Luopioinen

Luopioinen is a former municipality of Finland, situated about 60 kilometres (40 mi) from Tampere. It is part of the Pirkanmaa region and in 2007 it was joined to the municipality of Pälkäne. It is a rural town containing a few lakes, most famous being lake Kukkia.

Luopioinen
Former municipality
Luopioisten kunta
Coat of arms
Location of Luopioinen in Finland
Coordinates: 61°21′45″N 024°39′25″E
Country	Finland
Province	Western Finland Province
Region	Pirkanmaa
Established	1880
Merged into Pälkäne	2007
Seat	Luopioisten kirkonkylä
Area
• Land	392.12 km2 (151.40 sq mi)
Population  (2006-12-31)
• Total	2,392

History

Luopioinen was established during the Middle Ages, though the exact date is unclear. It remained a small village until 1693 when it acquired a chapel. At this time, Luopioinen was a part of the Hauho parish and was also known as Vesikansa. It became an independent parish in 1880, by then the alternative name Vesikansa had fallen out of use.

Aitoo was first mentioned in 1890.

Luopioinen was consolidated with Pälkäne in 2007.

Name

The name of Luopioinen comes from either a dialectal noun luopa meaning a narrow strait or from the verb luoda. It is unrelated to the word luopio meaning "apostate".

Statistics

• Established in 1868
• Population 2,372 (as of December 31, 2003)
• Age distribution
  • 0–14 yrs 14.9%
  • 15–64 yrs 57.1%
  • 65– yrs 28.0%
• Total area 391.8 km², of which 74.3 km² are lakes
• Income tax percentage 18.50%
• Unemployment rate 9.3% (as of 2002)

People born in Luopioinen

• August Hyöki (1874–1960)

External links

• Pälkäne municipality