Kyyjärvi (; ) is a
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' ...
of
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 northwest 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 ()
and 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 unilingually
Finnish.
Neighbouring municipalities are
Alajärvi,
Karstula,
Kivijärvi,
Perho and
Soini. The municipality centre is located on the shores of
Lake Kyyjärvi. Little villages
Hokkala,
Koskimäki-Huhtala, Kumpula,
Noposenaho,
Hokkasenaho,
Nurmijoki,
Oikari,
Peuralinna,
Pölkki,
Saunakylä and
Vehkaperä are living mostly from primary production (farming and forestry). Due to its location on the crossroads of two main Finnish roads ''(
Valtatie 13 and
16)'' the municipality has also a remarkable number of services and little companies compared to its size.
Etymology
The origin of the name of Kyyjärvi is unknown but there are few theories of it. The first part of the name, "''kyy''", is Finnish word for adder (''
Vipera berus''), a venomous snake. ''Järvi'' is Finnish word for
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
. Adders can be found in Kyyjärvi, as everywhere in Finland. Another theory is that the first citizens moved to the area from the lake
Kyyvesi and gave the name Kyyjärvi for their new home area and lake.
Among the locals, the municipality is playfully nicknamed "Kyy York", which is a reference to
New York.
[Roope Valdenin tie vei Helsingistä ”Kyy Yorkiin” leirintäalueen isännäksi: "Aivosyöpä muutti arvojärjestyksen"](_blank)
– '' Apu'' (in Finnish) Because of this, the municipality has adopted the following
slogan: ''Kyy York – pieni kylä, suuri sydän'' ("small village, big heart").
[Kyyjärvellä on monta syytä hymyyn](_blank)
– Nopolanews (in Finnish)
History
The area of modern Kyyjärvi was originally hunting grounds for
Tavastian people. The village of Kyyjärvi was first mentioned in 1565 as ''Kÿierffuj'', when it was a part of the parish of
Rautalampi. In 1628, the parish of
Laukaa, including Kyyjärvi, was split off from Rautalampi while in 1639, Kyyjärvi became a part of the new
Saarijärvi parish established during this year.
In 1775, Kyyjärvi became one of the villages in the new chapel community of
Karstula, which became its own parish in 1858. In 1913, it was decided that the territory of the Kyyjärvi school district should become its own municipality and parish. The municipality was established in 1929 while the parish was established in 1944.
Proposed 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 out of the planned merger, Kivijärvi also left out. The merger project of the remaining Karstula and Kyyjärvi failed at the Kyyjärvi municipal council meeting held on May 17, 2021, and the
Ministry of Finance does not propose a forced merger either.
Nature
There are all together 46 lakes in Kyyjärvi. Biggest lakes in Kyyjärvi are
Lake Kyyjärvi,
Heinuanjärvi and
Kirvesjärvi.
Transport
Kyyjärvi is served by
Onnibus route Helsinki—Jyväskylä—Kokkola.
Notable individuals
*
Aila Paloniemi, Member of the
Parliament of Finland
The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...
Twin towns
*
Sorsele,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
*
Võnnu Parish,
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
References
External links
Municipality of Kyyjärvi– Official website
Nopola News, Web Newspaper of Kyyjärvi
Populated places established in 1929
{{WesternFinland-geo-stub