It is located in the former province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finlandregion. There are about 4,500 summer-time inhabitants visiting the 2,000 summer cottages.
The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The municipality was also known as "Korpilax" in Swedish. The Swedish name is now considered outdated according to the Institute for the Languages of Finland.[1] Politically, Centre Party is dominant. Korpilahti was one of the poorest municipalities in Finland with an unemployment rate of 14.4% (2002).
Korpilahti is relatively well known for its nature, with large hills and about 200 lakes. Lake Päijänne, the second largest lake in Finland, is partially in the area of Korpilahti.
Korpilahti was first mentioned in 1596 as Kårpilaxiby,[3] when it was a part of the parish of Jämsä. It became a separate parish in 1861.[2]
The municipality of Muurame was split off from Korpilahti in 1921, while Säynätsalo was split off from Muurame in 1924. The municipality of Korpilahti became a part of Jyväskylä in 2009.[3]