Äänekoski () is a town in Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about north of Jyväskylä. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Kannonkoski, Konnevesi, Laukaa, Saarijärvi,

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 municipalities a ...

, Vesanto and Viitasaari. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The municipality of

Äänekosken maalaiskunta Äänekosken maalaiskunta (abbreviated as ''Äänekosken mlk'', sv, Äänekoski landskommun) is a former municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. It was consolidated with the ''kauppala'' of Äänekoski in 1969. It bordered Ää ...

was consolidated to Äänekoski in 1969 and the municipality 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 ...

in 1993. The municipalities of Sumiainen and Suolahti were consolidated to Äänekoski in 2007.

History

Äänekoski is named after the nearby rapids. Folk etymology connects the name to the word ''ääni'' "sound", but Terho Itkonen has suggested another origin: a Sámi term meaning "big, large" (compare

Northern Sámi Northern or North Sámi ( ; se, davvisámegiella ; fi, pohjoissaame ; no, nordsamisk; sv, nordsamiska; disapproved exonym Lappish or Lapp) is the most widely spoken of all Sámi languages. The area where Northern Sámi is spoken covers the ...

''eanas'', "most"). Swedish sources mention a salmon fishery by the rapids around 1455, ''Ænækoski laxefiskeri''. At the time, it was not a proper settlement and was located in the hunting grounds of the people of Sysmä. The Rautalampi parish was established in 1561, at the time it was a large parish covering most of Central Finland north of the Päijänne. The Laukaa parish, including the area of Äänekoski, was separated from Rautalampi in 1628. A settlement named Äänekoski has existed at least since 1752. It remained a part of Laukaa until the parish was established in 1907 and the municipality

was established in 1911. At the time, Äänekosken maalaiskunta was called simply ''Äänekoski''. The municipality was divided in 1932: the actual settlement of Äänekoski became the ''kauppala'' of Äänekoski, Suolahti became another ''kauppala'' while the old Äänekoski municipality was renamed ''Äänekosken maalaiskunta'' and its administrative seat was moved to the village of Honkola. Äänekoski and Äänekosken maalaiskunta still shared a parish. The first industrial enterprises appeared in 1896-1900. Four municipalities have been consolidated with Äänekoski: Äänekosken maalaiskunta in 1969,

in 1993 and Sumiainen and Suolahti in 2007. Äänekoski adopted the coat of arms of Suolahti in 2007.

Nature

There are altogether 170 lakes in Äänekoski. The biggest lakes are Keitele, Kuhnamo and

Niinivesi Niinivesi is a medium-sized lake of Finland and it belongs to the Kymijoki main catchment area. The lake is situated in Rautalampi, Tervo and Vesanto municipalities.Kuokanjoki, is within the area.

Twin towns – sister cities

The following cities or municipalities are twinned with Äänekoski: *

Örnsköldsvik Municipality Örnsköldsvik Municipality (, ) is one of Sweden's 290 municipalities, in Västernorrland County in northern Sweden. Its seat is in the town Örnsköldsvik. The present municipality was created in 1971 by the amalgamation of the ''City of Örnsk ...

, Sweden *

Brande Brande is a railway town with a population of 7,449 (1 January 2022)Brande Municipality Until 1 January 2007, Brande municipality was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Ringkøbing on the Jutland peninsula in west Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 188 km2, and had a total population of 8,822 (2005). Its last m ...

, Denmark * Sigdal, Norway * Alushta, Alushta municipality, Ukraine * Borovichi, Novgorod Oblast, Russia (status unknown) * Sestroretsk, Russia * Niamey, Niger

Gallery

File:Porterveturi.jpg, A porter locomotive of the Äänekoski-Suolahti

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

File:Aanekoski rautatie sellutehdas maisema.jpg, A freight train departing from a pulp mill in Äänekoski File:Keiteleen kanava.jpg, Kapeenkoski Lock of Keitele–Päijänne canal. File:Auringonlasku Keitele.jpg, A sunset at Lake Keitele

References

External links