Finnish national road 5

Finnish national road 5 (Finnish:Valtatie 5 or Viitostie, Swedish: Riksväg 5) is a main route connecting Lusi (Heinola) in the south of the country to Sodankylä in the north. It is 905 kilometres long.^[1] National road 5 forms part of the E63 between Vehmasmäki (Kuopio) and Sodankylä.

National Road 5
Valtatie 5 (Finnish) Riksväg 5 (Swedish)
Valtatie 5 / Riksväg 5
Route information
Part of E63
Maintained by Väylävirasto / Trafikledsverket (Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency)
Length	905 km (562 mi)
Major junctions
From	Lusi, Heinola
To	Sodankylä
Location
Country	Finland
Major cities	Mikkeli, Kuopio, Kajaani, Kuusamo, Kemijärvi
Highway system
Highways in Finland

National road 5 at Kuortti, Pertunmaa in May 2018

Heading south on National road 5 near Kallansillat at Kuopio

National road 5 at Paltamo in June 2011

The route

The road runs through the following municipalities: Heinola – Pertunmaa – Mäntyharju – Hirvensalmi – Mikkeli – Juva – Joroinen – Varkaus – Leppävirta – Kuopio – Siilinjärvi – Lapinlahti – Iisalmi – Sonkajärvi – Kajaani – Paltamo – Ristijärvi – Hyrynsalmi – Suomussalmi – Taivalkoski – Kuusamo – Posio – Salla – Kemijärvi – Pelkosenniemi – Sodankylä.

Trivia

• Kuortti's ABC filling station is the most popular in Finland in terms of sales; according to the cooperative, in 2017 more than three million customers visited it.^[2]
• The band Aavikko has written a song about National road 5 called "Viitostie".