Jyväskylän maalaiskunta

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Vaajakoski in winter.

Jyväskylän maalaiskunta (Jyväskylä landskommun in Swedish), 'The Rural Municipality of Jyväskylä' virtually surrounds the City of Jyväskylä. It has three population centres: Vaajakoski, Tikkakoski and Palokka. Jyväskylä Airport in Tikkakoski is one of the busiest in Finland. According to the 2003 statistics compiled by the Population Register Centre, the population of Jyväskylän maalaiskunta was 33,820 making it the second most populous rural municipality after Nurmijärvi. The total area is 534.34 km², out of which 85.05 km² is water. The population density is 63.3 inhabitants per km². The municipality was founded in 1868.

Business life in Jyväskylän maalaiskunta is diversified. In addition to its conventional agriculture and forestry output, the municipality is home to companies such as Komas Oy, a system supplier of mechanical subassemblies, and Tikka Group, a manufacturer of studs for car winter tires (the situation as of 2006). Historically, Vaajakoski hosted a wide range of conventional industries up until the 1980s when structural changes in Finland's economy resulted in a shutdown of many long-standing factories and mills also in Jyväskylä's rural sibling. However, still actively operating in Vaajakoski's industrial area is the Panda chocolate and sweets factory, whose products are marketed the world over.

The geographically lowest of the six locks on the Keitele-Päijänne canal is located in Vaajakoski. The European routes E63 and E75 run through Jyväskylän maalaiskunta east and north of Jyväskylä, respectively. Likewise, the east- and westbound railway lines that leave Jyväskylä have been laid on the rural municipality's soil.

The mayor of Jyväskylän maalaiskunta is Arto Lepistö.

Distances