Närpes
Närpes (Finland Swedish: Template:IPA; Template:Langx Template:IPA) is a town in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Närpes is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Närpes 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 countround −3}}. It is the Template:Ordinal most populous municipality in Finland.
Närpes covers an area of Template:Convert of which Template:Convert is water.<ref name="total_area" /> The population density is Template:Convert. Economically, the municipality is known for extensive greenhouse farming of tomatoes and manufacture of trailers for trucks.
Närpes 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, which is well above the national average. Närpes has been a bilingual municipality since 2016. Before that, Närpes was the last unilingual Swedish-speaking municipality in mainland Finland.<ref>Kunnan kaksikielisyys vaatii aikaa, työtä ja kompromisseja Yle.fi 25 April 2016, accessed 25 April 2016</ref> Most residents speak a variant of Ostrobothnian Swedish which is known to be difficult to understand for other Swedish-speakers.
The most significant main roads in Närpes are Highway 8 between Turku and Vaasa, and Highway 67 between Kaskinen and Seinäjoki.
History
Närpes has a history that can be dated back to 1331, when Klas Bengtsson in "Nærpes" pawned goods to bishop Bengt in Turku.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1348 king Magnus IV of Sweden declared "all who live in Nerpis socken, Mustasaari socken and Pedersöre socken" the right to buy and sell "all eatables".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thus creating the first official marketplaces in Ostrobothnia.
Demographics
Population
The town of Närpes has Template:Data Finland municipality/population count inhabitants, making it the Template:Ordinal most populous municipality in Finland. The subdivision has a population of {{#expr: Template:Data Finland municipality/population count + Template:Data Finland municipality/population count + Template:Data Finland municipality/population count}}.
Languages
Template:Pie chart The town of Närpes is officially bilingual, with both Finnish and Swedish as official languages. Template:As of, the majority of the population, Template:Data Finland municipality/native language Swedish persons (Template:Percentage) spoke Swedish as their first language. The number of Finnish speakers was Template:Data Finland municipality/native language Finnish persons (Template:Percentage) of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by Template:Percentage of the population.<ref name="statistics-finland-population-2024-final"/>
The most common foreign languages are Vietnamese (10.2%), Bosnian (3.6%) and Ukrainian (1.8%).<ref name="statistics-finland-population-2024-final"/>
Närpes has the largest relative share of Vietnamese in Finland of any municipality.
Immigration
| Population by country of birth (2024)<ref name="statistics-finland-population-2024-final"/> | ||
| Nationality | Population | % |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Flag | 7,433 | 77.8 |
| Template:Flag | 866 | 9.1 |
| Template:Flag | 256 | 2.7 |
| Template:Flag | 194 | 2.0 |
| Template:Flag | 126 | 1.3 |
| Template:Flag | 116 | 1.2 |
| Template:Flag | 114 | 1.2 |
| Template:Flag | 70 | 0.7 |
| Other | 379 | 4.0 |
Template:As of, there were 2,197 persons with a foreign background living in Närpes, or 23% of the population.Template:Refn The number of residents who were born abroad was 2,121, or 22% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Närpes was 1,677. Most foreign-born citizens came from Vietnam, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslavia.<ref name="statistics-finland-population-2024-final"/>
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Närpes is twinned with:
- Template:Flagicon Akranes, Iceland
- Template:Flagicon Bamble, Norway
- Template:Flagicon Tønder, Denmark
- Template:Flagicon Västervik Municipality, Sweden
Climate
Närpes has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc).
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Template:Commons category-inline
- Town of Närpes – Official website Template:In lang
- Template:Wikivoyage-inline