Rantsila

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Rantsila is a village in Finland. It used to be its own municipality in the North Ostrobothnia region, within the Siikalatva sub-region. The municipality was chartered in 1867 and merged into the new Siikalatva municipality on January 1, 2009, along with Kestilä, Piippola and Pulkkila.

The area of the former municipality was 746.64 square kilometers in total, of which 732.23 km2 was land and 14.41 km2 was water. The population was 812 people as of December 31, 2015, giving a population density of about 1.1 people per square kilometer.

Rantsila lies at about 64°30′N, 25°39′E (64.500°N, 25.650°E). The time zone is UTC+2 (EET) and UTC+3 in summer (EEST).

Historically, during the Finnish War (1808–1809), the last battle in Finland was fought in Kerälä, a part of Rantsila. Finnish general J.A. Sandels commanded the troops, and in his honor, a statue of him and his horse Bijou was erected in the village center in 1989.

Today, Rantsila is part of Siikalatva. It is also known for its heavy metal bands such as Hater, Hamarapuoli and Kolera, and for internet personality Ari Kivikangas, known as Cyberman.