Leivonmäki is a former 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, ...

in the

Central Finland Central 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, North Savo, and Southern Savonia, South S ...

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 ...

. The municipality was consolidated with

Joutsa Joutsa is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. Jyväskylä is located about north of the Jouts ...

in 2008. The population of Leivonmäki was 1,135 in 2007. It is located south-east from

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 ...

. It is known for its marshy grounds and its

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

. The municipality was unilingually Finnish.

Geography

Bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

s and other wetlands make up roughly or 48% of the former municipality's area, the average in Central Finland being 25%. The largest wetlands are Kivisuo, Haapasuo, Havusuo, Rokasuo and Höystösensuo. Leivonmäki has fewer lakes than the Central Finnish average as it is located on a

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...

area within the

Kymijoki The Kymi (, ) is a river in Finland. It begins at Lake Päijänne, flows through the provinces of Päijänne Tavastia, Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso, and discharges into the Gulf of Finland. The river passes the towns of Heinola and Kouvola. The to ...

basin. The largest lake is Rutajärvi, which discharges into the Päijänne.

Villages

The following villages have or have had their own school district:Vilkuna 1981, p. 467. * Etu-Ikola *

Havumäki Havumäki was a village within the municipality of Leivonmäki, Finland, itself a small town of only 1162 people (2003), until Leivonmäki was incorporated into Joutsa in 2008. Located in the Central Finland region, approximately from Helsinki, ...

* Kirkonkylä *

Kivisuo Kivisuo is a village in the municipality of Joutsa in Central Finland Central Finland (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North O ...

Rutalahti Rutalahti is a village in Leivonmäki, since 2008 a part of the municipality of Joutsa in Central Finland. The distance to Jyväskylä is 40 km. The countryside festival ''Suo Anteeks'' has been organized two times, 2005 and 2009. Geograp ...

* Savenaho * Taka-Ikola * Tikanmäki * Vartiamäki A part of the municipality also belonged to the Vallaspelto school district, the village of Vallaspelto itself being part of Joutsa. Kurkijärvi also had its own short-lived school between 1933–1937.Vilkuna 1981, p. 464.

Naming and etymology

The name of Leivonmäki was first attested in 1564 as ''Leijuomäki''. is Finnish for "hill" and the parish church is located by a hill called ''Kuhasenmäki'', which therefore may have originally been called ''Leivonmäki'' or ''Leivomäki''. According to

Väinö Voionmaa Kaarle Väinö Voionmaa (to 1906 Wallin) (12 February 1869 in Jyväskylä – 24 May 1947 in Helsinki) was a Finnish professor, diplomat, member of the parliament of Finland, senator, minister and chancellor. He also was one of the most influent ...

, Leivonmäki may also have been named after the ''Leivonen'' farm in the village of Anajala in

Sääksmäki Sääksmäki is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality, currently part of Valkeakoski in the Pirkanmaa region of Western Finland. A past president of Finland, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, the Finnish film producer and director Ve ...

. The initial element is most likely the word "

skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...

", though linguist Terho Itkonen also considered the possibility of the dialectal variant ''Levonmäki'' being the original form of the name. According to this explanation, the initial element would be (genitive: ) meaning "rest", referring to a resting place for cattle. However, the name is written with an ''i'' in most documents from the Swedish era, and the name was in use before the area was settled permanently – before cattle could have been kept in the area. The form ''Levonmäki'' may also be due to the Savonian pronunciation of as ''"leevo"''.

Twinnings

Leivonmäki was twinned with the Estonian

Haaslava Parish Haaslava Parish was a rural municipality in Tartu County (Estonia), located southeast from the city of Tartu. Administrative center was in Kurepalu village. From the north the parish was bordered by river Emajõgi. From southwest by Tartu–P ...

References

;Literature *

External links

Municipality of Joutsa
– Official website Joutsa Populated places disestablished in 2008 Former municipalities of Finland {{WesternFinland-geo-stub