Jämsä () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

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 Central Finland

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 ...

, about southwest of

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Central Finland. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Jyväskylä is approximately , while the Jyväskylä sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately ...

. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second most populous town of the Central Finland after Jyväskylä. 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 . The municipality is officially Finnish-speaking. The municipality of Kuorevesi was consolidated with Jämsä in 2001. The municipality of Längelmäki was partly consolidated with Jämsä in 2007. The municipality of Jämsänkoski was consolidated with Jämsä in the beginning of 2009. It is the center of Finnish aeronautics industry – the aircraft factory and aeronautical engineering offices of Patria is located at Halli Airport in Jämsä. Since 1994, the ski slope at Himos has been used as a super special stage at the Rally Finland.

Geography

There are all together around 465 lakes in Jämsä; the largest lakes are Päijänne, and Lake Kuorevesi. Jämsä is located on the watershed of the main catchment areas of the Kokemäki River and the Kymi River. The eastern and central areas of the municipality belong to the Kymi River watershed, the western ones to the Kokemäki River watershed. The catchment area of the Jämsä route of the first division phase of the Kymijoki main catchment area covers almost the entire area of Koskenpää and Jämsänkoski as well as the center of Jämsä and the central part of Jämsänniemi. The Great Päijänne area of the first division of the Kymi River watershed covers the eastern, south-eastern and southern areas of Jämsä. The catchment area of the Längelmävesi and Hauho routes of the first division of the Kokemäki River main catchment area covers the southwestern part of Jämsä, i.e. the southern part of Längelmäki and Kuorevesi. The catchment area of the Keuruu route in the first division phase of the Kokemäki River watershed covers the western and north-western part of Jämsä, i.e. the northern part of Kuorevesi and the westernmost parts of Koskenpää. The bedrock of Jämsä belongs to the abyssal rock area of the Central Finland. The predominant species are coarse-grained granodiorites and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

s, which are often porphyry and weathered in places. Rapakivi granite rock has also been found in the vicinity of Jämsä. The

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock expo ...

of the Inner Finland, which is similar to the Salpausselkä formations but younger than them, runs from Hämeenkangas in the north-west of

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

through

Orivesi Orivesi () is a town in Finland, located in the Pirkanmaa region. It lies to the northeast of the regional capital, Tampere. The population of Orivesi is approximately , while the Tampere metropolitan area, metropolitan area has a population of ...

and Jämsä to Laukaa. The meltwater of the Weichselian glaciation associated with its formation and melting has shaped several Jämsä valleys. The meltwater of the glacier flowed through the numerous transition valleys of the present-day Jämsä area.

Culture

Food

In the 1980s, Jämsä's traditional parish dishes were called ''liponen'' (

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

cooked with turnip chips and

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

groats), '' piimä talkkuna'' and grandma's buns.

Sports

Jämsänkosken Ilves is a sports club in Jämsä. Himos Skiresort is located in Jämsä.

References

External links