Luhanka (Swedish: Luhanka, also Luhango) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of 701 (31 December 2023)[2] and covers an area of 313.25 square kilometres (120.95 sq mi) of which 98.73 km2 (38.12 sq mi) is water.[1]

Luhanka
Municipality
Luhangan kunta
Luhanka kommun
Coat of arms of Luhanka
Location of Luhanka in Finland
Location of Luhanka in Finland
Coordinates: 61°48′N 025°42′E / 61.800°N 25.700°E / 61.800; 25.700
Country Finland
RegionCentral Finland
Sub-regionJoutsa sub-region
Charter1864
Government
 • Municipal managerReijo Urtti
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total313.25 km2 (120.95 sq mi)
 • Land214.5 km2 (82.8 sq mi)
 • Water98.73 km2 (38.12 sq mi)
 • Rank256th largest in Finland
Population
 (2023-12-31)[2]
 • Total701
 • Rank300th largest in Finland
 • Density3.27/km2 (8.5/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish99.4% (official)
 • Others0.6%
Population by age
 • 0 to 148.4%
 • 15 to 6449.9%
 • 65 or older41.6%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Websitewww.luhanka.fi

The population density is 3.27 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.5/sq mi). There are also many summertime cottages in Luhanka.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The municipality is also been known as "Luhango" in Swedish documents.[6]

Mimicking the badger in the coat of arms of Luhanka, the permanent residents include the official animal mascot of the municipality, Sisu the Badger (Sisu-mäyrä).[7]

Geography edit

 
Hopeasalmi, Lake Päijänne

Neighboring municipalities are Hartola, Joutsa, Jyväskylä, Jämsä, Kuhmoinen and Sysmä.

There are all together 61 lakes in Luhanka. Biggest lakes in Luhanka are Päijänne, Tammijärvi-Hauha and Jutilanjärvi.[8]

History edit

Luhanka was first mentioned as a village within the Sysmä parish in 1462. The village gets its name from the lake Luhankjärvi or Luhankajärvi, the name of which comes from the word luha, a variant of luhta, a word which refers to a type of swamp. -nka is a derivational suffix, which is also found in other place names such as Puolanka and Maaninka.

It was granted a chapel in 1767 and became a separate parish in 1864. Due to the small population of the municipality, the parish of Luhanka became subordinate to the parish of Joutsa in 2006.[9][10]

Notable people edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Svenska ortnamn i Finland" (in Swedish). Research Institute for the Languages of Finland. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  7. ^ Mäyrä-maskotti sai nimen (in Finnish)
  8. ^ "Luhanka". Järviwiki. Finland's Environmental Administration. 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
  9. ^ "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja_e-kirja_kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 244. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  10. ^ "Luhangan seurakunta". joutsanseurakunta.filanguage=fi. Retrieved August 16, 2022.

External links edit