Alajärvi Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Alajärvi

Town

Alajärven kaupunki
Alajärvi stad

Alajärvi Church

Coat of arms

Location of Alajärvi in Finland

Country

Finland

Region

South Ostrobothnia

Sub-region

Järviseutu sub-region

Charter

1869

Town privileges

1986

Area

(2018-01-01)

• Total

1,056.74 km² (408.01 sq mi)

• Land

1,008.77 km² (389.49 sq mi)

• Water

47.99 km² (18.53 sq mi)

Area rank

78th largest in Finland

Population

(2023-12-31)

• Total

9,113

• Rank

108th largest in Finland

• Density

9.03/km² (23.4/sq mi)

Population by native language

• Finnish

95.3% (official)

• Swedish

0.2%

• Others

4.5%

Population by age

• 0 to 14

17.4%

• 15 to 64

54.3%

• 65 or older

28.3%

Time zone

UTC+02:00 (EET)

• Summer (DST)

UTC+03:00 (EEST)

Alajärvi is a town and municipality in Finland. Its name means "lower lake." It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region of Finland.

The town has a population of about 9,113 people (as of 31 December 2023). It covers an area of about 1,056.74 square kilometres (408.01 sq mi), with 47.99 km² (18.53 sq mi) of that being water. This means there are about 9.03 inhabitants per square kilometre (23.4/sq mi) people living in each square kilometer. The main language spoken in Alajärvi is Finnish.

On January 1, 2009, the nearby municipality of Lehtimäki joined with Alajärvi.

Geography of Alajärvi
- Villages in Alajärvi
Economy and Jobs
- Main Urban Areas
- Climate in Alajärvi
People in Alajärvi
Culture and Buildings
Famous People from Alajärvi
Gallery
See also

Geography of Alajärvi

Alajärvi is surrounded by several other municipalities. These include Alavus, Kuortane, Kyyjärvi, Lappajärvi, Lapua, Perho, Soini, Vimpeli, and Ähtäri.

Villages in Alajärvi

In 1967, Alajärvi had eight main villages. These were:

Alajärvi
Kurejoki
Menkijärvi
Möksy
Savonkylä
Tarvolankylä
Päällysaho
Vimpeli

Economy and Jobs

In 2018, most people in Alajärvi worked in services, like shops or offices. About 57.1% of jobs were in this area. Another 29.9% worked in secondary production, which includes things like making goods in factories or building houses. A smaller number, 11.2%, worked in primary production, such as farming, forestry, or fishing.

In 2019, the unemployment rate was 9.3%. This means about 9.3% of people who wanted to work did not have a job. Also, 33.0% of the population were retired.

Even though Alajärvi is a small town, it has several shops. You can find places like K-Supermarket, Tokmanni, and Lidl there. In 2013, a public swimming pool was opened. It also has a gym for people to exercise.

Main Urban Areas

In 2019, Alajärvi had a total population of 9,562 people. Most of these people, 5,846, lived in urban areas. Urban areas are places where many people live close together, like towns or cities. The remaining 3,641 people lived in more spread-out, rural areas.

The main urban areas in Alajärvi are:

#	Urban area	Population
1	Alajärvi central locality	5,029
2	Lehtimäki	570
3	Luoma-aho	247

Climate in Alajärvi

Alajärvi has a subarctic climate. This means it has long, cold winters and short, cool summers.

Climate data for Alajärvi Möksy (1991-2020 normals, records 1959-present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	7.8 (46.0)	10.0 (50.0)	14.1 (57.4)	23.2 (73.8)	29.8 (85.6)	32.1 (89.8)	33.6 (92.5)	30.8 (87.4)	27.0 (80.6)	19.8 (67.6)	11.2 (52.2)	8.1 (46.6)	33.6 (92.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−7.4 (18.7)	−7.9 (17.8)	−4.0 (24.8)	2.0 (35.6)	8.3 (46.9)	13.2 (55.8)	15.9 (60.6)	13.8 (56.8)	8.7 (47.7)	3.0 (37.4)	−1.4 (29.5)	−4.9 (23.2)	3.3 (37.9)
Record low °C (°F)	−42.0 (−43.6)	−45.5 (−49.9)	−36.0 (−32.8)	−22.2 (−8.0)	−10.0 (14.0)	−6.6 (20.1)	−2.7 (27.1)	−6.8 (19.8)	−9.5 (14.9)	−23.4 (−10.1)	−32.1 (−25.8)	−37.2 (−35.0)	−45.5 (−49.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	42 (1.7)	33 (1.3)	34 (1.3)	34 (1.3)	48 (1.9)	72 (2.8)	79 (3.1)	75 (3.0)	61 (2.4)	64 (2.5)	54 (2.1)	50 (2.0)	646 (25.4)
Average precipitation days	11	9	8	8	8	10	11	11	10	12	11	12	121
Source: https://www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/ilmastollinen-vertailukaus https://kilotavu.com/fmi-tilastot.php?taulukkomoodi=true

People in Alajärvi

In 2020, about 17.4% of the people in Alajärvi were under 15 years old. About 54.3% were between 15 and 64 years old. The remaining 28.3% were over 64 years old. The average age of people in Alajärvi was 46.1 years. This is a bit older than the average age for all of Finland, which was 43.4 years.

Most people in Alajärvi speak Finnish (96.8%). A very small number speak Swedish (0.1%). About 3.0% of the population speak other languages. People from other countries make up 2.8% of the total population.

The chart below shows how the population of Alajärvi has changed over time, from 1975 to 2020.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1975	10,771	—
1980	11,089	+0.58%
1985	11,683	+1.05%
1990	11,963	+0.47%
1995	11,890	−0.12%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2000	11,503	−0.66%
2005	10,910	−1.05%
2010	10,487	−0.79%
2015	10,006	−0.93%
2020	9,419	−1.20%

Source: Statistics Finland

Culture and Buildings

The Alajärvi Church is also known as the Church of Gabriel. It was designed by a famous architect named Carl Ludvig Engel and finished in 1836.

Alajärvi is special because it has many buildings designed by another famous architect, Alvar Aalto. He designed buildings throughout his career, from early on to later years. Some of his designs in Alajärvi include:

The Youth Association building (1919)
Changes to the Myllykangas farmhouse (1920)
Villa Väinölä (1926)
Villa Flora (designed by Aino Aalto, 1926)
The Municipal Hospital (1928)
Grave memorials in the Church of Gabriel cemetery (1918, 1940, 1944)
The Administrative Centre (1965-1970)
The Library (designed in 1966, built in 1991)

The town is also home to the Nelimarkka Museum. This museum was built by the painter Eero Nelimarkka. His friend, the architect Hilding Ekelund, designed it.

If you like sports, Alajärvi has a men's pesäpallo club called Alajärven Ankkurit. Pesäpallo is a sport similar to baseball. The team plays in the national league, called Superpesis, at Kitro Stadium.