Kitee is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region, about 65 kilometres (40 mi) south of Joensuu and about 175 kilometres (109 mi) northeast of Lappeenranta. The municipality has a population of 9,607 and covers an area of 1,724.41 square kilometres (665.80 sq mi) of which 275.61 km2 (106.41 sq mi) is water. The population density is 7.66 inhabitants per square kilometre (19.8/sq mi).