Petäjävesi (; lit. "pine water") 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. It is located in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Western Finland, next to the city 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 ...

, and is part of 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 has a population of () and covers an area of of which , or almost 8%, 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 . Neighbouring municipalities are

Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second most populous town of the Central Finland after ...

, Keuruu, Multia and

Uurainen Uurainen (, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which , or roughly 6.5%, is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipali ...

. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The

Petäjävesi Old Church The Petäjävesi Old Church () is a wooden church located in Petäjävesi, Finland. It was built between 1763 and 1765, when Tavastia was still a part of Sweden. The bell tower was built in 1821. It was inscribed in 1994 on the UNESCO World Herit ...

, was listed as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 1994 for its testimony to Nordic church architecture.

Geography

Nature

There are all together 99 lakes in Petäjävesi. The biggest lakes are Jämsänvesi-Petäjävesi, Ala-Kintaus and Ylä-Kintaus. Karikkoselkä is a lake in Petäjävesi, which is formed by a meteorite. The Karikkoselkä impact crater is located southeast of the municipal centre.

Villages

Notable people

* Mika Aaltola (1969–), Finnish political scientist * Jarmo Kytölehto (1961–), Finnish rally driver * Frans Lehtonen (1859–1920), Finnish politician * Olavi Tupamäki (1944–), Finnish engineer and politician

Gallery

File:Petäjävesi Old Church interior pulpit choir.JPG, Petäjävesi Old Church interior File:Petäjävesi - church2.jpg, Petäjävesi New Church File:Petajavesi Old Church.jpg, Petäjävesi Old Church

References

External links

Municipality of Petäjävesi
– Official website, ''finnish'', ''english'' Populated places established in 1868 {{WesternFinland-geo-stub