Haapasaari ( sv, Aspö) is an island and a former municipality of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in the former

Kymi Province The Kymi Province ( fi, Kymen lääni, sv, Kymmene län) was a province of Finland from 1945 to 1997. The Kymi Province was the remainder of the territory from the Viipuri Province after the main part was left to Russia at the Moscow Armisti ...

, now in the

Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso ( sv, Kymmenedalen; " Kymi/Kymmene Valley") is a region in Finland. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Päijät-Häme, South Savo and South Karelia and Russia (Leningrad Oblast). Its name means literally ''The Valley of River Kymi'' ...

region. It was consolidated with the town of

Kotka Kotka (; ; la, Aquilopolis) is a city in the southern part of the Kymenlaakso province on the Gulf of Finland. Kotka is a major port and industrial city and also a diverse school and cultural city, which was formerly part of the old Kymi parish. ...

in 1974. It was the only insular municipality in the Gulf of Finland that was not ceded to the Soviet Union. The other insular municipalities were Suursaari,

Tytärsaari Bolshoi Tyuters (russian: Большой Тютерс; fi, Tytärsaari; et, Suur Tütarsaar; sv, Tyterskär) is an island in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, located away from the coast of Finland, to the south-east from Hogland. The is ...

Lavansaari Moshchny (russian: Мощный; fi, Lavansaari; sv, Lövskär, et, Lavassaar) is an island in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, located some 120 km west of Saint Petersburg. The island is a part of the Leningrad Oblast, Russia. The ar ...

and

Seiskari Seskar ( fi, Seiskari) ( sv, Seitskär) (russian: Сескар) is an island in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Leningrad Oblast of Russia. The island was an independent municipality of Finland populated by Finns at least since 16th century, unt ...

Geography

The Haapasaari municipality consisted entirely of islands with no road connection. As the name of an area, ''Haapasaari'' also refers to the former municipality's territory. The largest island was not Haapasaari itself, instead Vanhankylänmaa was the largest. The island of Haapasaari is divided into two parts by a bay: ''Länsipää'' or ''Vestinpuoli'' in the west and ''Uustinpuoli'' in the east.

History

Haapasaari has had some inhabitants since the medieval times, likely since the late 13th century following the Third Swedish Crusade, but a village on the island was first mentioned in 1547. In that year, the island had ten houses. Its initial inhabitants were Swedish. The island was a part of the

Pyhtää Pyhtää ( sv, Pyttis) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Kymenlaakso region, west of the city of Kotka. Overview The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Th ...

parish until 1642, when the

Kymi Kymi may refer to: *Kymi, Greece, a town in Euboea, Greece *Kymi, Finland, a former municipality in Finland *Kymi (constituency), a constituency in the Finnish Parliament *Kymi (region), or ''Kymenlaakso'', the region of Finland *Kymi B.C., a basket ...

parish was separated from it. The ancestors of the current inhabitants originated from nearby Vanhankylänmaa, migrating to Haapasaari in the 18th century or slightly earlier. Vanhankylänmaa was likely inhabited in the medieval times as well, today it is uninhabited. The first church in Haapasaari was built in 1776, though a chapel can already be seen in maps from 1741. A new church was built in 1858, remaining there to this day. Haapasaari became an independent parish in 1909. Soon afterwards, it became a municipality in 1913. In the beginning of the 20th century, the population of Haapasaari peaked at 348. The island of Rankki, known for its fortress, was transferred to the Haapasaari municipality in 1935. Haapasaari started to decline after the Second World War. The municipality was consolidated with the town of

in 1974.

Church

The current church of Haapasaari was built in 1858. It is Finland's easternmost insular church and has room for 250 people.

Services

Shop

Haapasaari has Finland's smallest cooperative shop (''osuuskauppa'').

School

Haapasaari had a school from 1890 to 1973. At its peak, it had 50 students. The school's storehouse now has a museum showcasing historical life in Haapasaari.

Tick-borne encephalitis

Like many other southern Finnish islands, Haapasaari has a significant population of ticks. Researchers visited Haapasaari's disestablished school in 2011 to collect samples from ticks. The researchers discovered that two out of a hundred sampled ticks carried the

tick-borne encephalitis virus Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is a positive-strand RNA virus associated with tick-borne encephalitis in the genus '' Flavivirus''. Classification Taxonomy TBEV is a member of the genus '' Flavivirus''. Other close relatives, members ...

, twice as much as in other risk areas of Finland. The ticks carry the more dangerous Siberian variant of the virus.

References

{{Kymenlaakso Kotka Former municipalities of Finland Islands of Finland Finnish islands in the Baltic