Kivijärvi (; literally "stone lake") 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 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

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, No ...

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 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 RosenberPopul ...

is . Neighbouring municipalities are

Kannonkoski Kannonkoski 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 . Neighbouring municipalities are Karstula, Kivij� ...

Karstula Karstula is a municipality of Finland founded in 1867. 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 . Neighbouring municipalities are ...

Kinnula Kinnula 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 . Neighbouring municipalities are Kivijärvi, L ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Viitasaari Viitasaari is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is ...

. The municipality 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 ...

. The municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Kivijärvi is inspired by a

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

related to Kivijärvi's church. According to the story, the construction work of the first

church building A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th thro ...

did not progress when all the work done during the day was mysteriously destroyed during the night. In that case, it was decided that the site of the church would be chosen by putting a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

on the back of the lake to drift on top of the bottom log of the church, and where the rooster would land, the church of parish would be erected there. The coat of arms was designed by

Gustaf von Numers Gustaf von Numers (31 July 1912 – 21 May 1978) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish civil servant and leading heraldic artist. Life Gustaf von Numers studied heraldry in the 1930s under Arvid Berghman and was considered one of the leading Fin ...

and was approved for use on April 18, 1963.

Nature

There are all together 89 lakes in Kivijärvi. Biggest lakes are

Kivijärvi Kivijärvi (; literally "stone lake") 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 . Neighbouring munici ...

, Heitjärvi and Heikinjärvi.

Salamajärvi National Park Salamajärvi National Park ( fi, Salamajärven kansallispuisto) is a national park in the Central Ostrobothnia and Central Finland regions of Finland, in the municipalities of Perho, Kivijärvi and Kinnula. Salamajärvi is located in the rugged ...

is partly located in Kivijärvi. Salamajärvi national park

History

The toponym was first mentioned in 1554 as ''Kijuijerffuj ärmarch'', referring to hunting grounds held by

Tavastians Tavastians ( fi, Hämäläiset, sv, Tavaster, russian: Емь, Yem, Yam) are a historic people and a modern subgroup (heimo) of the Finnish people. They live in areas of the historical province of Tavastia (historical province), Tavastia (Häme) ...

. The village of Kivijärvi has existed at least since 1571, when it was a part of the large

Rautalampi Rautalampi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neigh ...

parish. It was transferred to the

parish after its establishment in 1628. Kivijärvi became a chapel community in 1750 and fully independent from Viitasaari in 1864.

was separated from Kivijärvi in 1904, though it had had its own church since 1867. In 1934, parts of Kivijärvi and Viitasaari were separated in order to form the

municipality.

Suomenselkä municipality

Kannonkoski, Karstula, Kivijärvi and Kyyjärvi planned to merge into the from January 1, 2022. Karstula, Kivijärvi and Kyyjärvi accepted the merger proposal, but Kannonkoski did not. After Kannonkoski left the planned merger, Kivijärvi also left it. Later, the merger project of the remaining Karstula and Kyyjärvi also failed at the Kyyjärvi municipal council meeting held on May 17, 2021, and the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

does not propose a forced merger either.

Surnames

Most common surnames and their frequencies in Kivijärvi as of 2014:Most Common Surnames in Kivijärvi
/ref> # Kinnunen (1:18) # Kotilainen (1:24) # Hakkarainen (1:26) # Leppänen (1:26) # Kainulainen (1:29) # Piispanen (1:33) # Paananen (1:38) # Hytönen (1:42) # Holm (1:44) # Puranen (1:46)

Notable people

* Jalmari Haapanen (1882 – 1961) * Vihtori Vesterinen (1885 – 1958) * Jussi Raatikainen (1898 – 1978) * Anna-Liisa Kasurinen (1940 – ) *

Zaida Bergroth Zaida Bergroth (born 8 February 1977) is a Finnish film director best known for her 2020 film '' Tove''. Career Bergroth was born in Kivijärvi in 1977. She graduated from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2004. He ...

(1977-)

References

External links

Municipality of Kivijärvi
– Official website Municipalities of Central Finland Populated places established in 1868 {{WesternFinland-geo-stub