Kivijärvi (; literally "stone lake") is a

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 Central Finland

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 municipality 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 . Neighbouring municipalities are Kannonkoski,

Karstula Karstula is a municipality of Finland founded in 1867. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are ...

, Kinnula, Kyyjärvi, Perho and Viitasaari. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of Kivijärvi is inspired by a

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

related to Kivijärvi's church. According to the story, the construction work of the first

church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

did not progress when all the work done during the day was mysteriously destroyed during the night. In that case, it was decided that the site of the church would be chosen by putting a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

on the back of the lake to drift on top of the bottom log of the church, and where the rooster would land, the church of parish would be erected there. The coat of arms was designed by Gustaf von Numers and was approved for use on April 18, 1963.

Nature

There are all together 89 lakes in Kivijärvi. Biggest lakes are Kivijärvi, Heitjärvi and Heikinjärvi.

Salamajärvi National Park Salamajärvi National Park ( fi, Salamajärven kansallispuisto) is a national park in the Central Ostrobothnia and Central Finland regions of Finland, in the municipalities of Perho, Kivijärvi and Kinnula. Salamajärvi is located in the rugged wa ...

is partly located in Kivijärvi. Salamajärvi national park

History

The toponym was first mentioned in 1554 as ''Kijuijerffuj ärmarch'', referring to hunting grounds held by

Tavastians Tavastians ( fi, Hämäläiset, sv, Tavaster, russian: Емь, Yem, Yam) are a historic people and a modern subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people. They live in areas of the historical province of Tavastia (Häme) and speak Tavastian dialects ...

. The village of Kivijärvi has existed at least since 1571, when it was a part of the large Rautalampi parish. It was transferred to the Viitasaari parish after its establishment in 1628. Kivijärvi became a chapel community in 1750 and fully independent from Viitasaari in 1864. Kinnula was separated from Kivijärvi in 1904, though it had had its own church since 1867. In 1934, parts of Kivijärvi and Viitasaari were separated in order to form the Kannonkoski municipality.

Suomenselkä municipality

Kannonkoski, Karstula, Kivijärvi and Kyyjärvi planned to merge into the from January 1, 2022. Karstula, Kivijärvi and Kyyjärvi accepted the merger proposal, but Kannonkoski did not. After Kannonkoski left the planned merger, Kivijärvi also left it. Later, the merger project of the remaining Karstula and Kyyjärvi also failed at the Kyyjärvi municipal council meeting held on May 17, 2021, and the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

does not propose a forced merger either.

Surnames

Most common surnames and their frequencies in Kivijärvi as of 2014:Most Common Surnames in Kivijärvi
/ref> # Kinnunen (1:18) # Kotilainen (1:24) # Hakkarainen (1:26) # Leppänen (1:26) # Kainulainen (1:29) # Piispanen (1:33) # Paananen (1:38) # Hytönen (1:42) # Holm (1:44) # Puranen (1:46)

Notable people

* Jalmari Haapanen (1882 – 1961) *

Vihtori Vesterinen Vihtori Vesterinen (27 January 1885 in Kivijärvi – 28 June 1958) was a Finnish farmer and politician. He served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture from 31 March 1925 to 13 December 1926 and again from 17 December 1927 to 16 October 1928, Deputy ...

(1885 – 1958) * Jussi Raatikainen (1898 – 1978) * Anna-Liisa Kasurinen (1940 – ) *

Zaida Bergroth Zaida Bergroth (born 8 February 1977) is a Finnish film director best known for her 2020 film '' Tove''. Career Bergroth was born in Kivijärvi in 1977. She graduated from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2004. H ...

(1977-)

References

External links

Municipality of Kivijärvi
– Official website Municipalities of Central Finland Populated places established in 1868 {{WesternFinland-geo-stub