Malax

Template:Infobox settlement Malax (Template:IPA; Template:Langx, Template:IPA) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Malax is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Malax is approximately {{#expr:Template:Data Finland municipality/population countround −3}}, while the sub-region has a population of approximately {{#expr: Template:Data Finland municipality/population count + Template:Data Finland municipality/population count + Template:Data Finland municipality/population count + Template:Data Finland municipality/population count + Template:Data Finland municipality/population count + Template:Data Finland municipality/population countround −3}}. It is the Template:Ordinal most populous municipality in Finland.

Malax covers an area of Template:Convert of which Template:Convert is water.<ref name="total_area" /> The population density is Template:Convert.

Malax is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of Template:Pct Finnish speakers, Template:Pct Swedish speakers, and Template:Pct speakers of other languages.

Name

The town's Swedish name has been recorded as Malax (by) and Madelax (by), beginning in the 15th century. The name descends from Finnish Madelaksi, from made ("burbot") + laksi ("bay"), where made- was shortened to ma- in Swedish. The river running through the town is known as Malax river, but its tributary in Laihia, Madesjoki, retains the older made- elemenet. The Finnish name maalahti was in turn reborrowed from the Swedish form.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>