Korsholm (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Korsholm is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Korsholm is approximately , while the Vaasa sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland.
The town of Vaasa was founded in Korsholm parish in 1606 and today the municipality completely surrounds the city. It is a coastal, mostly rural municipality, consisting of a rural landscape and a large, fractured archipelago. The administrative center is Smedsby, situated from Vaasa center along Finnish national road 8.
Korsholm is a bilingual municipality with Finnish language and Swedish language as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages.
One of Korsholm's more notable landmarks is that it holds Finland's longest bridge, the Replot Bridge. The bridge connects the island of Replot to the mainland. Finland's second oldest stone bridge that is still in use, can also be found in Korsholm, in the village of Toby.
Major islands in the archipelago include Replot, Björkö, Köklot, Panike and the Valsörarna archipelago.
Along the coast, Korsholm extends to two river outlets: Kyrönjoki river flows into the Vassor bay of the Gulf of Bothnia, and the Laihianjoki river flows into Vanhankaupunginlahti, the bay on whose shore the city of Vaasa is located.
(Most villages have only a Swedish name.)
Korsholm is a bilingual municipality with Finnish language and Swedish language as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages. The Finnish speakers are concentrated near the enclosed city Vaasa, particularly in Smedsby, and in the villages of Toby and Kvevlax in the southern plain, while the rest of the municipality is Swedish-speaking.
In a 2016 statistical comparison of municipalities by Yle, Korsholm was rated 5/5 for viability and health and 4/5 for atmosphere (concerning e.g. education, crime and leisure), but only 2/5 for economy. Exceptionally good results were found in violent crime, which occurs at a rate of 1.9 per 1,000 inhabitants vs. the national average of 5.6, in the number of alcoholics and other addicts, at 0.6 per 1,000 inhabitants, vs. the national average of 3.3, and the proportion of youth smoking at 6.0%, vs the national average of 14.2%. Concerns were mainly economic: the employment self-sufficiency is only 57% vs. 89%, the equity ratio is poor (34.8% vs. 51.9%) and indebtedness is relatively high (70.4% vs. 48%), despite the municipal tax being the same as the national average (20.75%). Korsholm has relatively little industry and commuting to Vaasa is very common. Korsholm is neither losing nor gaining inhabitants by migration.
|
|