Hartola () is a

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

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It is located in the

Itä-Häme Itä-Häme () is the eastern part of the historical province Tavastia (historical province), Tavastia in Finland. It is in Päijänne Tavastia, Southern Savonia and Central Finland. Leivonmäki National Park is in Itä-Häme. Itä-Häme is al ...

, Päijänne Tavastia

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in Päijänne Tavastia in terms of population. It covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

is . Neighbouring municipalities are

Heinola Heinola () is a town and a municipality of inhabitants () located in the eastern part of the Päijänne Tavastia region, Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to t ...

Joutsa Joutsa is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. Jyväskylä is located about north of the Jouts ...

Luhanka 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. The population density is . There are also many summertime cottages ...

Pertunmaa Pertunmaa () is a former municipality of Finland located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality was merged to the municipality of Mäntyharju on 1 January 2025. The municipality had a population of 1,541 and covered an area of 454.20 km ...

and

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

. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The municipality is also known as "Gustav Adolfs" in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

. Hartola is home to the Itä-Hämeen Museo, the regional museum for seven municipalities. Since 1987, the town has billed itself as a sovereign royal parish based upon a 1784 proclamation by King

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of King Adolf Frederick and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what he s ...

creating a new parish on the eastern border of his kingdom in honor of his son, Gustav Adolf. At every first Saturday in September, there is a fair at Hartola. The event is biggest in Finland at its genre. The municipality is also known as the writer

Maila Talvio Maila Talvio née Winter, married Mikkola (October 17, 1871 – January 6, 1951), was a Finnish writer. Talvio was a leading Finnish writer on the temperance question and several of her works were translated into Swedish and other languages. S ...

's place of birth.

History

Hartola may have been mentioned as early as 1398 (''ut ecclesia parrochialis Hartola Aboensis dioceses''), however this may have also referred to

Hattula Hattula () is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Tavastia Proper region and until 2010 it was located in the province of Southern Finland. Hattula is almost completely surrounded by Hämeenlinna, only in the north it shares the border w ...

. It was originally a part of the parish of

. At least between 1540 and 1729, it was called ''Koskipää'', after which the name ''Hartola'' appears again. Hartola became an independent parish in 1784. It was also granted the Swedish name ''Gustav Adolfs''. In Finnish, the parish was also known as ''Kustavus, Kustavuksenpitäjä'' and ''Kustaanpitäjä'', but the name ''Hartola'' was still in use. By the late 1800s, ''Hartola'' had become the sole name for the parish.

was a part of Hartola until 1860, while

Leivonmäki Leivonmäki is a former municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. The municipality was consolidated with Joutsa in 2008. The population of Leivonmäki was 1,135 in 2007. It is located south-east from Jyväskylä. It is known for ...

was a part of Hartola until 1880.

Politics

Results of the

2011 Finnish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting, Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout o ...

in Hartola: * Centre Party 26.2% *

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

23.0% *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

18.5% *

True Finns The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

17.9% *

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

6.3% * Left Alliance 5.0% *

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

1.6%

Villages

*Hangastaipale *Kalho, writer

Mika Waltari Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' (). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stories, crime novels, plays, ...

wrote ''

The Egyptian ''The Egyptian'' (''Sinuhe egyptiläinen'', Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finni ...

'' here. *Koitti *Kuivajärvi *Kumu *Lepsala *Murakka *Nokka *Putkijärvi *Siltasuo *Vuorenkylä is a northernmost village in Päijänne Tavastia All schools those located in villages have been closed. School system in Hartola is about 140 years old.http://www.koittiry.net/riihiniemen-koulun-100-vuotisjuhla History of Riihiniemi school, ''finnish'', citation 2012

References

External links

Municipality of Hartola
– Official website
Itä-Hämeen Museo
{{Authority control Hartola, Finland Populated places established in 1784