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Southwest Finland

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"Finland Proper" redirects here. For other uses, see Finland Proper (disambiguation).

Southwest Finland
Varsinais-Suomi (Finnish)
Egentliga Finland (Swedish)
Finland Proper
Region
Region of Finland Proper
Varsinais-Suomen maakunta
Landskapet Egentliga Finland
Coat of arms of Southwest Finland
Coat of arms
Finland Proper on a map of Finland
Finland Proper on a map of Finland
CountryFinland
Historical provinceFinland Proper
CapitalTurku
Other townsKaarina, Laitila, Loimaa, Naantali, Paimio, Pargas, Raisio, Salo, Somero and Uusikaupunki
Area
 • Total
10,910.05 km2 (4,212.39 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
 • Total
485,567
 • Density45/km2 (120/sq mi)
GDP
[1]
 • Total€16.219 billion (2015)
 • Per capita€34,252 (2015)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 codeFI-19
NUTS183
Regional animalRed fox
Regional birdWestern jackdaw
Regional fishBaltic herring
Regional flowerOak
Regional stoneRed granite
Regional lakePyhäjärvi
Websitevarsinais-suomi.fi

Southwest Finland is since 2019[2] the official name in English for the region in the southwest of Finland hitherto known as Finland Proper. In Finnish and Swedish, the region still retains the previous name (Finnish: Varsinais-Suomi, IPA: [ˈʋɑrs̠inɑi̯s̠ˌs̠uo̞̯mi]; Swedish: Egentliga Finland). It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The region's capital and most populous city is Turku, which was the capital city of Finland before Helsinki.

The area is largely the same as the historical province of Finland Proper, so named because it is the original home of the tribe known as the Finns proper.

Origin of the name Finland Proper

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The seal of Finland Proper from 1326

The name of Finland Proper has a historical function. In historic times, in the area of the present Southern Finland lived three tribes, which were the Finns proper, the Tavastians and the Karelians. The southwestern part of the country, the province where the Finns proper lived, was simply called Finland (Finnish: Suomi). In the 17th century the name began to be used to refer to the whole land and a specified name for the lesser Finland was required. The first notes Fennigia specialiter dicta and Fennigia presse dicta were recorded in Latin in the 1650s, and the Swedish Finland för sig sielft and Egenteliga Finland later in the 18th century. The modern form Egentliga Finland was in official use at the end of the century, and the Finnish term Varsinais-Suomi became established only around the 1850s.[3]

Geography

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Turku Archipelago

Southwest Finland's nature differs from other regions. The most notable biotopes are the Archipelago Sea and groves. 80% of Finland's insect species can be found in Southwest Finland.[4] There are around 20,000 islands near the coast.[5]

The southernmost point of Southwest Finland and the southernmost inhabited island is Utö.[6] Its highest point is 164 meters in Kiikala.[7]

Historical provinces

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Main article: Finland Proper (historical province)

Heraldry

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The region uses the coat of arms of the historical province of Finland Proper.

Municipalities

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Main article: Municipalities of Southwest Finland

The region of Southwest Finland consists of 27 municipalities, 11 of which have city status (marked in bold).

Municipalities on the map

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class=notpageimage|
Cities and municipalities of Southwest Finland.

Sub-regions

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Loimaa sub-region:

Turku sub-region:

Åboland–Turunmaa sub-region:

Salo sub-region:

Vakka-Suomi sub-region:

List of municipalities

[edit]
Coat of
arms 		Municipality Population Land area
(km2) 		Density
(/km2) 		Finnish
speakers 		Swedish
speakers 		Other
speakers
Coat of arms of Aura, Finland Aura 3,955 95 42 97 % 1 % 3 %
Coat of arms of Kaarina Kaarina 36,538 151 243 88 % 5 % 6 %
Coat of arms of Koski Tl Koski Tl 2,186 192 11 96 % 0 % 5 %
Coat of arms of Kimitoön Kimitoön 6,394 687 9 30 % 67 % 4 %
Coat of arms of Kustavi Kustavi 952 166 6 93 % 2 % 5 %
Coat of arms of Laitila Laitila 8,482 532 16 87 % 0 % 12 %
Coat of arms of Lieto Lieto 20,633 301 69 94 % 1 % 5 %
Coat of arms of Loimaa Loimaa 15,333 848 18 95 % 0 % 6 %
Coat of arms of Marttila Marttila 1,923 195 10 96 % 1 % 3 %
Coat of arms of Masku Masku 9,590 175 55 96 % 1 % 3 %
Coat of arms of Mynämäki Mynämäki 7,506 520 14 95 % 1 % 4 %
Coat of arms of Naantali Naantali 20,107 313 64 94 % 1 % 4 %
Coat of arms of Nousiainen Nousiainen 4,664 199 23 96 % 1 % 3 %
Coat of arms of Oripää Oripää 1,297 118 11 92 % 1 % 9 %
Coat of arms of Paimio Paimio 11,252 239 47 94 % 1 % 5 %
Coat of arms of Pargas Pargas 14,907 884 17 42 % 54 % 5 %
Coat of arms of Pyhäranta Pyhäranta 1,929 144 13 96 % 1 % 3 %
Coat of arms of Pöytyä Pöytyä 8,024 750 11 95 % 1 % 5 %
Coat of arms of Raisio Raisio 25,595 49 525 86 % 1 % 12 %
Coat of arms of Rusko Rusko 6,405 127 50 96 % 2 % 3 %
Coat of arms of Salo Salo 50,890 1,987 26 91 % 1 % 8 %
Coat of arms of Sauvo Sauvo 2,961 253 12 91 % 2 % 7 %
Coat of arms of Somero Somero 8,439 668 13 94 % 1 % 5 %
Coat of arms of Taivassalo Taivassalo 1,689 140 12 93 % 1 % 7 %
Coat of arms of Turku Turku 205,949 246 838 78 % 5 % 15 %
Coat of arms of Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki 14,873 503 30 92 % 0 % 8 %
Coat of arms of Vehmaa Vehmaa 2,255 189 12 94 % 0 % 5 %
Total 494,728 9,097 54

84 %

6 %

10 %

Demographics

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Historical population
YearPop.±%
1980406,360—    
1985415,899+2.3%
1990425,282+2.3%
1995435,119+2.3%
2000447,103+2.8%
2005455,584+1.9%
2010465,183+2.1%
2015474,323+2.0%
2018478,582+0.9%
2020481,403+0.6%
Source: Statistics Finland

As of 2020, Southwest Finland had a population of 481,403, making it the third most populated Finnish region after Uusimaa and Pirkanmaa. 86.45% speak Finnish, 5.68% Swedish and 7.86% speak other languages, the most common being Russian, Estonian, Arabic, Kurdish and Albanian.

It has the most summer cottages out of any Finnish region, with 49,000 as of 2012.[9]

Significant foreign resident groups [10]
31 December 2020
1  Soviet Union 6,153
2  Estonia 4,092
3  Iraq 3,775
4  Yugoslavia 2,934
5  Iran 1,964
6  Somalia 1,807
7  Vietnam 1,023
8  Romania 960
9  Poland 948
10  Thailand 914
11  Afghanistan 834
12  China 816
13  Russia 757
14  Syria 669
15  Turkey 624
16  Germany 555
17  Ukraine 550
18  Sweden 511
19  United Kingdom 477
20  Latvia 458

Politics

[edit]

Results of the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election in Southwest Finland:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Regions and Cities > Regional Statistics > Regional Economy > Regional GDP per Capita, OECD.Stats. Accessed on 16 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Alueluokitusmuutokset 1.1.2019 | Tilastokeskus" [Changes in regional classification on 1 January 2019] (in Finnish). Stat.fi. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  3. ^ Suomalainen paikannimikirja. Jyväskylä: Gummerus. 2007. ISBN 978-951-593-976-0.
  4. ^ "Essay Writing Help at Its Finest".
  5. ^ "Saaristoon – Saaristoon". Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  6. ^ Turun Sanomat
  7. ^ "Hyypp r nharju, Kultal hde ja S r m ki - Salon kaupunki". www.salo.fi. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013.
  8. ^ a b c d "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Tiesitkö tätä kesämökeistä? 10 faktaa".
  10. ^ Statistics Finland
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Finland Proper.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Finland Proper.
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