Lappajärvi

This article is about the municipality of Finland. For the lake, see Lake Lappajärvi.

Lappajärvi is a municipality in Finland's Southern Ostrobothnia region. It is located 78 kilometres (48 mi) from Seinäjoki, 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Kokkola and 117 kilometres (73 mi) from Vaasa. The municipality has a population of 2,710 (30 June 2025)^[2] and covers an area of 522.98 square kilometres (201.92 sq mi) of which 102.89 km² (39.73 sq mi), or nearly 20% is water.^[1] The population density is 6.44 inhabitants per square kilometre (16.7/sq mi).

Lappajärvi
Municipality
Lappajärven kunta Lappajärvi kommun
Coat of arms
Location of Lappajärvi in Finland
Coordinates: 63°13′N 023°38′E
Country	Finland
Region	Southern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region	Järviseutu
Charter	1865
Government
• Municipal manager	Sami Alasara
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	522.98 km2 (201.92 sq mi)
• Land	420.89 km2 (162.51 sq mi)
• Water	102.89 km2 (39.73 sq mi)
• Rank	200th largest in Finland
Population  (2025-06-30)[2]
• Total	2,710
• Rank	225th largest in Finland
• Density	6.44/km2 (16.7/sq mi)
Population by native language [2]
• Finnish	92.9% (official)
• Swedish	0.4%
• Others	6.7%
Population by age [3]
• 0 to 14	13.9%
• 15 to 64	50.3%
• 65 or older	35.8%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Website	lappajarvi.fi

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Lake Lappajärvi, which gives the name to the municipality, is a meteor crater, one of the few meteor crater lakes found in Finland.

Singer and performer, Timo Kotipelto from the worldwide known Finnish power metal band Stratovarius was born and raised in Lappajärvi.

Notable people born in Lappajärvi

• Johannes Bäck (1872–1952)
• Aleksi Hakala (1886–1959)
• Veikko Savela (1919–2015)
• Jarmo Övermark (1955–)
• Arto Melleri (1956–2005)
• Seppo Särkiniemi (1957–)
• Jussi Lampi (1961–)
• Timo Kotipelto (1969–)
• Petra Olli (1994–)

See also

• Lappajärvi Church