South Ostrobothnia ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaa; sv, Södra Österbotten) is one of the 19

regions of Finland Finland is divided into 19 regions ( fi, maakunta; sv, landskap)., smn, eennâmkodde, and sms, mäddkåʹdd. The regions are governed by regional councils that serve as forums of cooperation for the Municipalities of Finland, municipalities ...

. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia,

Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, and South Savo. The city o ...

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme an ...

, and

Satakunta Satakunta (in both Finnish and Swedish, ) is a region ( / ) of Finland, part of the former Western Finland Province. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia. The capital city of the region ...

. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobothnia is the ninth largest in terms of population. Seinäjoki is the regional centre and by far the largest city in the area. As a cultural area, South Ostrobothnia is larger than its current regional borders and includes the region of Ostrobothnia as well.

Historical provinces

Municipalities

The region of South Ostrobothnia is made up of 18

municipalities 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 which eight have city status (marked in bold).

Järviseutu Järviseutu is a subdivision of Southern Ostrobothnia and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009. Municipalities * Alajärvi * Evijärvi * Lappajärvi * Soini * Vimpeli Changes Three changes happened to this sub-region in January 1, ...

sub-region: *

Alajärvi Alajärvi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The town is unilingually Finnish; there are fe ...

(10,277) *

Evijärvi Evijärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Kauhava, Kr ...

(2,686) *

Lappajärvi Lappajärvi is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland in Southern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. It is from Lappajärvi to Seinäjoki, to Kokkola and to Vaasa. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area ...

(3,394) *

Vimpeli Vimpeli (; sv, Vindala) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, northeast of Seinäjoki and northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The p ...

(3,212)

Kuusiokunnat Kuusiokunnat is a subdivision of Southern Ostrobothnia and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009. The name means "six municipalities", which refers to how many municipalities there were in the sub-region when it was established. Nowadays ...

sub-region: *

Alavus Alavus ( sv, Alavo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, southeast of Seinäjoki, north of Tampere and north of Helsinki. The town has a populat ...

(12,354) *

Kuortane Kuortane is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The neighboring municipalities of Kuortane are Al ...

(3,870) * Soini (2,367) *

Ähtäri Ähtäri ( sv, Etseri) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ähtäri is located southeast of ...

(6,394)

Seinäjoki sub-region Seinäjoki sub-region is a subdivision of Southern Ostrobothnia and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009. Municipalities * Ilmajoki * Isokyrö * Kauhava * Kurikka * Lapua * Seinäjoki Politics Results of the 2018 Finnish presidentia ...

: * Ilmajoki (12,165) *

Isokyrö Isokyrö (; sv, Storkyro) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, from Vaasa. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . In the name of th ...

() *

Kauhava Kauhava is a town and municipality of Finland. It is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, northwest of Helsinki and by the main railway from Helsinki to Oulu. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The pop ...

(17,206) * Kurikka (21,734) *

Lapua Lapua (; sv, Lappo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located next to the Lapua River in the region of South Ostrobothnia. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The mun ...

(14,698) * Seinäjoki (62,457)

Suupohja Suupohja is a subdivision of Southern Ostrobothnia and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009. Municipalities * Isojoki * Karijoki * Kauhajoki * Teuva Politics Results of the 2018 Finnish presidential election: * Sauli Niinistö 61. ...

sub-region: *

Isojoki Isojoki ( sv, Storå; lit. "Big River") is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the South Ostrobothnia region. The city of Pori is located south of Isojoki. The population of Isojoki is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is ...

(2,299) *

Karijoki Karijoki ( sv, Bötom) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the South Ostrobothnia region. The population of Karijoki is (), which makes it the smallest municipality in South Ostrobothnia in terms of population. The municipality covers an ...

(1,503) * Kauhajoki (14,176) *

Teuva Teuva ( sv, Östermark) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The population of Teuva is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is . The municipali ...

(5,800)

Culture

Regional and historical sub-tribal identity is generally stronger in South Ostrobothnia than in most regions of Finland. The South Ostrobothnian dialect belongs to the western

Finnish dialects Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish) ...

. However, in the most eastern part of the region people speak a Savonian dialect that has Ostrobothnian elements. One of the biggest

rock festival A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular even ...

s in Finland,

Provinssirock Provinssirock is one of the biggest rock festivals in Finland. It takes place in the city of Seinäjoki in Southern Ostrobothnia, Western Finland. The two- or three-day festival, which starts the busy Finnish rock festival season, has been held ...

, and the world's oldest

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

festival

Tangomarkkinat The Tangomarkkinat is the world's oldest tango festival. It is held early every July in Seinäjoki, Finland. As well as competitions to find the country's best tango singers, composers, and dancers, the festival features public dancing to live mu ...

are both held in Seinäjoki. The folk music festival Eteläpohjalaiset Spelit is held annually in different South Ostrobothnian locations and the opera and music festival Ilmajoen Musiikkijuhlat is held in Ilmajoki. Many of the cultural events in South Ostrobothnia are rooted in local folk festivals and communal work. There are several local

folk costumes A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicat ...

. Jussipaita is a traditional sweater that has become a symbol for South Ostrobothnian identity. Notable architecture in South Ostrobothnia include the Lakeuden Risti Church and other buildings in the Aalto Centre in Seinäjoki designed by the South Ostrobothnian-born architect Alvar Aalto. A traditional peasant house, ”pohjalaistalo” (Ostrobothnian house), is a part of the local folk culture. Leipäjuusto cheese with cloudberry jam

South Ostrobothnia is known for its

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and animal husbandry. Traditional local cuisine include '' leipäjuusto'' and ''kropsu'', an Ostrobothnian pancake.

Politics

Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in South Ostrobothnia: * Centre Party 31.66% *

Finns Party The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The ...

22.02% *

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...

17.64% *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

10.79% *

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

6.39% *

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

4.22% * Left Alliance 2.81% *

Blue Reform The Finnish Reform Movement ( fi, Korjausliike, korj), is a Finnish conservative political party. It was founded by the 19 MPs who left the Finns Party on 13 June 2017 in protest against Jussi Halla-aho having been elected party leader. The n ...

1.82% *

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

0.41% *

Seven Star Movement Seven Star Movement ( fi, Seitsemän tähden liike, sv, Sjustjärnerörelsen) is a Finnish political party founded in 2018. The party was founded by Paavo Väyrynen, its president and only MP, after he was ousted from his previous party, Citize ...

0.37% * Other parties 1.87%

References

External links

Official South Ostrobothnia website
{{Authority control Western Finland Province Ostrobothnia, South

Historical provinces

Municipalities

Culture

Politics

See also

References

External links