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Jyvaskyla

By : en.wikipedia.org|Updated: 2008-11-07

General Introduction

Jyvaskyla is a city and municipality located in Central Finland, 147 km from Tampere and 270 km from Helsinki, near the lakes Paijanne and Keitele. It is the center of the Jyvaskyla Region. The site of many education-related firsts in Finland, Jyvaskyla is known as a city of schools, the Athens of Finland, and is also famous for its many buildings designed by Alvar Aalto and for hosting Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. The city is home of the annual Jyvaskyla Arts Festival.

At the end of 2004, Jyvaskyla had a population of 83,582, while the Region of Jyvaskyla had 163,420 inhabitants. Jyvaskylan maalaiskunta (the rural municipality of Jyvaskyla), which has its town hall, graveyard and the beautiful church Taulumäen kirkko all conveniently located in central Jyvaskyla, will be united with the city in 2009. After the unification there will be over 126 000 inhabitants in Jyvaskyla.The Jyvaskyla region includes Jyvaskyla, Jyvaskylan maalaiskunta, Laukaa, Muurame and Toivakka.

As of 2006, the city mayor is Markku Andersson.

The unemployment rate in Jyvaskyla is 13.8% (2008).

Education

Jyvaskyla is a traditional education city. A number of firsts in Finnish education have taken place in Jyvaskyla:

The first Finnish-speaking Lyceum (High School) (1858) (Lyceum being a Finnish equivalent of high school)

The first Finnish-speaking teacher training college (1863)

The first Finnish-speaking school for girls (1864)

Finland's first Summer University (1914)

Due to this, among other things, the city earned the nickname Athens of Finland.

The teacher training college later evolved into the College of Education (1934) and further into the multidisciplinary University of Jyvaskyla (1966).

The University of Jyvaskyla is one of the most popular universities in Finland. Almost 16,000 students are enrolled to study for a Bachelor's or Master's degree, and the university also offers PhD programs in most of its subjects. Historically, the university has excelled in the study of education, but in the last few decades it has also gained respect in the sciences. It is the only university in Finland offering university-level education in sports, training sports teachers and coaches. Its IT program is the largest in the country in terms of attendance. Including school children, and the students in high schools, vocational schools, the university of applied sciences, known also for its IT program, and the university, the number of students and pupils in the city reaches 40,000, boosting Jyvaskyla's reputation as a "student city".

History

Jyvaskyla was founded on 22 March 1837 by Czar Nicholas I of Russia and built essentially from scratch. The original town was built between Lake Jyvasjarvi (which is connected to Lake Paijanne) and the Jyvaskyla ridge (Harju), and consisted of most of the current grid-style city centre. In the early 20th century, the town expanded several times. Most of today's Jyvaskyla was built after the Continuation war, when refugees from Karelia and other parts of the country moved to the city and housing was badly needed. Today, Jyvaskyla is growing by approx. 1,000 inhabitants/year. Interestingly, only about a third of the people living in Jyvaskyla were born in Jyvaskyla, which makes the city vibrant and culturally ever-changing.

Transport

Jyvaskyla railway station is served by VR direct trains to Helsinki, Pieksamaki, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa and many other destinations in Finland. The station was extensively modernised in 2002.

Jyvaskyla Airport was expanded in 2004. It's situated in Tikkakoski, about 20 km north from Jyvaskyla. It has direct flights to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.