Laihia

Laihia
Laihela
Municipality
Laihian kunta

Coat of arms

Location of Laihia in Finland
Coordinates: 62°58.5′N 022°00.5′E / 62.9750°N 22.0083°E / 62.9750; 22.0083Coordinates: 62°58.5′N 022°00.5′E / 62.9750°N 22.0083°E / 62.9750; 22.0083
Country  Finland
Region Ostrobothnia
Sub-region Kyrönmaa sub-region
Charter 1576
Government
 • Municipal manager Juha Rikala
Area (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total 508.44 km2 (196.31 sq mi)
 • Land 504.24 km2 (194.69 sq mi)
 • Water 4.14 km2 (1.60 sq mi)
Area rank 172nd largest in Finland
Population (2017-08-31)[2]
 • Total 8,098
 • Rank 126th largest in Finland
 • Density 16.06/km2 (41.6/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
 • Finnish 98.3% (official)
 • Swedish 1%
 • Others 0.6%
Population by age[4]
 • 0 to 14 18%
 • 15 to 64 64.7%
 • 65 or older 17.3%
Time zone UTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+3 (EEST)
Municipal tax rate[5] 19.5%
Website www.laihia.fi

Laihia (Swedish: Laihela) is a municipality of Finland, founded in 1576 through a separation from Isokyrö and Korsholm.

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is a part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 8,098 (31 August 2017)[2] and covers an area of 508.44 square kilometres (196.31 sq mi) of which 4.14 km2 (1.60 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 16.06 inhabitants per square kilometre (41.6/sq mi). Laihia consists of 37 villages.

Laihia is within the economical region of the neighbouring city Vaasa. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Only 79 people speak Swedish as a native language.[3] Most inhabitants speak a dialect typical of this region. The municipal manager is Juha Rikala. There are a total of 469 farms in the municipality.

Laihia is located along the international tourist route Blue Highway, which goes from Norway to Russia via Sweden and Finland.

People

In Finland, Laihians are renowned for their stinginess (Finnish: nuukuus, saituus, itaruus, piheys or kitsaus) and there are hundreds of jokes told about them. However, Laihians are not usually offended by it. To the contrary, they are proud of their frugality and even have a Museum of Stinginess (Nuukuuren museo).[6] In any case, Laihia has high-level public services for education, health, sports, seniors etc.

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Ennakkoväkiluku sukupuolen mukaan alueittain, elokuu 2017" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  3. 1 2 "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.
  4. ↑ "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 September 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  7. ↑ Jokelainen, Jarkko (July 6, 2016). "Amerikkalaisyhtye Blink-182:n riveissä on pohjalaisverta – "Toivon todella, että esiinnymme Suomessa ensi kesänä"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma. Retrieved November 11, 2016.

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