Keuruu

Keuruu [ˈkeu̯ruː] is a town with 9486 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2020) in Central Finland. It is located 50 kilometres west of the metropolitan area of Jyväskylä.

Around 8000 inhabitants live in the city centre. It extends over four islands connected by bridges on the northern shore of Lake Keurusselkä. The town also includes Pihlajavesi, which was incorporated in 1969, and the scattered settlements of Ampiala, Jukojärvi, Kivijärvi, Liesjärvi, Loila, Pohjoislahti, Suojärvi, Suolahti and Valkealahti. The station village of Haapamäki is the starting point of three railway lines (to Jyväskylä in the south, Seinäjoki in the west and Iisalmi in the east) and thus of some importance as a transfer station in the Finnish railway network.

A permanent settlement of the area around Keuruu took place around 1560, subsequently it was divided between the parishes of Pirkkala and Ruovesi. Since 1628 Keuruu has been an independent parish, and since 1986 it has been a town.

The old wooden church of Keuruu was built in 1756-59 by Antti Hakola, but has been out of use since the consecration of the new brick church in 1892.

Politics

The strongest party in Keuruu is the Centre Party with eleven out of 35 seats in the Municipal Council, the highest decision-making body on local issues, closely followed by the Social Democrats with ten seats. Finland's third major party, the National Rally Party, is also quite strong with six deputies. Still represented in the city council are the Christian Democrats with three, the right-wing populist True Finns with two, and the Left Alliance and the Green Alliance with one seat each. A local electoral list (Keuruun Sitoutumattomien Kunnallisjärjestö ry:n yhteislista) also won one seat.

Keuruu is twinned with the following towns:

• Tingsryd, Sweden (since 1974)
• Solrod, Denmark (1982)
• Szarvas, Hungary (1983)
• Skaun, Norway (1984)
• Uglitsch, Russia (1988)

Personalities

• Salla Sipponen (* 1995), discus thrower