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Central Finland

*Keski-Suomi* (Finnish)
*Mellersta Finland* (Swedish)
Central Finland Keski-Suomi (Finnish); Mellersta Finland (Swedish)
Region
	Region of Central Finland; Keski-Suomen maakunta; Landskapet Mellersta Finland
	Flag Coat of arms
	Central Finland on a map of Finland
	Coordinates: 62°30′N 025°30′E / 62.500°N 25.500°E
Country	Finland
Historical province	Tavastia, Satakunta
Capital	Jyväskylä
Other towns	Äänekoski, Jämsä, Keuruu, Saarijärvi and Viitasaari
Area
• Total	19,950.38 km2 (7,702.88 sq mi)
Population (2019)
• Total	275,104
• Density	14/km2 (36/sq mi)
GDP
• Total	€8.725 billion (2015)
• Per capita	€31,662 (2015)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code	FI-08
NUTS	193
Regional animal	Tundra hare (Lepus timidus)
Regional bird	Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)
Regional fish	Lake trout (Salmo trutta lacustris)
Regional flower	Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Regional stone	Diorite
Regional lake	Lake Keitele
Website	keskisuomi.fi

Central Finland (Finnish: Keski-Suomi; Swedish: Mellersta Finland) is a region (maakunta / landskap) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The city of Jyväskylä is the regional centre and by far the largest city in the area. The Central Finland lies slightly south of the geographical centre of Finland. The landscape is hilly and a large part of the province belongs to the Finnish Lakeland.^[2]

The western capercaillie (*Tetrao urogallus*) is the regional bird of Central Finland.^[3]

The largest lake in the very water-based region is Lake Päijänne (1,080 km²). Other large lakes are Lake Keitele (490 km2), Lake Konnevesi (190 km²) and Lake Kivijärvi (150 km²). The highest point in the region is Kiiskilänmäki in the municipality of Multia, which reaches an altitude of 269 meters above sea level.^[4] Kuokanjoki, Finland's shortest river and one of the world's shortest rivers is in the region.^[5]^[6]

Central Finland has been one of the slowly growing regions in terms of population, but the growth has been based on the Jyväskylä sub-region's position as a significant growth center, and most of the region's municipalities are declining in population.^[7]^[8] Also, of these, Kyyjärvi has landed on the Finnish state's crisis financial management list due to its economic hardship.^[9]^[10] Luhanka, the smallest municipality in the whole Mainland Finland in terms of population, is also located in the region.^[11]^[12]

History

The idea of a province of Central Finland was born at the end of the 19th century. The concept was developed by the district doctor Wolmar Schildt, whose article for Suometar first appeared in 1856. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the provincial identity of Central Finland was strengthened by associations, organisations and companies that expanded into the provinces. The Central Finland Province was established in 1960, but was abolished in the county reform of 1997.^[2]

A province is a common administrative unit based on the autonomous decision-making power of municipalities and embodies local democracy at the regional level vis-à-vis the state, while a county is a regional administrative unit of the state. The Central Finland covers almost the same geographical area as the former Central Finland Province. At that time, the province of Central Finland was merged with the provinces of Turku and Pori and Vaasa and the northern parts of Tavastia to form the Western Finland Province. The current Central Finland is larger than the former province of Central Finland, as Jämsä was joined with Kuorevesi and part of Längelmäki, which previously belonged to Pirkanmaa.^[2] Kuhmoinen was also part of Central Finland until 2021, when it joined the region of Pirkanmaa.

Historical provinces

For history, geography and culture see: Tavastia, Savonia, Ostrobothnia

Municipalities

The region of Central Finland consists of 22 municipalities, six of which have city status (marked in bold).

Municipalities on the map

Jyväskylä

Jämsä

Äänekoski

Laukaa

Muurame

Keuruu

Saarijärvi

Viitasaari

Päijänne

Keitele

North
Savo

South
Savo

Päijät-
Häme

Pirkan-
maa

South
Ostrobothnia

Central
Ostrobothnia

North Ostrobothnia

Municipalities

Over 100 000 inhabitants

Over 10 000 inhabitants

Over 3 000 inhabitants

< 3 000 inhabitants

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Cities and municipalities of Central Finland.

Sub-regions

Joutsa sub-region:

Joutsa
Luhanka (Luhango)

Jyväskylä sub-region:

Jämsä sub-region:

Jämsä

Keuruu sub-region:

Keuruu (Keuru)
Multia

Saarijärvi-Viitasaari sub-region:

Äänekoski sub-region:

Konnevesi
Äänekoski

List of municipalities

Municipality	Population	Land area (km²)	Density (/km²)	Finnish speakers	Swedish speakers	Other speakers
Hankasalmi	4,515	572	8	98 %	0.3 %	3 %
Joutsa	4,115	867	5	96 %	0.3 %	3 %
Jyväskylä	149,263	1,171	127	92 %	0.2 %	7 %
Jämsä	19,106	1,571	12	97 %	0.1 %	3 %
Kannonkoski	1,188	445	3	101 %	0.1 %	2 %
Karstula	3,572	887	4	99 %	0.1 %	2 %
Keuruu	9,131	1,258	7	97 %	0.2 %	4 %
Kinnula	1,505	460	3	100 %	0.1 %	1 %
Kivijärvi	1,018	484	2	100 %	0 %	2 %
Konnevesi	2,458	513	5	100 %	0 %	2 %
Kyyjärvi	1,160	448	3	98 %	0.1 %	3 %
Laukaa	18,869	649	29	97 %	0.1 %	2 %
Luhanka	703	215	3	99 %	0 %	1 %
Multia	1,397	733	2	99 %	0 %	3 %
Muurame	10,566	144	73	98 %	0.2 %	2 %
Petäjävesi	3,566	456	8	99 %	0.2 %	2 %
Pihtipudas	3,706	1,075	3	99 %	0 %	1 %
Saarijärvi	8,837	1,252	7	98 %	0.1 %	2 %
Toivakka	2,361	361	7	99 %	0.1 %	2 %
Uurainen	3,646	348	10	97 %	0.1 %	2 %
Viitasaari	5,757	1,249	5	99 %	0.2 %	3 %
Äänekoski	17,818	885	20	98 %	0.1 %	3 %
Total	274,257	15,309	18	94 %	0.2 %	5 %