Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä
| Jyväskylä | |||
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| — City — | |||
| Jyväskylän kaupunki | |||
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| Coordinates: 62°14.5′N 025°44.5′E / 62.2417°N 25.7417°ECoordinates: 62°14.5′N 025°44.5′E / 62.2417°N 25.7417°E | |||
| Country | Finland | ||
| Region | Central Finland | ||
| Sub-region | Jyväskylä sub-region | ||
| Charter | 1837 | ||
| Government | |||
| - City manager | Markku Andersson | ||
| Area(2011-01-01) | |||
| - City | 1,466.34 km2 (566.2 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 1,170.99 km2 (452.1 sq mi) | ||
| - Water | 295.35 km2 (114 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 70th largest in Finland | ||
| Population (2011-01-31) | |||
| - City | 130,974 | ||
| - Rank | 7th largest in Finland | ||
| - Density | 111.85/km2 (289.7/sq mi) | ||
| - Metro | 173,825 | ||
| Population by native language | |||
| - Finnish | 96.7% (official) | ||
| - Swedish | 0.2% | ||
| - Others | 3% | ||
| Population by age | |||
| - 0 to 14 | 16.4% | ||
| - 15 to 64 | 69.8% | ||
| - 65 or older | 13.8% | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
| Municipal tax rate | 19% | ||
| Unemployment rate | 13.8% | ||
| Website | www.jkl.fi | ||
Jyväskylä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjyvæsˌkylæ]) is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, 147 kilometres (91 mi) north-east of Tampere and 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded by lakes, hills and forests. The site of many education-related firsts in Finland, Jyväskylä is known as a city of schools, the Athens of Finland. It is famous for its many buildings designed by Alvar Aalto. The city hosts Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. It is also home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.
As of 31 January 2011, Jyväskylä had a population of 130,974.
The Jyväskylä sub-region includes Jyväskylä, Laukaa, Muurame, Petäjävesi and Toivakka.
In 2004, Markku Andersson became the city mayor. He was the mayor of Lappeenranta until that year.
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History
In Jyväskylä region, there are archeological findings from the Stone Age and cultivation had already started 3500 years ago. According to the oldest available taxation documents (maakirja) there were seven estates in the Jyväskylä region in 1539. One of them, the estate of Mattila, alone possessed the areas stretching from the village of Keljo to the villages of Vesanka and Palokka. The oldest estate in Jyväskylä that has been held continuously by the same family is the estate of Lahti which emerged when the estate of Mattila was split for two brothers in 1600. The history of the estate of Lahti and the family of Lahti have had a significant impact on the development of Jyväskylä region. Lahdenrinne in the south-west corner of Jyväsjärvi lake belongs to the old heartland of the estate of Lahti.
The City of Jyväskylä was founded on 22 March 1837 by Czar Nicholas I of Russia and the infrastructure was essentially built from scratch. The original town was built between Lake Jyväsjärvi (which is connected to Lake Päijänne) and the Jyväskylä ridge (Harju), and consisted of most of the current grid-style city centre. In the early 20th century, the town expanded several times. Most of today's Jyväskylä was built after the Continuation war, when refugees from Karelia and other parts of the country moved to the city and housing was badly needed. Today, Jyväskylä is growing fast – by approx. 1,000 inhabitants/year.
Säynätsalo was consolidated with Jyväskylä in 1993. Jyväskylän maalaiskunta and Korpilahti were consolidated with Jyväskylä on January 1, 2009.
Name
The second part of the city's name, kylä, means village. The first part of the city's name, jyväs, has been associated with Taxus, a genus of yews, and the Old Prussian word juwis. It has also been speculated that the word jyväs refers to the sun's reflection of the surface of the water.
Government
The city council in Jyväskylä is the main decision making body in local level. Its 75 members are elected every fourth year in municipal elections. The city council elects the mayor. The current mayor is Markku Andersson.
Seat distribution in the city council
| Party | 2008 | 2008% | 2004% | 2000% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats | 21 seats | 26,6% | 29,9% | 31,9% |
| National Coalition Party | 16 | 21,0% | 20,0% | 20,6% |
| Centre Party | 15 | 19,1% | 19,1% | 17,3% |
| Green League | 9 | 11,7% | 11,5% | 9,6% |
| Left Alliance | 6 | 8,5% | 9,0% | 11,4% |
| Christian Democrats | 4 | 5,8% | 6,3% | 6,9% |
| True Finns | 3 | 4,5% | 0,3% | - |
| Communist Party | 1 | 2,4% | 3,5% | 1,9% |
| Swedish People's Party | 0 | 0,2% | 0,2% | 0,2% |
| Others | 0 | 0,1% | 0,1% | 0,2% |
Administrative division
The city of Jyväskylä, is divided into fourteen wards (suuralueet in Finnish, storområden in Swedish), which are further divided into 89 districts (see Districts of Jyväskylä). The ward division does not always follow district boundaries.
This is a listing of the 14 wards of Jyväskylä by population as of 12.5.2010
- 1. Kantakaupunki (city centre), population 24.635
- 2. Kuokkala, population 16.955
- 3. Vaajakoski-Jyskä, population 14.601
- 4. Palokka-Puuppola, population 14.412
- 5. Kypärämäki-Kortepohja, population 10.316
- 6. Huhtasuo, population 8.666
- 7. Keltinmäki-Myllyjärvi, population 7.504
- 8. Tikkakoski-Nyrölä, population 5.431
- 9. Halssila, population 5.410
- 10. Keljo, population 5.273
- 11. Korpilahti, population 5.071
- 12. Lohikoski-Seppälänkangas, population 4.615
- 13. Säynätsalo, population 3.349
- 14. Kuohu-Vesanka, population 2.110
Geography
Jyväskylä is located in the Finnish Lakeland. Lakes and rivers constitute even 20% (295 km2) of the total area of the city. 36 lakes are located alone in The Old Jyväskylä (the city before the consolidations in 2008), which has an area of 137 km2. Most notable lakes are Päijänne, Jyväsjärvi, Leppävesi, Muuratjärvi, Tuomiojärvi, Palokkajärvi, Alvajärvi, Vesankajärvi, Luonetjärvi and Köhniönjärvi.
The landscape in Jyväskylä is hilly, forested and full of waters. The architect Alvar Aalto compared the hilly landscape of Jyväskylä to Toscana in Italy: "The slope of Jyväskylä ridge is almost like the mountain vineyards of Fiesole".
Climate
Latitude is the principal influence on Jyväskylä's climate. Because of its northern location, winter is long, snowy, cold and dark. During midwinter the city receives daylight only five hours. Summers are mild and temperature after midday is often over +25 °C (77 °F) (77 °F). During summer Jyväskylä experiences long daylight and white nights i.e. midnight twilight.
| Climate data for Jyväskylä | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −5.3 (22.5) |
−5.0 (23) |
0.2 (32.4) |
6.0 (42.8) |
14.5 (58.1) |
19.3 (66.7) |
21.3 (70.3) |
18.4 (65.1) |
12.3 (54.1) |
6.0 (42.8) |
0.2 (32.4) |
-3.5 (25.7) |
7.0 (44.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −12.3 (9.9) |
−12.9 (8.8) |
−8.4 (16.9) |
-3.2 (26.2) |
2.4 (36.3) |
8.1 (46.6) |
10.4 (50.7) |
8.9 (48) |
4.2 (39.6) |
0.3 (32.5) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−10.0 (14) |
-1.4 (29.5) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 43 (1.69) |
31 (1.22) |
37 (1.46) |
37 (1.46) |
38 (1.5) |
59 (2.32) |
79 (3.11) |
88 (3.46) |
63 (2.48) |
60 (2.36) |
57 (2.24) |
47 (1.85) |
638 (25.12) |
| Source: Climatological statistics for the normal period 1971–2000 | |||||||||||||
Cityscape
Jyväskylä was founded in the Northern end of the lake Päijänne at the crossroads of three major waterways. Lakes control the cityscape. The city grid plan from year 1833 by Jacob Leonard Boringh can be well recognised in the city centre. Nevertheless, due to very rapid population growth the cityscape has gone through one of the most massive changes in all of Finland.
Nowadays Jyväskylä is a city of modern architecture. The city has more buildings designed by one of the best known international functionalist architects Alvar Aalto than any other city in the world.
The establishment of schools in the 1850s and 1860s proved to be the most important step from the point of view of the later development of Jyväskylä. The headquarters of the University of Jyväskylä are considered to be Aalto's masterpieces. Later, a modern architect Arto Sipinen, a pupil of Aalto, has influenced in the cityscape since 1970s by designing most of the new university buildings in the city.
The outskirts of the city are mainly populated by student apartments and single family houses. Some of the most important buildings like Säynätsalo Town Hall designed by Aalto are located outside the city centre in Säynätsalo and Muuratsalo.
Consolidated areas Korpilahti, Jyväskylän maalaiskunta, Säynätsalo and also western parts of Jyväskylä are mainly countryside dominated by hilly forests and lakes.
Demographics
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Economy
Main sources of livelihood in Jyväskylä are educational and health care services, paper machinery production, information technology and energy sector. Most important private employers are paper machinery producer Metso ltd., retail trade company Keskimaa, real estate service company ISS, wind turbine gear manufacturer Moventas and IT service company Tieto.
The unemployment rate in Jyväskylä is 11.9% (12/2010), which is higher than average in Finland (9,3% in 12/2010), due to the high number of students and challenged industries.
Sports
The University of Jyväskylä is the only university in Northern Europe with a faculty of sports. The faculty has been a key player to develop a strong sports culture in the city.
The city hosts the Neste Oil Rally Finland (formerly known as 1000 Lakes Rally). It is the biggest annually organised public event in the Nordic countries, gathering over 500,000 spectators every year. The rally has been held since 1951, first as a national competition, then from 1959 on as a European Rally Championship event and since the introduction of the World Rally Championship in 1973, as Finland's WRC event.
Ice hockey venue Synergia-areena, Hippos Finnish baseball stadium, swimming hall AaltoAlvari and many other main sport venues of the city are located in Hippos two kilometres away from the city centre. Matti Nykänen Ski Flying Hills are located next to the Laajavuori ski resort just few kilometres west from the city centre. Main football stadium lies on the slopes of Harju just next to the city centre. Killeri hippodrome on the western parts of the city serves different horse racing competitions. At winter time amateur ice skaters can practice their skills in Viitaniemi or on the lake Jyväsjärvi, which has a 3,5 kilometres long ice skating track.
Sport teams from Jyväskylä
- JYP is the current Finnish Championship bronze medalist in ice hockey.
- Jyväskylän Jalkapalloklubi (FC JJK) plays in Veikkausliiga, the top division of Finnish football.
- Jyväskylän Seudun Palloseura, or just JPS, plays in the highest bandy division.
- Jyväskylän Kiri is the most successful Finnish baseball team in history. Currently they play in the top division Superpesis.
- Kirittäret holds ten Finnish Championships in women's Finnish baseball league. Latest championship is from summer 2009.
- Jyväskylän seudun Jaguaarit plays in the top division of Finnish American football league.
- Happee plays floorball in the Finnish top division both in men's and women's league.
- Meloiloa Canoe Club: plays canoe polo, and practices forther slalom, WWR and marathon kayaking.
- Tavinsulka Canoe Tours: offers a wide variety of canoeing and kayaking programmes throughout the summers.
Culture
Museums
The Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland form a centre of culture in the immediate vicinity of the historical campus of the University of Jyväskylä. Both museums are designed by a functionalist Alvar Aalto. The Alvar Aalto Museum displays the artist's most important work and design. The Museum of Central Finland specializes in cultural history. It serves both as the town museum of Jyväskylä and the provincial museum of Central Finland.
One of architect Aalto's most significant works Säynätsalo Town Hall is located in Säynätsalo island.
The Craft Museum of Finland is a handicraft museum covering entire Finland. The Centre for Finnish National Costumes forms a part of the museum.
The Jyväskylä University Museum is specialized in history of the University and diversity of nature in Central Finland.
The biggest art museum in the city is Jyväskylä Art Museum located in the city centre. Another art museum centre – The Halonen building – near the main railway station consists of The Centre for Creative Photography, the Centre for Printmaking and Galleria Harmonia.
Theatres
The biggest theatre in the city is the Jyväskylä City Theatre designed by Alvar Aalto. It stands right in the centre of the city. Jyväskylä Workers' Theatre is located in Ainola on the Eastern side of the lake Jyväsjärvi. Huoneteatteri, founded on the aftermath of the II World War is the third remarkable theatre in Jyväskylä.
Annual Events
- Arctic and Fabulous Film Festival offers different forms and genres of Nordic film in the middle of most freezing winter season in February.
- Jyväskylä City's Birthday Week (last week of March) offers a number of concerts, theatre, exhibitions and debates around the city.
- Jyrock in April is an indie and alternative rock and pop festival.
- Yläkaupungin Yö in May is one of the biggest annual street festivals of the city.
- Sataman Yö is an annual pop music festival organised one week before the midsummer in the harbour of Jyväskylä.
- Jyväskylä Arts Festival in the middle of July accommodates musicians, bands, contemporary circus, comediens, mimes, physical theatre, storytellers and film makers. It is one of the most well known festivals in Finland.
- Neste Oil Rally Finland in the end of July is the biggest annually organised event in Nordic countries and a part of the WRC World Rally Championships.
- Athenis Finlandiae organised in August is a cultural festival combining elements from ancient history, arts and science.
- Finlandia Marathon in the beginning of September is a marathon festival designed for everybody from a top athlete to an amateur jogger. Time of Dance – the largest annual festival of Finnish contemporary dance is taking place in the end of September.
- The International Print Triennal Graphica Creativa is organised every three years since 1975. It was the very first international graphic art exhibition in Finland. The next triennal will be organised 2012.
Education
Jyväskylä is a traditional education city. Including school children, and the students in high schools, vocational schools, the university of applied sciences and the universities, the number of students and pupils in the city reaches 45,000, boosting Jyväskylä's reputation as a "student city". Almost 30% of the city population are students. A number of firsts in Finnish education have taken place in Jyväskylä:
- Jyväskylä Lyceum is the world's first junior secondary school with Finnish as the language of instruction. It started its first term on October 1 in 1858. Lyceum is still existing and it is one of nine upper secondary schools in the city. Today the school is named Jyväskylän Lyseon Lukio
- The first Finnish-medium teacher training college (1863)
- The first Finnish-medium school for girls (1864)
- Finland's first Summer University (1914)
Due to this, among other things, the city has earned the nickname Athens of Finland.
The teacher training college later evolved into the College of Education (1934) and further into the multidisciplinary University of Jyväskylä (1966).
The University of Jyväskylä is one of the most popular universities in Finland. Almost 16,000 students are enrolled to study for a Bachelor's or Master's degree, and the university also offers PhD programs in most of its subjects. Historically, the university has excelled in the study of education, but in the last few decades it has also gained respect in the sciences. It is the only university in Finland offering university-level education in sports, training sports teachers and coaches. Its IT program is the largest in the country in terms of attendance.
JAMK University of Applied Sciences has 8.000 students. It has four different units: School of Business and Services Management, School of Health and Social Studies, School of Technology and Teacher Education College. Humak University of Applied Sciences educates cultural management in Jyväskylä.
Transport
Jyväskylä railway station is served by VR direct trains to Helsinki, Pieksämäki, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa and many other destinations in Finland. The station was extensively modernised in 2002.
Jyväskylä Airport is situated in Tikkakoski, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Jyväskylä. It has regular direct flights to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. The airport serves also as a military and charter airport.
The city is on crossroads of many main roads of Finland. European route E75 passes the city from South to North and E63 from Southeast to Northwest.
Jyväskylä harbour is home for many passenger ships operating on lake Päijänne. On summer time there are direct ship connections to Lahti, Jämsä, Suolahti, Viitasaari and some other cities.
The public transportation system is operated by Jyväskylän liikenne and it is based on bus lines.
In 2009 the modal share of the city was dominated by cars (61%). Modal split of pedestrians was 20 % and bicyclers 13 % is relatively high compared to other Finnish cities. Public transportation had 4 % modal share.
People
Artists
Sofi Oksanen
Alvar & Elissa Aalto
Arja Koriseva
Politicians
Mauri Pekkarinen
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Athletes
Mikko Hirvonen
Minna Kauppi
Young Tahko Pihkala
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International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Jyväskylä is twinned with:
Friendship cities
See also
- Asteroid 1500 Jyväskylä (named after the town by its Finnish discoverer, Yrjö Väisälä).
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This article uses bare URLs for citations, which may be threatened by link rot. Please add information on the author and source so that the article remains verifiable in the future. Several templates and a tool are available to facilitate formatting. (July 2011) |
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- ^ a b "Population by municipality as of 31 January 2011" (in Finnish and Swedish). Population Information System. Population Register Center of Finland. http://vrk.fi/default.aspx?docid=4258&site=3&id=0. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
- ^ "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=060_vaerak_tau_107_fi&ti=V%E4est%F6+kielen+mukaan+sek%E4+ulkomaan+kansalaisten+m%E4%E4r%E4+ja+maa%2Dpinta%2Dala+alueittain++1980+%2D+2008&path=../Database/StatFin/vrm/vaerak/&lang=3&multilang=fi. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
- ^ "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. http://pxweb2.stat.fi/Dialog/varval.asp?ma=050_vaerak_tau_104_fi&ti=V%E4est%F6+i%E4n+%281%2Dv%2E%29+ja+sukupuolen+mukaan+alueittain+1980+%2D+2008&path=../Database/StatFin/vrm/vaerak/&lang=3&multilang=fi. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
- ^ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. http://www.vero.fi/nc/doc/download.asp?id=7996;193801. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "Jyväskylän kaupunginjohtaja: Curriculum Vitae" (in Finnish). http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/hallinto/kaupunginjohtaja/cv. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ Berndtson, Nils (1983), "Lahden talon ja suvun varhaisista vaiheista", Keski-Suomen museon monistesarja 2/1983, Jyväskylän kaupunki, Finland: Keski-Suomen museo, pp. 1–23, ISSN 0357-8186
- ^ http://www.sissoset.net/aineisto/nimi.htm
- ^ http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/info/tietoja_jyvaskylasta/suuralueet
- ^ http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/instancedata/prime_product_julkaisu/jyvaskyla/embeds/36620_yleisesite_suomi_2010_www.pdf
- ^ http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/instancedata/prime_product_julkaisu/jyvaskyla/embeds/32842_ymparisto2008.pdf
- ^ Nature and space: Aalto and Le Corbusier. Routledge. 2003. http://books.google.fi/books?id=YV9FzaIu5kYC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=aalto+jyv%C3%A4skyl%C3%A4+toscana&source=bl&ots=CXDpw_Arck&sig=49rqioAuQjabAUKQlETvShLE46M&hl=fi&ei=BjVCTOTkBN6XONT4-aYN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
- ^ Climatological statistics for the normal period 1971–2000
- ^ a b http://www3.jkl.fi/historia/short/1837_1880.shtml
- ^ http://www3.jkl.fi/tiedotus/lehti/index.php/2005-02/582
- ^ https://www.jyu.fi/ajankohtaista/arkisto/2005/03/tiedote-2009-10-01-09-25-38-780898
- ^ http://www.infoa.fi/lansisuomi/showinfo.php?county=29
- ^ http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/info/tietoja_jyvaskylasta
- ^ http://yle.fi/alueet/teksti/keski-suomi/2010/12/tyottomyys_vahenee_hiljalleen_2235515.html
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- ^ http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/palvelut/opiskelu/uusiopiskelija
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- ^ a b c "Twin cities". International relations. http://www3.jkl.fi/international/intrelations/twin.shtml. Retrieved 2006-08-02.[dead link]
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