Närpes (Finland Swedish: ; ) 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 , while the sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland.

Närpes covers an area of of which is water. 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.

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". Thus creating the first official marketplaces in Ostrobothnia.

Demographics

Population

The town of Närpes has inhabitants, making it the most populous municipality in Finland. The subdivision has a population of .

The town of Närpes is officially bilingual, with both Finnish and Swedish as official languages. , the majority of the population, persons () spoke Swedish as their first language. The number of Finnish speakers was persons () of the population. Foreign languages were spoken by of the population.|group=note 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.

See also

  • Bothnian Highway
  • Kaskinen

Notes

References

  • Town of Närpes – Official website