Luhanka
Municipality in Central Finland, Finland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luhanka (Swedish: Luhanka, also Luhango) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of 688 (30 June 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]
Luhanka | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
| Luhangan kunta Luhanka kommun | |
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Luhanka in Finland | |
| Coordinates: 61°48′N 025°42′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 (2025-06-30)[2] | |
• Total | 688 |
| • Rank | 299th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 3.21/km2 (8.3/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 99.3% (official) |
| • Others | 0.7% |
| 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 |
The population density is 3.21 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.3/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
History
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
- 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]
