Vähäkyrö ( sv, Lillkyro) is a former
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 ...
and an exclave of the city of
Vaasa
Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas), since January 1, 2013.
It was located in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Western Finland
Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...
and is part of 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 an ...
. The municipality had a population of 4,727 (31 December 2012) and covered an area of of which was water. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...
was . The municipality was unilingually
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
.
[
]
Merger with Vaasa
Vähäkyrö held a referendum about joining Vaasa in May 2012, with 49% of votes against the amalgamation and 48% for it - the no side won by a margin of 13 votes. However, a vote held by the municipal council passed the amalgamation, overturning the referendum with 18 yes and 9 no votes. The vote held in Vaasa was unanimous, thus sealing the amalgation. The municipality officially ceased to exist on
New Year's Day 2013.
The amalgation of Vähäkyrö to Vaasa was historical in Finnish geography, because two municipalities without any common border merged for the first time, making Vähäkyrö an exclave of Vaasa and also the first exclave in the history of sovereign Finland. Worth noting is that even though the municipality of
Säynätsalo was merged to Jyväskylä in 1993 and the two had no common border by land, Säynätsalo did not become an exclave because the municipalities shared a borderline of few hundred meters in the middle of
Lake Päijänne
Lake Päijänne () is the second largest lake in Finland (). The lake drains into the Gulf of Finland via the Kymi River. The major islands are from north to south Vuoritsalo, Muuratsalo, Onkisalo, Judinsalo, Edessalo, Taivassalo, Haukkasalo, ...
.
References
External links
Municipality of Vähäkyrö– Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vahakyro
Municipalities of Ostrobothnia (region)
Populated places established in 1868