Tikkakoski

Tikkakoski is an urban area (a taajama) and a district of Jyväskylä, Finland, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the city center. Before 2009, Tikkakoski was part of Jyväskylän maalaiskunta.

Having originally been part of Tikka-Mannila, Tikkakoski began to develop into a distinct industrial community around the 1890s. During the next century, the settlement continued to grow around industry and an air force garrison, which remained the largest employers in Tikkakoski until the early 1990s depression in Finland. After a decline in population due to the loss of jobs during the 1990s, Tikkakoski began to recover around the 2010s.

The urban area, as defined by Statistics Finland, had a population of 4,094 on 31 December 2023. The official district of the city does not correspond to this definition.

The Jyväskylä Airport, the Finnish Air Force Museum, and a Finnish Air Force base, with the FAF Headquarters, the Finnish Air Force Academy, Air Force Band, and the C4I Materiel Command, are all located in Tikkakoski.

The settlement of Tikkakoski is named after the Tikkakoski rapids of the river Autiojoki. The hydronym Tikkakoski (lit. 'woodpecker rapids') is not unique and appears elsewhere in Finland, being derived either directly from the word tikka meaning 'woodpecker' or the surname Tikka ~ Tikkanen. In this case, the name is likely derived from the surname, as it was found early on in the older nearby village of Tikka-Mannila.

Tikkakoski is located in the far northern part of Jyväskylä near its borders with Laukaa and Uurainen, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the city center. The biggest lake in the area is Luonetjärvi, which discharges into lake Korttajärvi via the river Autiojoki, while smaller ponds include Myllylampi, Koivulampi, Likolampi and Liinalampi. Hietajärvi is not a separate lake, but a part of Luonetjärvi.

On 31 December 2023, the urban area of Tikkakoski had a population of 4,094, a surface area of 5.98 square kilometres (2.31 sq mi) and a population density of 684.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,773/sq mi). The urban area is divided into Tikkakoski proper in the west and Liinalampi in the east. Other residential areas include Kummunmäki, Tunnelinmäki, Länsiranta and Itäranta. Tikkakoski is also the official name of Jyväskylä's 62nd district, while the 61st district is named Tikkamannila. The district named Tikkakoski (62) only includes the northern part of the urban area, while its southern part belongs to the Tikkamannila district (61).

Tikkakoski developed on lands of the village of Tikka-Mannila and, to a lesser extent, Korttajärvi (modern Puuppola and Kuikka).