Karjala is a former municipality of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in the former

Turku and Pori Province Turku and Pori Province (, , ) was a Provinces of Finland, province of independent Finland from 1917 to 1997. The province was however founded as a county in 1634 when today's Finland was an integrated part of Sweden. It is named after the citie ...

, now in Finland Proper. It was consolidated with

Mynämäki Mynämäki (; ) is a municipality of Finland located in the Southwest Finland region. Neighbouring municipalities are Aura, Eura, Laitila, Masku, Nousiainen, Pöytyä, Rusko, Taivassalo, Turku and Vehmaa. The municipality has a population o ...

in 1977.

Geography

Karjala bordered Mynämäki,

Mietoinen Mietoinen (; ) is a former municipality of Finland. It was joined to the municipality of Mynämäki in the beginning of the year 2007. Mietoinen is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municip ...

Eura Eura () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Satakunta region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The muni ...

, Yläne and

Laitila Laitila (; ) is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, and it is from Laitila to Turku. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...

. Until 1970, it bordered Hinnerjoki and

Honkilahti Honkilahti (, also ) is a village and a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality in Finland, part of Eura since 1970. History The commune of Honkilahti was founded in 1904 when it was separated from Eura. Honkilahti was merge ...

instead of Eura. Karjala is relatively forested in comparison to Mynämäki and especially Mietoinen, which are mostly former seafloor converted into farmland. Nearly 60 % of Karjala's land area is forested.

Villages

Name

The name of Karjala may be related to the word ''karja'' (cattle), most likely indirectly, possibly through the village name ''Karjakoski'' in Mynämäki. The name is not related to that of

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

, also known as ''Karjala'' in Finnish. The municipality has also been known as ''Karjalankorpi''. ''Mynämäenkarjala'' was used by outsiders, but it was seen as derogatory by the locals. It is occasionally also called ''Karjala Tl'' (compare

Koski Tl Koski Tl (; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region and was part of the former province of Western Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...

) to distinguish it from the region of Karelia. A person from Karjala is called ''karjalalainen'', while a Karelian is called ''karjalainen''.

History

The area was initially a part of the

parish. The upper reaches of the rivers Mynäjoki and Laajoki were settled in the 13th century. Karjala was first mentioned in 1402. It became a chapel community in 1797. The chapel community of Vehmalainen was merged into Karjala in 1860. Karjala became an independent parish and municipality in 1906. In the 1960s, it was the least industrialized municipality in Finland Proper, 3/4 of its inhabitants practiced agriculture or forestry. Karjala was consolidated with Mynämäki in 1977.

Services

School

Karjala has a school for grades 1-6 (''ala-aste''). The school was renovated in 2006.

Notable people

Evert Eloranta Frans Evert Eloranta (10 October 1879 – 1936) was a Finnish politician and a Member of the Parliament for the Social Democratic Party in 1908–1918. During the Finnish Civil War, Eloranta served as the Minister of Agriculture of the Finnish ...

, politician

References

{{FinlandProper Mynämäki Former municipalities of Finland