Rautavaara is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 1,424 (31 December 2023) and covers an area of 1,235.26 square kilometres (476.94 sq mi) of which 84.09 km (32.47 sq mi) is water. The population density is 1.24 inhabitants per square kilometre (3.2/sq mi). The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Tiilikkajärvi National Park is located both in Rautavaara and its neighboring municipality Sotkamo.

History

The municipality of Rautavaara was founded on 12 September 1874 and the parish in 1894.

Villages

Alakeyritty, Ala-Luosta, Etelä-Keyritty, Halmejärvi, Hiirenjärvi, Kangaslahti, Lehtovaara, Lievisenmäki, Palojärvi, Pirttipuro, Pohjois-Keyritty, Puumala, Rannankylä, Rautavaara, Sierajärvi, Siikajärvi, Tiilikka, Ylä-Luosta.