The total crossings in 2007 were over 1.7 million.

Ari Tapani Puheloinen (born 26 December 1951) is a Finnish General who was Chief of Defence of the Finnish Defence Forces between 2009 and 2014.

Ari Puheloinen was born in Taipalsaari as the second son of the family of an electrician and a cleaner. Such working-class background is unusual for high-ranking Finnish officers, who usually come from middle-class or military families. For example, the fathers of the four preceding Finnish Chiefs of Defence have been either colonels, admirals, or generals. Later, the family moved from Savonia to Luumäki. Puheloinen's civilian education was accomplished in Taavetin lukio, where he graduated from in 1970.