Korsnäs is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
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 ...
. It is located in the
Ostrobothnia region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
.
Geography
Korsnäs is the most western mainland municipality in Finland. It covers an area of of which is water.
It has a long, rocky coastline along the Gulf of Bothnia. The three largest islands are
Halsön,
Bredskäret and
Södra Björkön, all used as important recreation areas for urban dwellers.
History
Due to the
post-glacial rebound, most of the area that today forms the municipality of Korsnäs stood under water until around 1000 A.D. The first settlement in Korsnäs is assumed to stem from the 13th century. Some place names of Finnish origin (such as Molpe (Moikipää) and Taklax (Takalaksi)) indicate a Finnish-speaking presence in the 13th century, although it is disputed if these people (probably from
Häme
Häme (; Swedish: ''Tavastland'', Latin: ''Tavastia'') is the name of a geographical region in Finland, associated with the Tavastians, or Häme people (''hämäläiset''), a subgroup of the Finnish people. The precise area referred to can vary ...
) only used the area for fishing on a seasonly basis or if they established a proper, but sparse, settlement. Swedish-speaking settlers came to the area in the 13th or 14th century.
Population
The municipality has a population of (),
which make it the smallest municipality in Ostrobothnia in terms of population.
The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
is .
The municipality is bilingual with
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
as the majority language and
Finnish as the minority language. Until 2014 Swedish was the sole official language. of the population speaks Swedish,
Finnish and other languages as their first language.
Politics
In the 2017 Municipal elections
Swedish People's Party got 95 percent of the vote, which obtained it each of the 21 seats of the municipality council.
Name
Korsnäs is the municipality's official name in both Swedish and Finnish. The Finnish names ''Korsnääsi'' or ''Ristitaipale'' are known to have been used historically in some contexts.
''Korsnäs'' was first mentioned in historical documents is 1442, and some individual villages, like ''Molpe'' (then called ''Moikipä'') was first mentioned in 1490, and ''Harrström'' (then called ''Harffuaström'') in 1494. Korsnäs became an independent municipality in 1887. Prior to that, the area belonged to
Närpes
Närpes (; fi, Närpiö ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Eco ...
.
References
External links
Municipality of Korsnäs– Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korsnas
Municipalities of Ostrobothnia (region)
Populated coastal places in Finland
Populated places established in 1887