Korsholm (; ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

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, ...

, located on the west coast of the country. Korsholm is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...

. The population of Korsholm is approximately , while the

sub-region A subregion is a part of a larger geographical region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the United Nations geoscheme ...

has a population of approximately . It is the most populous

in Finland. The town of

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Smedsby Smedsby () is a village in Korsholm in 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 t ...

, situated from Vaasa center along

Finnish national road 8 Finnish national road 8 (, ) runs along the western coast 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, w ...

. Korsholm is a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages.

Geography

It is located in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Western Finland Western Finland (, ) 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. Tampere was the largest city of the province. Histor ...

and is part of the Ostrobothnia

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The municipality consists of the central areas, the southern plain, and the extensive archipelago. Parts of the archipelago belong to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of

Kvarken Kvarken ( (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Sweden, Swedish mainland to the Mainland Finland, Finnish ...

. One of Korsholm's more notable landmarks is that it holds Finland's longest bridge, the

Replot Bridge The Replot Bridge (; ) is a cable-stayed tuftform bridge connecting the island of Replot with the mainland in Korsholm, near Vaasa, Finland. It is long and the longest bridge of Finland. Two supporting pylons are both high. The bridge was i ...

. The bridge connects the island of

Replot Replot () is an island in the Kvarken ("The Throat"), the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia in the northern part of the Baltic Sea. It has about 2,100 inhabitants, almost only Swedish-speaking. The size is about , one of the largest islands of ...

to the mainland. Finland's second oldest stone bridge that is still in use, can also be found in Korsholm, in the village of Toby. Major islands in the archipelago include

, Björkö, Köklot, Panike and the

Valsörarna Valsörarna (in Swedish language, Swedish) or Valassaaret (in Finnish language, Finnish) is a small archipelago in Korsholm, Finland, located in the Kvarken region of the Gulf of Bothnia. The islands are the last you see when going by boat or fer ...

archipelago. Along the coast, Korsholm extends to two river outlets:

Kyrönjoki Kyrönjoki () is a river of Finland. It is located in Southern Ostrobothnia region and flows into the Gulf of Bothnia. By the river is the Nikkola and Pirilä riverside settlement that is a cultural heritage site of national significance. See ...

river flows into the Vassor bay of the

, and the Laihianjoki river flows into Vanhankaupunginlahti, the bay on whose shore the city of Vaasa is located.

Villages

* Anixor * Brändövik * Böle * Björköby * Västerhankmo *

Österhankmo Österhankmo is a village in the municipality of Korsholm Korsholm (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Korsholm is situated in Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. ...

* Helsingby *

Iskmo Iskmo is a village in Korsholm, 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 wes ...

* Jungsund * Kalvholm * Karkmo * Karperö * Köklot *

Kvevlax Kvevlax () is a church village in the municipality of Korsholm, Finland. It is located approximately north of the city of Vaasa. Kvevlax became an independent parish in 1857. Until 1 January 1973 it was an independent municipality. Kvevlax has ...

* Koskö * Kuni * Martois * Miekka * Munsmo * Norra Vallgrund *

* Panike * Petsmo * Pundars (Puntainen) *

Rimal Rimal or Remal () is a neighborhood in Gaza City located from the city center. Situated along the coastline, it was considered the most prosperous neighborhood of Gaza.Jacobs, 1998, p.455. The main street that runs through Gaza, Omar Mukhtar ...

* Runsor * Singsby *

Smedsby Smedsby () is a village in Korsholm in 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 t ...

* Solf * Söderudden * Södra Vallgrund * Staversby *

Toby Toby is a given name in many English-speaking world, English speaking countries. The name is derived the Middle English vernacular form of Tobias. Tobias itself is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew טוביה ''Toviah'', which translates t ...

* Tölby * Vassor * Veikars * Vikby * Vistan * Voitby (Most villages have only a Swedish name.)

History

Name

The original Finnish name ''Mustasaari'' "Black Island" may have been a medieval island cleared by a wildfire or an island that looks dark when approaching from the sea.Sirkka Paikkala. Suomalainen paikannimikirja. 2007, p. 276-277. Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus, Jyväskylä. Due to

isostatic uplift Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

, the area referred to is now inland. The parish is first mentioned as ''Mustasaari'' parish in 1348. In Swedish, the pronunciation developed into ''Mussor'', although the form ''Mustasaari'' remained in use in the community.

Mikael Agricola Mikael Agricola (; c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a Finnish Lutheran clergyman who became the de facto founder of literary Finnish and a prominent proponent of the Protestant Reformation in Sweden, including Finland, which was a Swedish territo ...

, the founder of written Finnish, spelled it ''Mustsåår'' in 1530.

Olaus Magnus Olaus Magnus (born Olof Månsson; October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic clergyman. Biography Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his Swedish birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in Octo ...

spelled it as ''Mostesar'' in his 1539 map, Carta Marina, where the castle appeared separately as "Korsholm". In 1606–1611, it was known as ''Mussar'', but in 1611 the city of

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Korsholma castle.

Middle Ages

Korsholm has a history that can be dated back to 1348. In that year Korsholm was mentioned for the first time in writing in a royal letter concerning freedom of commerce. Therefore, the municipality celebrated its 650th anniversary in 1998. In the mid-14th century Saint Mary's Church was built in Korsholm island. The whole of Ostrobothnia was governed for hundreds of years from Korsholma Castle (Chrysseborg). The ruins of Saint Mary's Church and Korsholm Castle are now in the old town of

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Replot Replot () is an island in the Kvarken ("The Throat"), the narrowest part of the Gulf of Bothnia in the northern part of the Baltic Sea. It has about 2,100 inhabitants, almost only Swedish-speaking. The size is about , one of the largest islands of ...

and Björköby in the far archipelago, Solf in the southern plain and

in the eastern plain. To reflect the new, larger municipality the motif in the Korsholm

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

is five intertwined golden threads on a red background.

Demographics

The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is . Korsholm is a

municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages. The Finnish speakers are concentrated near the enclosed city

, and in the villages of Toby and

in the southern plain, while the rest of the municipality is Swedish-speaking. In a 2016 statistical comparison of municipalities by

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

, Korsholm was rated 5/5 for viability and health and 4/5 for atmosphere (concerning e.g. education, crime and leisure), but only 2/5 for economy. Exceptionally good results were found in violent crime, which occurs at a rate of 1.9 per 1,000 inhabitants vs. the national average of 5.6, in the number of alcoholics and other addicts, at 0.6 per 1,000 inhabitants, vs. the national average of 3.3, and the proportion of youth smoking at 6.0%, vs the national average of 14.2%. Concerns were mainly economic: the employment self-sufficiency is only 57% vs. 89%, the equity ratio is poor (34.8% vs. 51.9%) and indebtedness is relatively high (70.4% vs. 48%), despite the municipal tax being the same as the national average (20.75%). Korsholm has relatively little industry and commuting to

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),twinned with: *

Oskarshamn Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010. History Etymology Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then chan ...

, Sweden

Notable people

Johannes Bengs Johannes Bengs (2 May 1877 in Korsholm – 11 October 1936) was a Finnish farmer and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1922 to 1924, representing the Swedish People's Party of Finland The Swedish People's Party ...

(1877–1936) *

Herman Cederberg Herman Edvard Cederberg (7 September 1883 – 30 January 1969) was a Finnish swimmer who competed at the 1908 and the 1912 Summer Olympics. Swimming Olympics National He won some Finnish championships in swimming: * 100 metre freestyle ...

(1883–1969) * Edvard Helenelund (1885–1976) * Levi Jern (1893–1973) * Alwar Sundell (1906–1990) *

Harry Järv Harry Järv (27 March 1921 – 21 December 2009Harry Järv Obituary
(in Finnish). Retrieved 4 July 2013.

(1921–2009) *

Stina Ekblad Stina Åsa Maria Ekblad (born 26 February 1954) is a Swedish-speaking Finnish actress. Living in Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as wel ...

(born 1954) * Mats Lillhannus (born 1972) *

Andreas Romar Andreas Romar (born 4 September 1989 in Korsholm, Ostrobothnia) is a Finnish alpine skier. He represented Finland at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region ...

(born 1989)

References

External links

Korsholm official website
{{Authority control Populated places established in the 1340s 1348 establishments in Europe 14th-century establishments in Finland