Jyväskylä

Jyväskylä
	Jyväskylä
	— City —
	Jyväskylän kaupunki
	Ylistö Bridge, towards Mattilanniemi campus
	; Coat of arms
	; Coat of arms
	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
Province	Western Finland
Region	Central Finland
Sub-region	Jyväskylä sub-region
Charter	1837
	Government
- City manager	Markku Andersson
	Area (2009-01-01)
- City	1,466.48 km2 (566.2 sq mi)
- Land	1,171.23 km2 (452.2 sq mi)
- Water	295.25 km2 (114 sq mi)
	Population (2009-03-31)
- City	128,245
- Density	109.5/km2 (283.6/sq mi)
- Metro	170,375
	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	18.5%
Website	www.jkl.fi

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Jyväskylä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjyvæsˌkylæ]) is a city and municipality located in Central Finland, 147 kilometres (91 mi) north-east of Tampere and 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of Helsinki, near the lakes Päijänne and Keitele. It is the center of the Jyväskylä sub-region. The site of many education-related firsts in Finland, Jyväskylä is known as a city of schools, the Athens of Finland, and is also famous for its many buildings designed by Alvar Aalto and for hosting Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. The city is home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.

As of 31 March 2009, Jyväskylä had a population of 128,245.^[2]

The Jyväskylä sub-region includes Jyväskylä, Laukaa, Muurame, Petäjävesi and Toivakka.

As of 2006^[update], the city mayor is Markku Andersson.

The unemployment rate in Jyväskylä is 13.8% (2008).

[edit] Education

Jyväskylä is a traditional education city. A number of firsts in Finnish education have taken place in Jyväskylä:

The first Finnish-speaking Lyceum (High School) (1858) (Lyceum being a Finnish equivalent of high school)
The first Finnish-speaking teacher training college (1863)
The first Finnish-speaking school for girls (1864)
Finland's first Summer University (1914)

Due to this, among other things, the city 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).

Fireworks in Jyväskylä

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. Including school children, and the students in high schools, vocational schools, the university of applied sciences, known also for its IT program, and the university, the number of students and pupils in the city reaches 40,000, boosting Jyväskylä's reputation as a "student city".

[edit] History

In Jyväskylä region there are archeological findings from the stone age and cultivation has started already 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 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.

[edit] 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 was expanded in 2004. It's situated in Tikkakoski, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Jyväskylä. It has direct flights to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.