Nurmes is a town and municipality of Finland, located in the county of North Karelia. The town has a population of 9,130 and covers an area of 1,854.78 square kilometres of which 253.7 km2 is water. The population density is 3.8 inhabitants per square kilometre. Neighbouring municipalities are Juuka, Kuhmo, Lieksa, Rautavaara and Sotkamo. Nurmes railway station is the northern terminus of a twice-daily VR passenger train service from Joensuu.