Talk:Själö

Latest comment: 13 years ago by Axl in topic Finnish or Swedish?

Finnish or Swedish?

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Is this island Finnish or Swedish? Axl ¤ [Talk] 22:58, 25 September 2011 (UTC)Reply

The island is located in a Swedish speaking area in Finland. University of Turku, which operates the research station is Finnish and Turku, the main town in the proximity, has Finnish majority. Administration in Finland was in Swedish until mid 19th century (and so probably the administration of the hospital), but probably (my own guess) most of the clients were Finnish speaking (brought here from mainly Finnish speaking areas around Turku). --LPfi (talk) 09:28, 26 September 2011 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for the explanation. The reason I ask is because it isn't clear from the article. The municipality Väståboland is Finnish, right? Therefore I think that this island should be regarded as Finnish. In which case, the article's title should be Seili rather than Själö. Axl ¤ [Talk] 10:32, 26 September 2011 (UTC)Reply
The municipality Väståboland is bilingual with a Swedish majority (57.6%). Nagu, the part of Väståboland (and former municipality) where the island is, has only a 27 % minority of Finnish speakers. You are right that the official majority language of the municipality usually decides which name to use in English, and in this case it is Swedish. The only reason to use Seili would be when discussing the island in the context of University of Turku. Here, as an encyclopaedia, we should use Själö. --LPfi (talk) 20:47, 26 September 2011 (UTC)Reply
Okay, thanks. Axl ¤ [Talk] 20:52, 26 September 2011 (UTC)Reply