Ostrobothnia (region)

Ostrobothnia (Swedish: Österbotten; Finnish: Pohjanmaa) is a region of Finland. It is located in Western Finland. It borders the regions of Central Ostrobothnia, South Ostrobothnia, and Satakunta and is one of the four modern regions making up the historical province of Ostrobothnia.

Ostrobothnia

landskapet Österbotten
Pohjanmaan maakunta
Region
Coat of arms
Ostrobothnia on a map of Finland
CountryFinland
Historical provinceOstrobothnia
CapitalVaasa
Area
 • Total7,932.36 km2 (3,062.70 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)
 • Total180,445
 • Density23/km2 (59/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 codeFI-12
NUTS195
Regional birdCommon swift (Apus apus)
Regional fishCommon whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus)
Regional flowerEuropean meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
Websiteosterbotten.fi

Ostrobothnia is one of the two Finnish regions with a Swedish-speaking majority (the other being the constitutionally monolingual province of Åland); Swedish-speakers make up 51.2%.[1] The region contains thirteen bilingual municipalities and two that are exclusively Finnish-speaking.

Geographically, Ostrobothnia has little topographical relief, because it is mostly former seafloor brought to surface by post-glacial rebound and the accumulation of alluvial sediment. Ostrobothnia has both vast expanses of cultivated fields (lakeus) as in Southern Ostrobothnia, and the archipelago of Kvarken (Finnish: Merenkurkku). Glacial transport has deposited large quantities of rocks in the area.[2] Like elsewhere in Pohjanmaa, rivers are a prominent part of the landscape. The major rivers that discharge into the Gulf of Bothnia in Ostrobothnia are Kyrönjoki, Lapuanjoki and Ähtävänjoki.

The regional tree is the black alder (Alnus glutinosa), the regional mammal is the common elk (Alces alces alces), the regional stone is Vaasa granite and the regional song is "The march of Vaasa" (Swedish: Vasamarschen, Finnish: Vaasan marssi).

In local circles or communities, Ostrobothnia is often referred to as "Pampas". The word derives from the similarities in the flat landscape with the Pampas area in South America.

Municipalities
Main article: Municipalities of Ostrobothnia

The region of Ostrobothnia is made up of 15 municipalities, of which six have city status (marked in bold), and the links are only in the majority language names.

Name in
Finnish		 Name in
Swedish		 Population[3] Swedish
Speakers[4]		 Finnish
Speakers[4]		 Sub-Region
IsokyröStorkyro4,5760.6%98.9%Kyrönmaa
PietarsaariJakobstad19,28756.4%40.2%Jakobstad
KaskinenKaskö1,26328.1%68.1%Sydösterbotten
MustasaariKorsholm19,43070.2%28.7%Vaasa
KorsnäsKorsnäs2,11491.2%3.2%Vaasa
KristiinankaupunkiKristinestad6,59956.6%42.2%Sydösterbotten
KruunupyyKronoby6,50383.3%15.6%Jakobstad
LaihiaLaihela8,0791%98.3%Kyrönmaa
LuotoLarsmo5,34892.5%6.5%Jakobstad
MaalahtiMalax5,46388.2%9.1%Vaasa
NärpiöNärpes9,48988.4%5.8%Sydösterbotten
UusikaarlepyyNykarleby7,45689.3%8.1%Jakobstad
Pedersören kuntaPedersöre11,05190.1%9%Jakobstad
VaasaVasa67,58824.8%69.8%Vaasa
VöyriVörå6,60784.6%13.6%Vaasa

Former municipalities:

Politics

Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Ostrobothnia:

  • Vaasa Market Place with the "Statue of Liberty" on the right
  • A street view from Kristinestad, one of the best preserved wooden towns in the Nordic Countries
  • A view towards Kvarken from Norrskär Lighthouse, Korsholm
  • A view of Jakobstad town from the water tower
  • Kristinestad Old Church from 1700
  • An Ostrobothnian expanse in Laihia
  • Larsmo Church
  • Church stables at Närpes Church
  • An old tobacco factory in Jakobstad
  • University of Vaasa Main Building
  • Kronoby Church
  • Jakobstad Town Hall
  • Vörå Church from 1626, oldest preserved wooden church in Finland
  • A street in Finland's smallest town Kaskinen with typical Jugendstil buildings in the foreground
  • A view from Nykarleby town
  • A view of City of Vaasa
  • Isokyrö Old Church from early 16th century
  • Replot Bridge, the longest bridge in Finland
  • There are daily ferry connections to Umeå, Sweden from Vaasa
  • An old bridge in Korsnäs

Heraldry

The sprouting wheatsheaf is a symbol of the Royal House of Vasa; a Vasa king established the city of Vaasa, the capital of the region. The running stoats are a symbol of Ostrobothnia.

gollark: ```pythonfrom esolangs_programming_channel import ability_to_import_from_esolangs_programming_channel```Now you *have* to make it.
gollark: But with import-from-discord we could go a step further! Import your entire program with outsourcing!
gollark: https://github.com/drathier/stack-overflow-import
gollark: How about one which, when you import a thing, will send a request to esolangs' <#412764872816852994> to write it, and then use the code they give.
gollark: Hmm. You know the Python import-from-stackoverflow thing?

See also

References
  1. Väestö iän ja sukupuolen mukaan alueittain 31.12.2008. Tilastokeskus: demography.
  2. "Aika, kallioperä ja jääkaudet » Merenkurkun saaristo". www.merenkurkku.fi. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  3. "Suomen virallinen tilasto (SVT): Väestön ennakkotilasto [verkkojulkaisu]. Tammikuu 2019" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.

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