The municipality is unilingual Finnish.
The downtown is situated at the northern end of Lake Vesantojärvi, from where the main settlement spreads to every direction. In west the extent is the longest, up to 8 km from the town hall and Market Square. There, the settlement engulfs the central settlement of the former municipality of Ahveninen, at the northern end of Lake Pohjois-Konnevesi.
The central settlement holds ca. 80,000 inhabitants. There are also two other settlements: those of Horonkylä (ca. 1,500) and Sonkari-Tiitilänkylä (ca. 3,000)
