Sysmä () 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 situated in the Päijät-Häme

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 Asikkala, Hartola,

Heinola Heinola () is a town and a municipality of inhabitants () located in the eastern part of the Päijänne Tavastia region, Finland, near the borders of the South Savonia region and the Kymenlaakso region. It is the third largest municipality in ...

, Kuhmoinen,

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 sm ...

, and Padasjoki. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Itä-Häme newspaper is established in Sysmä. According to historians, the word ''sysmä'' means either a "dark forest" or an "uninhabited wilderness." Sysmä is also a lake in Joroinen and another lake in Ilomantsi.

History

The first settlers in the area came from

Sääksmäki Sääksmäki is a village and a former municipality, currently part of Valkeakoski in the Pirkanmaa region of Western Finland. A past president of Finland, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, the Finnish film producer and director Veikko Aaltonen, eminent Fin ...

, as evidenced by village names such as Voipala in Sysmä, which is named after Voipaala in Sääksmäki. Rapala may also be named after Rapola. Sysmä was first mentioned in 1442, when it was already a separate parish.

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 ...

was separated from it on the same year. Sysmä was a large parish, though most of its northern lands lacked a permanent population. The northern parts were eventually settled by Savonians and in 1561, the area became the Rautalampi parish which included most of modern Central Finland north of the Päijänne; from

Toivakka Toivakka is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, near Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingu ...

to Pihtipudas. The original dialect spoken in Sysmä was a Tavastian dialect. It was replaced by a Savonian dialect soon after Ivar Tawast killed 400 peasants from Sysmä, Jämsä and Kuhmoinen in Padasjoki during the Cudgel War. Many farms in Sysmä were left without owners, so they were taken by Savonian settlers. Sysmä was also occasionally known in documents as ''Sysmäki'' due to association with the word ''mäki'' (hill), compare Kärsämäki which used to be ''Kärsämä''. Hartola was a part of Sysmä until 1784. At the time, the Hartola parish also included

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 cov ...

, Leivonmäki and the western part of Pertunmaa.

Population

Sysmä has suffered chronic, steady population decline over the last 50 years. It has many alternative homes, used principally as holiday homes.

Some villages

Joutsjärvi, Karilanmaa, Kinnarila, Koivisto, Liikola, Nikkaroinen, Nuoramoinen, Onkiniemi, Otamo, Rapala, Ravioskorpi, Taipale, Unaja, Valittula, and Vintturi.

Attractions

Many summer events are held in Sysmä during which the population could even triple seasonally. *One of the most popular events is called ''Sysmän suvisoitto''. *''Kammiovuori'' mountain where is 7 meters high

glacial erratic A glacial erratic is glacially deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundred ...

''Sysmän Linta'' *Another glacial erratic in Sysmä is ''Onkiniemen liikkuva kivi''.''Maailman ja Suomen Suuratlas'', p. 315. WSOY, Instituto Geografico Agostini, Novara, Igda, 1985. ISBN 951-0-12598-9. (in Finnish)

Famous people

* Usko Kantola, actor *

Pekka Streng Pekka Valter Mattias Streng (April 26, 1948 in Sysmä – April 11, 1975) was a Finnish musician who had a notable influence on progressive rock in Finland. Streng died of cancer at the age of 26. He knew about his disease throughout his career a ...

, musician *

Olavi Virta Olavi Virta (originally to 1926 Oskari Olavi Ilmén) (27 February 1915 in Sysmä, Grand Duchy of Finland – 14 July 1972 in Pispala, Tampere, Finland) was a Finnish singer, acclaimed during his time as the "King" of Finnish tango. Between 19 ...

, singer * Lauri Rapala, founder of

Rapala Rapala ( ) is a manufacturer of fishing lures and other fishing related products. It was founded in Finland in 1936 by Lauri Rapala, who is credited for creating the world's first floating minnow lure carved from cork with a shoemaker's kni ...

Onni Schildt Wolmar Onni Schildt (3 July 1851 – 23 April 1913) was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Senate of Finland and an agricultural extension practitioner. Schildt was born in Jyväskylä. His parents were District doctor Wolmar Sty ...

, politician *

Ernst Tandefelt Knut Ernst Robert Tandefelt (10 March 1876 in Sysmä, Finland – 3 May 1948 in Sipoo, Finland) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish nobleman. The mentally unstable Tandefelt shot the Finnish Minister of Internal Affairs Heikki Ritavuori dead at ...

Swedo-Finnish The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names; fi, suomenruotsalainen) can be used as an attribute., group=Note—see below; sv, finlandssvenskar; fi, suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic minority in Fin ...

nobleman and assassin

References

External links

Municipality of Sysmä
– Official website, ''finnish'', ''english'', and ''russian''
Sysmä’s Prehistory
Populated places established in the 1440s {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub