| Saarijärvi | |
| Official Name: | Finnish: Saarijärven kaupunki Swedish: Saarijärvi stad |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Flag Size: | 120x70px |
| Coordinates: | 62.705°N 40.5°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Finland |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Central Finland |
| Subdivision Type2: | Sub-region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Saarijärvi-Viitasaari sub-region |
| Leader Title: | Town manager |
| Leader Name: | Satu Autiosalo |
| Established Title: | Charter |
| Established Date: | 1866 |
| Established Title2: | City rights |
| Established Date2: | 1986 |
| Timezone: | EET |
| Utc Offset: | +02:00 |
| Timezone Dst: | EEST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | +03:00 |
Saarijärvi (in Finnish pronounced as /ˈsɑːriˌjærʋi/) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of [1] and covers an area of NaNSaarijärvi}} ofwhich NaNSaarijärvi}}is water. The population density isNaNSaarijärvi.
Neighbouring municipalities are Kannonkoski, Karstula, Multia, Soini, Uurainen, Ähtäri and Äänekoski.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The neighboring municipality of Pylkönmäki was consolidated to Saarijärvi on 1 January 2009.
There are all together 241 lakes in Saarijärvi. Biggest lakes are Pyhäjärvi, Summanen and Lake Saarijärvi.[2]
Saarijärvi is the home of Bonden Paavo (Finnish: Saarijärven Paavo) in the poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Juho Hyytiäinen, the great grandfather of Pamela Anderson, left the village in 1908 emigrating to the American continent.
Saarijärvi has existed since the mid-16th century, when it was a part of the Rautalampi parish. Saarijärvi acquired its first church in 1628, which was also when the Laukaa parish, including Saarijärvi, was separated from Rautalampi. Saarijärvi became a separate parish in 1639 as Palvasalmi. At the time, the parish also included Karstula, Kyyjärvi, Pylkönmäki and a part of Konginkangas. The parish was renamed to Saarijärvi sometime after 1690.
Karstula, including Kyyjärvi, was separated in 1887, Konginkangas in 1895 (partially from Viitasaari) and Pylkönmäki in 1914. Saarijärvi became a town in 1986. Pylkönmäki rejoined Saarijärvi in 2009.
Saarijärvi is twinned with:[4]
Gran, Norway
Kungsbacka, SwedenSaarijärvi is served by OnniBus.com route Helsinki—Jyväskylä—Kokkola.