Puolanka is a municipality in Finland located in the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of 2,354 and covers an area of 2,598.68 square kilometres of which 137.3 km2 is water. The population density is 0.96 inhabitants per square kilometre. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The fir-tree topped line in the coat of arms of Puolanka refers to local forestry and the cattle bells to livestock management and past grazing in forest lands.