Luhanka
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Luhanka | |
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Municipality | |
| Luhangan kunta Luhanka kommun | |
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 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Luhanka in Finland | |
 Interactive map of Luhanka | |
| Coordinates: 61°48′N 025°42′E / 61.800°N 25.700°E | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Region | Central Finland |
| Sub-region | Joutsa |
| Charter | 1864 |
| Government | |
| • Municipal manager | Reijo Urtti |
| Area (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 313.25 km2 (120.95 sq mi) |
| • Land | 214.5 km2 (82.8 sq mi) |
| • Water | 98.73 km2 (38.12 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 256th largest in Finland |
| Population (2025-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 695 |
| • Rank | 299th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 3.24/km2 (8.4/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 99.1% (official) |
| • Others | 0.9% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 8.4% |
| • 15 to 64 | 49.9% |
| • 65 or older | 41.6% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Website | www |
Luhanka (Swedish: Luhanka, also Luhango) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of 695 (31 December 2025)[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]
The population density is 3.24 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.4/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.[4]
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).[5]
Geography
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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.[6]
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.[7][8]
Notable people
[edit]- Politician Hertta Kuusinen was born in Luhanka in 1904[citation needed]
- Writer Kreetta Onkeli has spent childhood in Luhanka[citation needed]
- Composer Toni Edelmann lived in Luhanka[citation needed]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- 1 2 3 "Population growth slowed down in 2025". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 1 April 2026. ISSN 2243-3627. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Svenska ortnamn i Finland" (in Swedish). Research Institute for the Languages of Finland. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ↑ Mäyrä-maskotti sai nimen (in Finnish)
- ↑ "Luhanka". Järviwiki. Finland's Environmental Administration. 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ↑ "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja_e-kirja_kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 244. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ↑ "Luhangan seurakunta". joutsanseurakunta.filanguage=fi. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
External links
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Media related to Luhanka at Wikimedia Commons
Luhanka travel guide from Wikivoyage- Municipality of Luhanka – Official homepage (in Finnish)
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| Municipalities |  | |
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| Former municipalities | ||
The smallest municipalities of Finland by region in terms of population | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
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