Laihia
| Laihia Laihela | ||
|---|---|---|
| Municipality | ||
| Laihian kunta | ||
| ||
 Location of Laihia in Finland | ||
| Coordinates: 62°58.5′N 022°00.5′E / 62.9750°N 22.0083°ECoordinates: 62°58.5′N 022°00.5′E / 62.9750°N 22.0083°E | ||
| Country | Finland | |
| Region | Ostrobothnia | |
| Sub-region | Kyrönmaa sub-region | |
| Charter | 1576 | |
| Government | ||
| • Municipal manager | Juha Rikala | |
| Area (2011-01-01)[1] | ||
| • Total | 508.38 km2 (196.29 sq mi) | |
| • Land | 504.24 km2 (194.69 sq mi) | |
| • Water | 4.14 km2 (1.60 sq mi) | |
| Area rank | 226th largest in Finland | |
| Population (2015-06-30)[2] | ||
| • Total | 8,103 | |
| • Rank | 136th largest in Finland | |
| • Density | 16.07/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 | EET (UTC+2) | |
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | |
| 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 8,103 (30 June 2015)[2] and covers an area of 508.38 square kilometres (196.29 sq mi) of which 4.14 km2 (1.60 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 16.07 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. They even have a Museum of Stinginess (Nuukuuren museo).[6] In any case, Laihia has high-level public services for education, health, sports, seniors etc.
Famous people from Laihia
- Santeri Alkio, politician and journalist
- Toivo Kärki, musician
- Matti Vanhala, Bank of Finland Governor 1998–2004
- Keijo Suila, former CEO of Finnair
- Johan Laibecchius (born in Laihia on 19 March 1658), vicar
- Kristian Chyraeus (died in Laihia in 1687), vicar
- Samuel Backman (died in Laihia 3 April 1712), vicar
- Jonas Lagus (died in Laihia 22 April 1798), vicar and dean
References
- 1 2 "Area by municipality as of 1 January 2011" (PDF) (in Finnish and Swedish). Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- 1 2 "VÄESTÖTIETOJÄRJESTELMÄ REKISTERITILANNE 30.06.2015" (in Finnish and Swedish). Population Register Center of Finland. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- 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.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ↑ http://www.laihia.fi/121.html
External links
Media related to Laihia at Wikimedia Commons
- Municipality of Laihia – Official website (Finnish)
- Google Earth view
- Road map
- Sunrise, sunset, dawn and dusk times
- Laihia Energy-saving Village, publication of European Commission
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