Editing Pihtipudas (section)

==Location and geography==
Pihtipudas is the northernmost municipality of the administrative sub-region of [[Saarijärvi-Viitasaari sub-region|Saarijärvi-Viitasaari]] in the region of [[Central Finland]].  It is located on [[Finnish national road 4|highway 4]] ([[European route E75|E75]]), approximately {{convert|140|km|-1}} north of [[Jyväskylä]], {{convert|200|km|-1}} south of [[Oulu]] and {{convert|412|km|-1}} north of the capital [[Helsinki]]. The municipality covers an area of {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/total area|Pihtipudas}}|km2}} of which {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/waters area|Pihtipudas}}|km2|abbr=on}} is water.<ref name="total_area"/> The neighbouring municipalities of Pihtipudas are [[Haapajärvi]], [[Keitele]], [[Kinnula]], [[Pielavesi]], [[Pyhäjärvi]], [[Reisjärvi]] and [[Viitasaari]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Municipality-based statistical units |url=https://stat.fi/org/avoindata/paikkatietoaineistot/kuntapohjaiset_tilastointialueet_en.html |website=Statistics Finland |access-date=6 August 2024}}</ref> Just under half of the residents live in the largest settlement of Pihtipudas. The main villages within the municipality are located on the lakes of [[Alvajärvi (Pihtipudas)|Alvajärvi]], [[Elämäjärvi]], [[Muurasjärvi]], and Saani on the [[Saanijärvi]], and at Ilosjoki, Korppinen, Kärväskylä,  Peninki, Rönnynkylä, Kojola and Seläläntaus. 

The landscape has the typical characteristics of the [[Finnish Lakeland]] geographical region, with extensive birch and pine forest cover, small granite bedrock extrusions and extensive bodies of water.  There are approximately 140 lakes in Pihtipudas municipality. The two largest lakes are Alvajärvi and Muurasjärvi, and smaller lakes include Saanijärvi, Elämäjärvi, Kinturi and Liitonjärvi. The northern parts of two large lakes, [[Lake Kolima|Kolima]] and [[Kolkku]], are also within the municipality.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jarviwiki.fi/wiki/Pihtipudas |title=Pihtipudas |author= |date=2012 |work=Järviwiki |publisher=Finland's Environmental Administration |accessdate=27 February 2012}}</ref>