Alajärvi 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 ori ...

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 go ...

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 B ...

. It is located in the

South Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaa; sv, Södra Österbotten) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South 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 and t ...

. The town 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 RosenberPopul ...

is . The town 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 ...

; there are few immigrants. The municipality of

Lehtimäki Lehtimäki is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated to Alajärvi on 1 January 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a population of 1,850 (200 ...

was consolidated with Alajärvi on 1 January 2009.

Geography

The neighboring municipalities of Alajärvi are

Alavus Alavus ( sv, Alavo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, southeast of Seinäjoki, north of Tampere and north of Helsinki. The town has a populat ...

Kuortane Kuortane is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The neighboring municipalities of Kuortane are Al ...

Kyyjärvi Kyyjärvi (; lit. " adder lake") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density ...

Lappajärvi Lappajärvi is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland in Southern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. It is from Lappajärvi to Seinäjoki, to Kokkola and to Vaasa. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area ...

Lapua Lapua (; sv, Lappo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located next to the Lapua River in the region of South Ostrobothnia. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The mun ...

Perho Perho is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The distance between Perho and the regional center Kokkola is about . The municipality has a population of () and ...

, Soini,

Vimpeli Vimpeli (; sv, Vindala) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, northeast of Seinäjoki and northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The p ...

and

Ähtäri Ähtäri ( sv, Etseri) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ähtäri is located southeast of ...

Villages

In 1967, Alajärvi had eight legally recognized villages ''(henkikirjakylät)'': * Alajärvi * Kurejoki * Menkijärvi * Möksy * Savonkylä * Tarvolankylä * Päällysaho * Vimpeli

Demographics

In 2020, 17.4% of the population of Alajärvi was under the age of 15, 54.3% were aged 15 to 64, and 28.3% were over the age of 64. The average age was 46.1, above the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 44.7. Speakers of

made up 96.8% of the population and speakers of

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 ...

made up 0.1%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 3.0%. Foreign nationals made up 2.8% of the total population. The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Alajärvi from 1975-2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

Urban areas

In 2019, out of the total population of 9,562, 5,846 people lived in

urban areas An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

and 3,641 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 75 people were unknown. This made Alajärvi's degree of urbanization 61.6%. The urban population in the municipality was divided between three urban areas as follows:

Economy

In 2018, 11.2% of the workforce of Alajärvi worked in primary production (

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

), 29.9% in secondary production (e.g.

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

), and 57.1% in

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 9.3%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 33.0%. (2018 and 2019) Though a small town, Alajärvi has a few shops, namely Supermarket,

Tokmanni Tokmanni Group Oyj is a Finnish retail chain, which is also the largest discount store chain in Finland in terms of net sales in 2019. Tokmanni is Finland's only nationwide discount store chain, and at the end of 2019 it had almost 200 stores aroun ...

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

and a few others. In 2013 a public natatorium was opened, which also includes a weight room.

Culture

The Alajärvi church was designed by

Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...

, and completed in 1836. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

and

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

buildings are based on designs by

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

. The town is home to the Nelimarkka Museum. The museum was built by the painter Eero Nelimarkka. It was designed by his friend, the architect Hilding Ekelund.

Notable people

* Reijo Hongisto * Martti Korkia-Aho * Matti Luoma-aho * Eino Ojajärvi *

Verner Thomé Verner Thomé (4 July 1878 – 1 June 1953) was a Finnish post-impressionist graphic artist. He was influenced by Vitalism a German-Scandinavian movement that incorporated Nietzsche's philosophy. Life Thomé was born on 4 July 1878 in Alajärv ...

* Reijo Vähälä *Eero Nelimarkka

Gallery

File:The sun in Alajärvi, Finland.jpg, alt=The sun in Alajärvi, Finland., The sun in Alajärvi, Finland. File:Lake Alajärvi 2017.jpg, alt=Lake Alajärvi, 2017, Lake Alajärvi, 2017 File:Alajärvi municipal border sign.jpg, alt=Alajärvi municipal border sign, Alajärvi municipal border sign File:Alajarvi plains.jpg, alt=Alajärvi plains, Alajärvi plains File:Field in Alajärvi 2014.JPG, alt=field in Alajärvi, 2014, field in Alajärvi, 2014 File:ABC Alajärvi 2015.JPG, alt=Market in Alajärvi, Market in Alajärvi

References

External links

*
Town of Alajärvi
– Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Alajarvi Cities and towns in Finland Populated places established in 1869 1869 establishments in the Russian Empire