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Maalaiskunta (Finnish),landskommun (Swedish), "rural municipality", abbreviatedmlk,[1] was one of the four types ofmunicipality in Finland in 1865–1976. Other types in 1865–1959 were city (in Finnishkaupunki) and market town (in Finnishkauppala), in 1960–1976 old city (in Finnishvanha kaupunki), new city (in Finnishuusi kaupunki) and market town.Maalaiskunta was the most common type of municipality. In the 1977 reform, all municipalities were given fully equal legal standing. Previousmaalaiskuntas associated with a city retained their name. For example,Rovaniemen maalaiskunta ("the rural municipality ofRovaniemi) surrounded the city of Rovaniemi, but were independently governed. From 2009, no municipalities carried this name any more, after the merger ofJyväskylä andJyväskylän mlk.
Rural municipalities were legally independent from the cities carrying the same name. However, in some cases, particularly when the city was in the geographic center of the municipality, rural municipalities placed their offices in the city, on the territory of a different municipality. Rural municipalities have also changed their names to create an identity distinct from the city. For example,Vantaa was previously known asHelsingin maalaiskunta, as it was the historical center ofHelsinki (location of theHelsinki church village).
In addition, in 1926Lohja was split intoLohjan maalaiskunta, which was known asLohjan kunta after 1977, andLohjan kauppala (laterLohjan kaupunki), but the two merged again in 1997.
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