Saarijärvi () 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

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 ...

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 ...

Multia Multia is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...

, Soini,

Uurainen Uurainen ( sv, Uurainen, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipaliti ...

, Ähtäri and Äänekoski. The municipality is unilingually

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 ...

. The neighboring municipality of

Pylkönmäki Pylkönmäki is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated to Saarijärvi on 1 January 2009. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality had a population of 975 (2006) and covered an area of 392.61 km² of whic ...

was consolidated to Saarijärvi on 1 January 2009. There are all together 241 lakes in Saarijärvi. Biggest lakes are Pyhäjärvi, Summanen and

Lake Saarijärvi Lake Saarijärvi is a medium-sized lake in Central Finland. Saarijärvi is a very common name of a lake in Finnish. There are 198 lakes with this name in Finland.

. Saarijärvi is the home of ''Bonden Paavo'' ( fi, Saarijärven Paavo) in the poem by

Johan Ludvig Runeberg Johan Ludvig Runeberg (; 5 February 1804 – 6 May 1877) was a Finnish priest, lyric and epic poet. He wrote exclusively in Swedish. He is considered a national poet of Finland. He is the author of the lyrics to (''Our Land'', '' Maamme'' in F ...

. Juho Hyytiäinen, the great grandfather of

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Ander ...

, left the village in 1908 emigrating to the American continent.

History

Saarijärvi has existed since the mid-16th century, when it was a part of the Rautalampi parish. Saarijärvi acquired its first church in 1628, which was also when the

Laukaa Laukaa (; sv, Laukas) is a municipality of Finland. It is located next to Jyväskylä and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...

parish, including Saarijärvi, was separated from Rautalampi. Saarijärvi became a separate parish in 1639 as ''Palvasalmi''. At the time, the parish also included

, Kyyjärvi,

and a part of

Konginkangas Konginkangas is a settlement and former municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. It was consolidated with Äänekoski in 1993. The municipality bordered Äänekoski, Saarijärvi, Kannonkoski, Viitasaari, Vesanto, Konnevesi and ...

. The parish was renamed to ''Saarijärvi'' sometime after 1690. Karstula, including Kyyjärvi, was separated in 1887, Konginkangas in 1895 (partially from Viitasaari) and Pylkönmäki in 1914. Saarijärvi became a town in 1986. Pylkönmäki rejoined Saarijärvi in 2009.

Twin towns - sister cities

Saarijärvi is twinned with: *

Gran Gran may refer to: People * Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" *Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet cou ...

, Norway *

Kungsbacka Kungsbacka () (old da, Kongsbakke) is a locality and the seat of Kungsbacka Municipality in Halland County, Sweden, with 19,057 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the most affluent parts of Sweden, in part due to its simultaneous proximity to th ...

, Sweden *

Trittau (Amt) Trittau is an ''Amt'' ("collective municipality") in the district of Stormarn, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The seat of the ''Amt'' is in Trittau. Municipalities The ''Amt'' Trittau consists of the following municipalities: Sister cities T ...

, Germany

Transport

Saarijärvi is served by OnniBus.com route Helsinki—Jyväskylä—Kokkola.

People born in Saarijärvi

* Matthias Calonius (1738 – 1817) * Samuli Häkkinen (1857 – 1918) * Otto Stenroth (1861 – 1939) * Adiel Paananen (1897 – 1968) * Tarmo Manni (1921 – 1999) *

Toivo Hyytiäinen Toivo Armas Hyytiäinen (12 November 1925 in Saarijärvi – 21 October 1978) was a Finnish athlete who competed mainly in the men's javelin throw during his career. He competed for Finland at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki ...

(1925 – 1978) * Kain Tapper (1930 – 2004)

References

External links

Town of Saarijärvi
– Official website, ''finnish'', ''russian'', ''english'' and ''swedish'' Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 1866 1866 establishments in the Russian Empire {{WesternFinland-geo-stub