Ähtäri ( sv, Etseri) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and

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

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. It is located in the

South Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaa; sv, Södra Österbotten) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

is . Ähtäri is located southeast of

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra b ...

. The municipality is unilingual

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Ähtäri is known for its

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

and hotel Mesikämmen designed by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen which is partly built within bedrock. The biggest lake in the area is Ähtärinjärvi. There is also a relatively old and small board mill called Vääräkosken Pahvi in Ähtäri. The largest private sector employers are Inhan Tehtaat, Silver-Veneet, Tankki, and Muovilami.

Notable people

Anton Collin Anton Johannes Collin (12 October 1891 – 31 May 1973) was a Finnish cross country skier and road cyclist. He won the 50 km event at the 1922 Holmenkollen ski festival, becoming the first non- Norwegian to win at Holmenkollen. At the 192 ...

, cross country skier and road cyclist * Eero Hiironen, sculptor and painter * Kari Hirvonen, lead singer of Tango King * Aki Hintsa, sports physician and orthopedic surgeon * Toivo Korpela, preacher and speaker; fervent

Laestadian Laestadianism, also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperanc ...

and founder of the Korpela movement * Niko Korsumäki, Snowcrossing World Championship bronze medalist * Esa Latva-Äijö, actor * Veikko Mattila, Member of Parliament * Matti Pekkanen, engineer and politician * Emanuel Pohjaväre, Member of Parliament * Mikko Savola, Member of Parliament *

Topi Sorsakoski Pekka Erkki Juhani Tammilehto (27 October 1952 – 13 August 2011), better known by his stage name Topi Sorsakoski, was a Finnish singer. His father was Finnish tango singer Yrjö Johannes "Tapio" Tammilehto. Career Sorsakoski started his care ...

, musician * Antti Tammilehto, musician * Seppo Tammilehto, musician * Edvard Valpas-Hänninen, former chairman of the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP, fi, Suomen sosialidemokraattinen puolue ; sv, Finlands socialdemokratiska parti), shortened to the Social Democrats ( fi, link=no, Sosiaalidemokraatit; sv, link=no, Socialdemokrater) and commonly kno ...

Notable groups

Noumena In philosophy, a noumenon (, ; ; noumena) is a posited object or an event that exists independently of human sense and/or perception. The term ''noumenon'' is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to, the term '' phenomenon'', whi ...

, melodic death metal band

References

External links

*
Municipality of Ähtäri
– Official website Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 1867 {{WesternFinland-geo-stub