Luhanka

Luhanka (Swedish: Luhanka, also Luhango) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of 688 (30 June 2025)^[2] and covers an area of 313.25 square kilometres (120.95 sq mi) of which 98.73 km² (38.12 sq mi) is water.^[1]

For the river, see Luhan (river).

Luhanka
Municipality
Luhangan kunta Luhanka kommun
Coat of arms
Location of Luhanka in Finland
Coordinates: 61°48′N 025°42′E
Country	Finland
Region	Central Finland
Sub-region	Joutsa
Charter	1864
Government
• Municipal manager	Reijo Urtti
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	313.25 km2 (120.95 sq mi)
• Land	214.5 km2 (82.8 sq mi)
• Water	98.73 km2 (38.12 sq mi)
• Rank	256th largest in Finland
Population  (2025-06-30)[2]
• Total	688
• Rank	299th largest in Finland
• Density	3.21/km2 (8.3/sq mi)
Population by native language [2]
• Finnish	99.3% (official)
• Others	0.7%
Population by age [3]
• 0 to 14	8.4%
• 15 to 64	49.9%
• 65 or older	41.6%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Website	www.luhanka.fi

The population density is 3.21 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.3/sq mi). There are also many summertime cottages in Luhanka.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The municipality is also been known as "Luhango" in Swedish documents.^[4]

Mimicking the badger in the coat of arms of Luhanka, the permanent residents include the official animal mascot of the municipality, Sisu the Badger (Sisu-mäyrä).^[5]

Geography

Hopeasalmi, Lake Päijänne

Neighboring municipalities are Hartola, Joutsa, Jyväskylä, Jämsä, Kuhmoinen and Sysmä.

There are all together 61 lakes in Luhanka. Biggest lakes in Luhanka are Päijänne, Tammijärvi-Hauha and Jutilanjärvi.^[6]

History

Luhanka was first mentioned as a village within the Sysmä parish in 1462. The village gets its name from the lake Luhankjärvi or Luhankajärvi, the name of which comes from the word luha, a variant of luhta, a word which refers to a type of swamp. -nka is a derivational suffix, which is also found in other place names such as Puolanka and Maaninka.

It was granted a chapel in 1767 and became a separate parish in 1864. Due to the small population of the municipality, the parish of Luhanka became subordinate to the parish of Joutsa in 2006.^[7][8]

Notable people

• Politician Hertta Kuusinen was born in Luhanka in 1904^{[citation needed]}
• Writer Kreetta Onkeli has spent childhood in Luhanka^{[citation needed]}
• Composer Toni Edelmann lived in Luhanka^{[citation needed]}