Jämsä is a Finnish city located in the southern part of the
province of Central Finland on the western shore of Lake Päijänne,
Finland's second largest lake. The city is home to 20,120 people (30
June 2020) and covers an area of 1,823.91 km², of which 252.54 km²
are water bodies (1 January 2020). The population density is 12.8
inhabitants / km².
Jämsä is the only medieval parish in its
province. The municipality of Jämsä was founded in 1866, it acquired
commercial rights in 1969, and it became a city in 1977. The
neighboring municipalities of Jämsä are Juupajoki, Jyväskylä,
Keuruu, Kuhmoinen, Luhanka, Mänttä-Vilppula, Orivesi and Petäjävesi.
The municipality of Kuorevesi was annexed to Jämsä in 2001. From
the beginning of 2007, the eastern parts of Längelmäki, which
belongs to the province of Pirkanmaa, were connected to Jämsä and
the western parts to the city of Orivesi. About 2/3 of Längelmäki's
residents lived in the area connected to Jämsä. The association had
no effect on the number of MPs elected from the Pirkanmaa and
Central Finland constituencies in the 2007 parliamentary elections.
The municipal associations continued in 2009, when Jämsä and
Jämsänkoski merged. At the beginning of 1969, the municipality of
Koskenpää was connected to Jämsänkoski. The new city was named Jämsä
and the coat of arms was Jämsänkoski.
After World War II,
settlers from Valkjärvi and Kivennava were stationed in Jämsä.
Jämsä's dialectal name is Jämpsä.
Etymology of the name
The origin of Jämsä propri is not
entirely certain. Janne Saarikivi has suggested that the name Jämsä
is related to a proverb that has evolved from the Northern Sámi verb
jápmit (die). The present-day Sámi languages have several place
names derived from the appellative jámeš (deceased). Max Wassmer
once suggested that the name Jämsä is related to the shape and flow
pattern of the Jämsä River. According to him, the river got its name
before the permanent residents of the Jämsä region from the way the
river flow consumes the shores. The name may also be based on an
ancient verb meaning eating, biting, or caving, from which a
appellative for spinning has since been derived. In dialects, this
word is Jämsä, jämpsä or jämäs (a trough-bladed and branched trough
intended for leveling the inner surface of wooden containers). There
is a verb to crumble in the grass (cleans the inside of bundle
dishes with crumbs).