| Alajärvi | |
| Official Name: | Finnish: Alajärven kaupunki Swedish: Alajärvi stad |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Mapsize: | 150px |
| Coordinates: | 63°N 72°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Finland |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | South Ostrobothnia |
| Subdivision Type2: | Sub-region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Järviseutu sub-region |
| Leader Title: | Town manager |
| Leader Name: | Vesa Koivunen |
| Established Title: | Charter |
| Established Date: | 1869 |
| Established Title2: | Town privileges |
| Established Date2: | 1986 |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +02:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +03:00 |
Alajärvi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of NaNAlajärvi}} of which NaNAlajärvi}} is water. The population density is NaNAlajärvi. The town is unilingually Finnish.
The municipality of Lehtimäki was consolidated with Alajärvi on 1 January 2009.
The neighboring municipalities of Alajärvi are Alavus, Kuortane, Kyyjärvi, Lappajärvi, Lapua, Perho, Soini, Vimpeli and Ähtäri.
In 1967, Alajärvi had eight legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):[1]
In 2018, 11.2% of the workforce of Alajärvi worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 29.9% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 57.1% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 9.3%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 33.0%.[2]
Though a small town, Alajärvi has a few shops, namely K-Supermarket, Tokmanni, Lidl and a few others. In 2013 a public natatorium was opened, which also includes a weight room.
In 2019, out of the total population of 9,562, 5,846 people lived in urban areas and 3,641 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 75 people were unknown. This made Alajärvi's degree of urbanization 61.6%.[3] The urban population in the municipality was divided between three urban areas as follows:[4]
| Urban area | Population | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alajärvi central locality | 5,029 | |
| 2 | 570 | ||
| 3 | 247 |
Alajärvi has a subarctic climate (Dfc).
In 2020, 17.4% of the population of Alajärvi was under the age of 15, 54.3% were aged 15 to 64, and 28.3% were over the age of 64. The average age was 46.1, above the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 44.7. Speakers of Finnish made up 96.8% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 0.1%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 3.0%. Foreign nationals made up 2.8% of the total population.[5]
The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Alajärvi from 1975 to 2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.
The Alajärvi Church, also known as the Church of Gabriel, was designed by Carl Ludvig Engel and completed in 1836.[6]
There are several buildings in the town and surrounding area designed by architect Alvar Aalto, both from the very early and later stages of his career: the Youth Association building (1919), Myllykangas farmhouse alterations (1920), Villa Väinölä (1926), Villa Flora (Aino Aalto, 1926), Municipal Hospital (1928), Grave memorials in the Church of Gabriel cemetery (1918, 1940, 1944), and the Administrative Centre (1965-1970) and Library (design 1966, built 1991).[7]
The town is home to the Nelimarkka Museum. The museum was built by the painter Eero Nelimarkka. It was designed by his friend, the architect Hilding Ekelund.[8]