Korsnäs is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Korsnäs is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Korsnäs is approximately 2,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 111,000. It is the 258th most populous municipality in Finland.

Korsnäs
Municipality
Korsnäs kommun
Korsnäsin kunta
Coat of arms of Korsnäs
Location of Korsnäs in Finland
Location of Korsnäs in Finland
Coordinates: 62°47′N 021°11′E / 62.783°N 21.183°E / 62.783; 21.183
Country Finland
RegionOstrobothnia
Sub-regionVaasa sub-region
Charter1887
Government
 • Municipal managerChristina Båssar
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total
1,424.71 km2 (550.08 sq mi)
 • Land236.27 km2 (91.22 sq mi)
 • Water1,189.06 km2 (459.10 sq mi)
 • Rank252nd largest in Finland
Population
 (2024-10-31)[2]
 • Total
1,997
 • Rank258th largest in Finland
 • Density8.45/km2 (21.9/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Swedish83.7% (official)
 • Finnish3.7%
 • Others12.7%
Population by age
 • 0 to 1414.5%
 • 15 to 6456.3%
 • 65 or older29.2%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Websitewww.korsnas.fi

Korsnäs is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 4% Finnish speakers, 84% Swedish speakers, and 13% speakers of other languages.

Geography

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Korsnäs is the most western mainland municipality in Finland. It covers an area of 1,424.71 square kilometres (550.08 sq mi) of which 1,189.06 km2 (459.10 sq mi) is water.[1]

It has a long, rocky coastline along the Gulf of Bothnia. The three largest islands are Halsön, Bredskäret and Södra Björkön, all used as important recreation areas for urban dwellers.[5]

Climate

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Korsnäs has a subarctic climate (Dfc) with oceanic influences.

Climate data for Korsnäs Bredskäret (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1993- present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 5.8
(42.4)
6.2
(43.2)
12.0
(53.6)
18.3
(64.9)
25.6
(78.1)
28.2
(82.8)
29.1
(84.4)
29.1
(84.4)
25.0
(77.0)
16.2
(61.2)
11.7
(53.1)
7.4
(45.3)
29.1
(84.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −3.9
(25.0)
−5.0
(23.0)
−2.5
(27.5)
1.9
(35.4)
7.8
(46.0)
13.0
(55.4)
16.4
(61.5)
15.9
(60.6)
11.6
(52.9)
6.1
(43.0)
1.7
(35.1)
−1.5
(29.3)
5.1
(41.2)
Record low °C (°F) −38.1
(−36.6)
−27.8
(−18.0)
−24.7
(−12.5)
−16.7
(1.9)
−1.8
(28.8)
3.8
(38.8)
7.8
(46.0)
7.4
(45.3)
0.8
(33.4)
−6.2
(20.8)
−17.7
(0.1)
−28.7
(−19.7)
−38.1
(−36.6)
Source 1: FMI normals 1991-2020[6]
Source 2: Record highs and lows[7]

History

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Due to the post-glacial rebound, most of the area that today forms the municipality of Korsnäs stood under water until around 1000 A.D. The first settlement in Korsnäs is assumed to stem from the 13th century.[8] Some place names of Finnish origin (such as Molpe (Moikipää) and Taklax (Takalaksi)) indicate a Finnish-speaking presence in the 13th century, although it is disputed if these people (probably from Häme) only used the area for fishing on a seasonly basis[9] or if they established a proper, but sparse, settlement.[10] Swedish-speaking settlers came to the area in the 13th or 14th century.

Population

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The municipality has a population of 1,997 (31 October 2024),[2] which make it the smallest municipality in Ostrobothnia in terms of population. The population density is 8.45 inhabitants per square kilometre (21.9/sq mi).

Korsnäs is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 4% Finnish speakers, 84% Swedish speakers, and 13% speakers of other languages. Prior to 2014, Swedish was the only official language.

Politics

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In the 2017 Municipal elections Swedish People's Party got 95 percent of the vote, which obtained it each of the 21 seats of the municipality council.[11]

Name

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Korsnäs is the municipality's official name in both Swedish and Finnish. The Finnish names Korsnääsi or Ristitaipale[12] are known to have been used historically in some contexts.

Korsnäs was first mentioned in historical documents is 1442, and some individual villages, like Molpe (then called Moikipä) was first mentioned in 1490, and Harrström (then called Harffuaström) in 1494. Korsnäs became an independent municipality in 1887. Prior to that, the area belonged to Närpes.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,635,560 at the end of October 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 19 November 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Korsnäs". archipelago.nu. Archived from the original on 19 July 2001. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  6. ^ "FMI normals 1991-2020". fmi.fi. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  7. ^ "FMI open data". FMI. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  8. ^ Johan Ulfvens: "Korsnäsbor och korsnäsbyar". In: Korsnäs historia. Korsnäs 1981, pp. 9–25, p. 16.
  9. ^ Olov Ahlbäck: "Österbottnisk medeltid". In: Svenska Österbottens historia I. Vasa 1977, pp. 45–56.
  10. ^ Lars Huldén: "Vad berättar ortnamnen om den svenska bosättningens uppkomst i Finland?" In: Ann-Marie Ivars and Lena Huldén [eds.]: När kom svenskarna till Finland?. Helsingfors 2002, pp. 63–80, p. 69
  11. ^ Kommunalval 2017, YLE resultattjänst, accessed 6 July 2019.
  12. ^ See [1] Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ^ "Tämä domain on varattu | www.matkailupohjanmaa.fi". www.matkailupohjanmaa.fi. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
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