Southwest Finland

Southwest Finland Varsinais-Suomen maakunta Egentliga Finlands landskap
Region
Coat of arms
Finland Proper on a map of Finland
Country	Finland
Historical province	Finland Proper
Area
• Total	10,910.05 km^2 (4,212.39 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	470,880
• Density	43/km^2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
ISO 3166 code	FI-19
NUTS	183
Regional bird	Jackdaw
Regional fish	Baltic herring
Regional flower	Oak
Website	varsinais-suomi.fi

Southwest Finland, also known in English as Finland Proper^[1] (Finnish: Varsinais-Suomi, Swedish: Egentliga Finland) is the region in south-western Finland that borders the regions of Satakunta and Tavastia Proper. Its capital and biggest city is Turku with 182,000 inhabitants, which was also the capital of Finland from its establishment around the 13th century until 1812.

The area comprising the southwest is largely the same as the historical province of Finland Proper, so named because it is the original home of the tribe known as the Finns. 5.7% of population of the region speaks Swedish natively.

Origin of the name

The name of Finland Proper has a historial function. In historic times, in the area of the present southern Finland lived three tribes, which were the Finns, the Tavastians and the Karelians. The southwestern part of the country, the province where the Finns lived, was called simply Finland (Finnish: Suomi). In the 17th century the name began to be used to refer to the whole land and a specified name for the lesser Finland was required. The first notes Fennigia specialiter dicta and Fennigia presse dicta were recorded in Latin in the 1650s and the Swedish Finland för sig sielft and Egenteliga Finland later in the 18th century the modern form Egentliga Finland being in official use at the end of the century. The Finnish term Varsinais-Suomi became established only around the 1850s.^[2]

Historical provinces

Municipalities

Finland Proper Sub-regions, towns and municipalities

The region of Southwest Finland is made up of 27 municipalities, of which 11 have city status (marked in bold).

Åboland–Turunmaa sub-region: Kimitoön (7,116) Pargas (15,456) Salo sub-region: Salo (53,805) Somero (9,053) Turku sub-region: Kaarina (32,533) Lieto (16,717) Masku (9,577) Mynämäki (8,045) Naantali (18,992) Nousiainen (4,866) Paimio (10,626) Raisio (24,330) Rusko (5,870) Sauvo (3,043) Turku (186,030)[3]

Loimaa sub-region: Aura (3,967) Koski Tl (2,447) Loimaa (16,421) Marttila (2,004) Oripää (1,427) Pöytyä (8,485) Vakka-Suomi sub-region: Kustavi (892) Laitila (8,527) Pyhäranta (2,200) Taivassalo (1,687) Uusikaupunki (15,469) Vehmaa (2,357)

Politics

Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2015 in Finland Proper:

• National Coalition Party 21.0%
• Finns Party 19.3%
• Centre Party 16.2%
• Social Democratic Party 15.5%
• Left Alliance 10.3%
• Green League 8.7%
• Swedish People's Party 5.0%
• Christian Democrats 2.4%
• Other parties 1.6%

Heraldry

The region uses the coat of arms of the historical province of Finland Proper.

Gallery

• 
  Turku Cathedral dating back to the 13th century is Finland's national shrine and one of Finland's most recognized buildings
• 
  A typical view from Turku Archipelago, the largest archipelago (by number of islands) in the world
• 
  Louhisaari Manor in Masku was the birthplace of Finland's marshal and president Mannerheim
• 
  The Old Castle of Lieto and rural landscape
• 
  Naantali Harbour with the former Bridgettine monastery church in the background
• 
  A general view of the City of Turku from the tower of the cathedral
• 
  Bengtskär Lighthouse in Kimitoön is the highest one in the Nordic countries
• 
  Nautelankoski Rapids in River Aura in Lieto
• 
  The medieval Turku Castle on the banks of River Aura is one of the most influential buildings in Finnish history
• 
  Moomin World, Naantali
• 
  A limestone quarry in Pargas
• 
  Historical salt warehouses in Uusikaupunki town centre
• 
  A bridge from 1850 in Taivassalo
• 
  Korpo Church; there are 25 remaining medieval churches in the region
• 
  Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum is an 18th-century district of the city that survived the Great Fire of Turku which burnt down four-fifths of the city in 1827
• 
  May Day celebrations in Turku centre; the Arts Museum on the top of Street Aurakatu
• 
  Traffic connections between islands are mostly served with ferries in the archipelago
• 
  The National Romantic style Karuna Church
• 
  The mobile phone manufacturer Microsoft had originally its factory and headquarters in Salo; state-of-the-art models are still manufactured there
• 
  A street view in Turku; old wooden houses and modern block of flats
• 
  Marshland in Loimaa
• 
  Naantali Old Town has been well preserved
• 
  The functionalistic Paimio Sanatorium by Alvar Aalto
• 
  A silo in Salo; the region still has a strong agricultural feel
• 
  Windmills in Uusikaupunki
• 
  The popular ferries travel twice a day around the year from Turku to Stockholm, Sweden
• 
  Ruins of the medieval Kuusisto Bishops' Castle demolished in 1528 during the Protestant Reformation in Kaarina
• 
  Pargas Old Town
• 
  River Paimionjoki and rural landscape in Marttila
• 
  Teijo Church in Salo is the smallest stone church in Finland

Notes

1. The regional council of the region uses the name "Southwest Finland". Despite this, the Language Planning Department of Finland recommends the name "Varsinais-Suomi" as suggested in the statement by the Interior Ministry of Finland in 1988. The Institute for Languages of Finland lists the official English name as "Varsinais-Suomi".
2. Suomalainen paikannimikirja. Jyväskylä: Gummerus. 2007. ISBN 978-951-593-976-0.
3. "Ennakkoväkiluku sukupuolen mukaan alueittain, maaliskuu.2016" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 31 March 2016.

External links

Finland Proper travel guide from Wikivoyage

• Regional Council of Southwest Finland — official website
• South Finland EU Office

Coordinates: 60°30′N 22°45′E / 60.500°N 22.750°E