Kuusamo is a city of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 16997(2006) and covers an area of 5,804.54 km² of which 801.04 km² is water. The population density is 3.0 inhabitants per km². The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Kuusamo is a major center for winter sports and receives approximately a million tourists every year. One of the largest Skiing centrums in Finland, Ruka, is situated in Kuusamo. Ruka is also the host of many international competitions in ski jumping, cross country skiing and nordic combined. World championships of Freestyle Skiing in 2005 was held in Kuusamo.