Raseborg ( fi, Raasepori) is a town (administrative area) and

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 ...

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 was created on January 1, 2009, when the municipalities of Ekenäs,

Karis Karis (; fi, Karjaa ) is a town and former municipality in Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Ekenäs and Pohja to form the new municipality of Raseborg; fi, Raasepori. It is located in the Finnish province of Southern ...

and

Pohja Pohja (; sv, Pojo) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Ekenäs and Karis to form the new town of Raseborg in 2009. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The municipality ...

were consolidated into a single town. Of these, Ekenäs now serves as the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of Raseborg. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is 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 ...

is . The name of the new town is based on the

Castle of Raseborg The Raseborg Castle ( sv, Raseborgs slott, fi, Raaseporin linna), is a medieval castle in Raseborg, Finland. The castle was active from 1370s to 1553. Today the ruins are open to the public in the summer and the castle is host to the yearly R ...

located in Ekenäs, or formerly in the municipality of ''Snappertuna''. Historically the name of the county was also Raseborg in the 14th century. The town is bilingual, the majority of the town being

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 ...

-speakers, taking up two-thirds of the population (66.2%) and

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 ...

-speakers being the minority, which approximately takes up the remaining one-third of the population (31%). In February 2011, Raseborg Municipality entered into a "Friendship Co-operation Agreement" with Makana Municipality in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. The project, which is to last three years, seeks to facilitate information sharing in the fields of economic development, arts and culture, women's development, youth development, and education.

History

Raseborg as a municipal name is a new coinage, but the castle of Raseborg was first mentioned in 1378 as ''Rasaborge''. It acted as the center of the Raseborg ''slottslän'' (Finnish: ''linnalääni'') covering western

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...

and some parts of Finland Proper such as

Kisko Kisko () is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Salo on 1 January 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,869 (2004-12-3 ...

. The area of the modern municipality had eight municipalities at its peak: Ekenäs,

Ekenäs landskommun Ekenäs, composed of the Swedish words ''ek-'' (''oak'') and ''näs'' (''promontory'' or ''peninsula''), is a place name in Fennoscandia. In particular it refers to: * Ekenäs, Finland, a town in the municipality of Raseborg Raseborg ( fi, Raase ...

, Snappertuna,

, Karis landskommun,

Tenala Tenala ( fi, Tenhola) is a former municipality in Uusimaa, Finland. It was neighboured by Hanko, Kisko, Perniö, Pohja, Särkisalo and Ekenäs. The municipality was established in 1329. The stone church of Tenala was built in late 15th cent ...

and Bromarv. The first merger in the area happened in 1969, when Karis landskommun was merged into Karis. By 2008, only Ekenäs, Pohja and Karis were independent municipalities, forming the modern Raseborg municipality in 2009.

Politics

After the 2021 municipal election the municipal council of Raseborg became the following:

References

External links

* *
City of Raseborg
– Official website
Makana-Raseborg
- blog documenting the progress of the friendship co-operation agreement Cities and towns in Finland Populated coastal places in Finland Populated places established in 2009 {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub