Mäntyharju

Municipality in Southern Savonia, Finland

Coat of arms

Location of Mäntyharju in Finland

Coordinates: 61°25′N 026°53′E / 61.417°N 26.883°E / 61.417; 26.883Country

FinlandRegionSouthern SavoniaSub-regionMikkeli sub-regionCharter1595Government

• Municipal managerJukka OllikainenArea

(2018-01-01)^[1]

• Total1,210.98 km² (467.56 sq mi) • Land981.26 km² (378.87 sq mi) • Water229.23 km² (88.51 sq mi) • Rank79th largest in FinlandPopulation

(2023-12-31)^[2]

• Total5,522 • Rank159th largest in Finland • Density5.63/km² (14.6/sq mi)Population by native language

^[3]

• Finnish97.1% (official) • Swedish0.2% • Others2.7%Population by age

^[4]

• 0 to 1411.2% • 15 to 6451.3% • 65 or older37.5%Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET) • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)Websitewww.mantyharju.fi

Mäntyharju (Finnish: [ˈmæntyˌhɑrju], lit. 'Pine Ridge') is a municipality of Finland.

It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of 5,522 (31 December 2023)^[2] and covers an area of 1,210.98 square kilometres (467.56 sq mi) of which 229.23 km² (88.51 sq mi) is water.^[1] The coastline is almost 1,520 kilometers (940 mi). The population density is 6.2 inhabitants per km².

Neighbouring municipalities: Heinola, Hirvensalmi, Kouvola, Mikkeli, Pertunmaa and Savitaipale.

The summer houses or cottages located in the countryside are part of the culture of Finland where most Finnish families spend their summer holidays. Mäntyharju is the municipality which has the fifth most summer houses in Finland.^[6] Some of the reasons for Mäntyharju's popularity involve its many pure lakes and a relatively short distance to the Finnish capital Helsinki of approximately 200 kilometres by car. The municipality also has a direct, high-speed train connection to the capital area. Because of the many summer houses, the population of Mäntyharju more than triples during the most popular summer holiday times.

Art Centre Salmela in Mäntyharju hosts one of Finland's largest cultural events in July–August.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

The modern Mäntyharju municipality is on the border between the historical Tavastia, Savonia and Karelia regions. The parish of Mäntyharju was formed in 1595 out of Iitti, Sysmä, Pellosniemi (see Mikkeli, Mikkelin maalaiskunta) and Taipalsaari. Before that, there was already a chapel in the village of Kyttälä, at the time part of Iitti.^[7]

After the Treaty of Turku in 1743, western Mäntyharju remained Swedish while the eastern part, including the church, was ceded to Russia. The parts were reunited in 1821, when Old Finland was added to the Grand Duchy. Pertunmaa became a separate parish in May 20th of 1924 and a municipality in 1926, also including smaller parts of Hartola and Joutsa.^[8]^[9]

Notable people

Antti Häkkänen (b. 1985), former Minister of Justice of Finland 2017-2019
Antti Jaatinen (b. 1987), ice hockey player
Sami Savio - (b. 1975) Politician
Edward Vesala (1945–1999), Finnish avant-garde jazz composer, bandleader and drummer.
Kake Randelin (b. 1955), Finnish singer

References

^ ^a ^b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
^ "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
^ "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.
^ ^a ^b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
^ Statistics Finland
^ "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja_e-kirja_kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 281. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
^ "Suomen Sukututkimusseura". hiski.genealogia.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved December 27, 2022.
^ "Historia - Pertunmaa". pertunmaa.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2022.