Lake Päijänne () is the second largest

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

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 B ...

(). The lake drains into the Gulf of Finland via the

Kymi River The Kymi ( fi, Kymijoki, sv, Kymmene älv) is a river in Finland. It begins at Lake Päijänne, flows through the provinces of Päijänne Tavastia, Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso and discharges into the Gulf of Finland. The river passes the towns ...

. The major islands are from north to south Vuoritsalo, Muuratsalo, Onkisalo, Judinsalo, Edessalo,

Taivassalo Taivassalo (; sv, Tövsala) is a municipality of Finland, about from the city of Turku. It is located in the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...

, Haukkasalo, Vehkasalo, Mustassalo, Virmailansaari and Salonsaari. The largest island is Virmailansaari. The word ''saari'' means an island. ''Salo'' once meant a great island, nowadays it means a great forest area. The largest city on the shores of Päijänne is

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

in the North. The city of

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

is connected to Päijänne through Lake

Vesijärvi Vesijärvi is a lake of near Lahti in southern Finland. It suffered severe effects of eutrophication in the 1960s and a restoration programme began in the 1970s. The Enonselkä Basin is a part of Vesijärvi. The name of the lake means ''Th ...

and Vääksy canal. An underground aqueduct, Päijänne Water Tunnel, connects the lake to

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa is the fourth most populated city in Finland ...

, providing the Greater Helsinki area with water. The deepest point in any lake in Finland is located in Päijänne (). The name of Lake Päijänne comes possibly from a

Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate refers to substratum loanwords from unidentified non-Indo-European and non-Uralic languages that are found in various Finno-Ugric languages, most notably Sami. The presence of Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate in Sami language ...

language.

Transportation

Päijänne is a famous boating, canoeing and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

attraction. The long lake is connected by canals to

Lake Keitele Keitele is a large lake located in Central Finland. With the area of 493.59 km2 it is the 9th largest lake in the country. The lake is divided into three regions, Ylä-, Keski-, and Ala-Keitele, of which Keski-Keitele is the largest. Water in ...

, Lake

and to Lake Ruotsalainen. Length of the open waterway for ships is . Construction of canals connecting Päijänne to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

has been discussed for decades. Nevertheless, the plan is still to be materialized. Until the 1940s Lake Päijänne was a major transportation channel in the

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The city o ...

. Numerous ships transported passengers and freight between the villages and cities on the shores of Päijänne. Nowadays, passenger transportation is rather a tourist attraction on the lakelands than the fastest way connecting the cities and villages. One of the most popular passenger transportation routes in summertime is between the cities of

and

Tourism

There are 16,000 cottages on the shores of Päijänne. Most of the cottages are private owned and have a separate sauna cottage. In addition to cottage tourism Päijänne attracts fishing, sailing, canoeing, rowing, paddling, trekking, ice-skating, snow mobile and nature tourists. The National Parks of Päijänne and Leivonmäki alone has tens of thousands of visitors every year. The Clear and Drinkable Lake Päijänne South Association won a Tourism and Environment award presented by the European Union Commission in 1995.

National Parks

Päijänne National Park ( fi, Päijänteen kansallispuisto) is a national park in the southern parts of Lake Päijänne. It consists of 50 unbuilt islands and parts of inhabited islands. The national park has been established in 1993 and has an area of . Leivonmäki National Park is situated few kilometres North East from the Northern part of Lake Päijänne. It is one of the youngest national parks in Finland.

Cities and towns upon Lake Päijänne

From North to South *

(at ) * Säynätsalo (at ) *

Muurame Muurame is a municipality of Finland, located south-west of Jyväskylä. Muurame itself is located between two lakes, Lake Päijänne and Lake Muuratjärvi. These two lakes are connected to each other via River Muurame. All together there are 37 ...

(at ) * Toivakka (at ) *

Korpilahti Korpilahti is a former municipality of Finland. Together with Jyväskylän maalaiskunta, Korpilahti was consolidated with Jyväskylä on January 1, 2009. It is located in the former province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland ...

(at ) *

Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the second largest town of the Central Finland after Jyväsk ...

(at ) *

Luhanka Luhanka ( sv, Luhanka, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. In relation to its population Luhanka is not just the small ...

(at ) *

Joutsa Joutsa is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. Jyväskylä is located about north of the Joutsa municipality. The municipality has a population of () and covers an ...

(at ) *

Kuhmoinen Kuhmoinen ( sv, Kuhmois) is a municipality of Finland, in Pirkanmaa region, but until 2021, it was part of the Central Finland region. The municipality is home to inhabitants. Neighbour municipalities are Jämsä, Kangasala, Luhanka, Orivesi, ...

(at ) *

Sysmä Sysmä () is a municipality of Finland. It is situated in the Päijät-Häme region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Asikkala, Hart ...

(at ) *

Padasjoki Padasjoki () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is from Padasjoki to Lahti and to Heinola. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area ...

(at ) *

Asikkala Asikkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Vääksy, at the shores of the Lake Päijänne. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. Asikkala's neighboring municipalities are H ...

(at )

Gallery

File:Kalkkisten kanava 5.jpg, Kalkkinen canal File:Pulkkilanharju and Karisalmi Bridge in Asikkala, Päijät-Häme, Finland, 2021 June - 3.jpg, Pulkkilanharju and Karisalmi Bridge in Asikkala File:Vääksyn kanava 2.jpg, Vääksy canal between Päijänne and Lake Vesijärvi File:SataSarvinen4.jpg, View from Hill Satasarvinen in Muuratsalo, Jyväskylä File:Kärkinen_bridge_during_Päijännepurjehdus_2007.jpg, Kärkinen bridge in

during the Päijännepurjehdus sailing competition File:Tugboat_pulling_logs_in_Finland_in_1930s.jpg, Tugboat pulling logs in Päijänne in 1930s File:Päijänne_1948.jpg, Päijänne from the Puolakanvuori hill in 1948 File:Steam_ships_in_Finland_1936.jpg, Passenger steam ships S/S Jyväskylä, S/S Suomi, S/S Taru and S/S Tehi in Pihlajakoski harbour,

in 1938 File:Vaajavirta frozen.jpg, Vaajakoski canal in the Northern end of Lake Päijänne

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paijanne Kymi basin Landforms of Central Finland Lakes of Joutsa Lakes of Muurame Lakes of Luhanka Lakes of Jyväskylä Lakes of Sysmä Lakes of Padasjoki Lakes of Jämsä

Transportation

Tourism

National Parks

Cities and towns upon Lake Päijänne

Gallery

See also

References

External links