Viitasaari
Town in Central Finland, Finland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Viitasaari is a Finnish town and municipality located in the Central Finland region. It is located between the neighbouring municipalities of Pihtipudas to the north and Äänekoski to the south. The town has a population of 5,787 (30 June 2025)[5] and covers an area of 1,589.13 square kilometres (613.57 sq mi) of which 340.43 km2 (131.44 sq mi), or 21%, is water.[1] There are altogether 230 lakes in Viitasaari. The biggest lakes are Lake Keitele, Lake Kolima and Muuruejärvi.[6] The population density is 4.64 inhabitants per square kilometre (12.0/sq mi).
Viitasaari | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Viitasaaren kaupunki Viitasaari stad | |
Location of Viitasaari in Finland | |
| Coordinates: 63°04′30″N 025°51′35″E | |
| Country | |
| Region | Central Finland |
| Sub-region | Saarijärvi–Viitasaari sub-region |
| Charter | 1635 |
| Town privileges | 1996 |
| Government | |
| • Municipal manager | Helena Vuopionperä-Kovanen |
| Area (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 1,589.13 km2 (613.57 sq mi) |
| • Land | 1,248.53 km2 (482.06 sq mi) |
| • Water | 340.43 km2 (131.44 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 59th largest in Finland |
| Elevation | 140 m (460 ft) |
| Population (2025-06-30)[2] | |
• Total | 5,787 |
| • Rank | 158th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 4.64/km2 (12.0/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 97.5% (official) |
| • Others | 2.5% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 11.6% |
| • 15 to 64 | 51.9% |
| • 65 or older | 36.5% |
| Time zone | UTC+02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+03:00 (EEST) |
| Postal code | 44500 |
| Area code | (+358) 01 |
| Website | viitasaari |
The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Politics
Results of the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election in Viitasaari:[7]
- Social Democratic Party 31.2%
- Centre Party 24.6%
- Finns Party 20.5%
- National Coalition Party 7.9%
- Christian Democrats 6.7%
- Left Alliance 4.2%
- Green League 2.3%
Sister cities
The following cities or municipalities are twinned with Viitasaari:[8][9]
Nõo Parish, Estonia
Staffanstorp Municipality, Sweden
Storuman Municipality, Sweden
Sør-Odal Municipality, Norway
Schlangen, Germany
Rokietnica, Poland
See also
- Blue Highway, an international tourist route
- Huopanankoski, a rapids in the Huopana village