Maalaiskunta (Finnish), landskommun (Swedish), "rural municipality", abbreviated mlk was one of the four types of municipality in Finland in 1865–1977. Other types were new city (in Finnish uusi kaupunki), old city (in Finnish vanha kaupunki) and kauppala (market town). Maalaiskunta was the most common type of municipality. In the 1977 reform, all municipalities were given fully equal legal standing. Previous maalaiskuntas associated with a city retained their name. For example, Rovaniemen maalaiskunta ("the rural municipality of Rovaniemi) surrounded the city of Rovaniemi, but were independently governed. From 2009, no municipalities will carry this name any more, after the merger of Jyväskylä and Jyväskylän 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 have 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 as Helsingin maalaiskunta, as it was the historical center of Helsinki (location of the Helsinki church village).

Laura "Laila" Annikki Kinnunen (November 8, 1939, Vantaa – October 26, 2000, Heinävesi) was a Finnish singer. She was one of the most popular Finnish singers of the 1950s and 60s, and represented Finland at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest, the first time Finland participated in the contest.

She spent her childhood in Sweden as a refugee from the Second World War, returning to Finland at the age of ten. Her first album, published in 1957, was a success, and she continued to publish music until 1980.