Central Finland (; ) is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

( / ) in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It borders the regions of

Päijät-Häme Päijät-Häme (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region in Southern Finland south of the lake Päijänne. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Kanta-Häme, Pirkanmaa, Central Finland, Southern Savonia, South Savo and Kymenlaakso. The biggest city in t ...

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The city of

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

is the regional centre and by far the largest city in the area. Central Finland lies slightly south of the geographical centre of Finland. The landscape is hilly and a large part of the province belongs to the

Finnish Lakeland Finnish Lakeland or the Finnish lake district ( , "Lake Finland", ) is a large landscape region in central eastern Finland. The hilly, forest-covered landscape of Lakeland Finland's lake plateau is dominated by drumlins and by long sinuous es ...

. The largest

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the very water-based region is Lake Päijänne (1,080 km²). Other large lakes are Lake Keitele (490 km2), Lake Konnevesi (190 km²) and Lake Kivijärvi (150 km²). The highest point in the region is Kiiskilänmäki in the municipality of Multia, which reaches an altitude of 269 meters above sea level. Kuokanjoki, Finland's shortest river and one of the world's shortest rivers is in the region. Central Finland has been one of the slowly growing regions in terms of population, but the growth has been based on the

Jyväskylä sub-region Jyväskylä sub-region is a subdivision of Central Finland and one of the sub-regions of Finland since 2009. It covers the area around the city of Jyväskylä. The Jyväskylä region has a population of , making it the sixth largest region in Fi ...

's position as a significant growth center, and most of the region's municipalities are declining in population. Also, of these, Kyyjärvi has landed on the Finnish state's crisis financial management list due to its economic hardship. Luhanka, the smallest municipality in the whole Mainland Finland in terms of population, is also located in the region. The western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus'') is the regional bird of Central Finland that is also depicted in the coat of arms.Maakuntatunnukset
– Keski-Suomen Liitto (in Finnish)

History

The idea of a province of Central Finland was born at the end of the 19th century. The concept was developed by the district doctor Wolmar Schildt, whose article for '' Suometar'' first appeared in 1856. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the provincial identity of Central Finland was strengthened by associations, organisations and companies that expanded into the provinces. The Central Finland Province was established in 1960, but was abolished in the county reform of 1997. A province is a common administrative unit based on the autonomous decision-making power of municipalities and embodies local democracy at the regional level vis-à-vis the state, while a county is a regional administrative unit of the state. The Central Finland covers almost the same geographical area as the former Central Finland Province. At that time, the province of Central Finland was merged with the provinces of Turku and Pori and

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Tavastia to form the Western Finland Province. The current Central Finland is larger than the former province of Central Finland, as Jämsä was joined with Kuorevesi and part of Längelmäki, which previously belonged to

. Kuhmoinen was also part of Central Finland until 2021, when it joined the region of Pirkanmaa.

Historical provinces

''For history, geography and culture see: Tavastia, Savonia, Ostrobothnia''

Municipalities

The region of Central Finland consists of 22

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, six of which have city status (marked in bold).

Municipalities on the map

Sub-regions

Joutsa sub-region: * Joutsa

Joutsa Joutsa is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. Jyväskylä is located about north of the Jouts ...

Luhanka (''Luhango'')

: *

Hankasalmi *

* Laukaa (''Laukas'') * Muurame

Muurame Muurame is a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland, located south-west of Jyväskylä, the regional capital of Central Finland. Muurame itself is located between two lakes, Lake Päijänne and Lake Muuratjärvi. These two lakes are c ...

* Petäjävesi * Toivakka *