Alavus

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Alavus
Alavo
Town
Alavuden kaupunki
Alavo stad
Alavus city hall
Alavus city hall
Coat of arms of Alavus
Coat of arms
Location of Alavus in Finland
Location of Alavus in Finland
Coordinates: 62°35.5′N 023°37′E / 62.5917°N 23.617°E / 62.5917; 23.617Coordinates: 62°35.5′N 023°37′E / 62.5917°N 23.617°E / 62.5917; 23.617
Country Finland
RegionSouthern Ostrobothnia
Sub-regionKuusiokunnat sub-region
Charter1865
Market town1974
Town privileges1977
Government
 • Town managerLiisa Heinämäki
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total1,151.46 km2 (444.58 sq mi)
 • Land790.42 km2 (305.18 sq mi)
 • Water52.31 km2 (20.20 sq mi)
Area rank71st largest in Finland
Population
 (2021-03-31)[2]
 • Total11,275
 • Rank88th largest in Finland
 • Density14.26/km2 (36.9/sq mi)
Population by native language
[3]
 • Finnish99.4% (official)
 • Others0.6%
Population by age
[4]
 • 0 to 1416.7%
 • 15 to 6454.6%
 • 65 or older28.7%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Municipal tax rate[5]21.25%
Websitewww.alavus.fi

Alavus (Swedish: Alavo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, 52 kilometres (32 mi) southeast of Seinäjoki, 138 kilometres (86 mi) north of Tampere and 319 kilometres (198 mi) north of Helsinki. The town has a population of 11,275 (31 March 2021)[2] and covers an area of 1,151.46 square kilometres (444.58 sq mi) of which 52.31 km2 (20.20 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 14.26 inhabitants per square kilometre (36.9/sq mi). Neighbouring municipalities are Alajärvi, Kuortane, Seinäjoki, Virrat and Ähtäri.

Agriculture and forestry employ a significant share of the population. Most of the industry in Alavus is related to construction: materials, design and contractors. Alavus has 60 lakes with 324 kilometres (201 mi) of shoreline. The town is unilingually Finnish.

Geography[]

Villages[]

In 1967, Alavus had five legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):[6]

  • Rantatöysä
  • Sapsalampi
  • Sulkava
  • Sydänmaa

Demographics[]

In 2020, 16.7% of the population of Alavus was under the age of 15, 54.6% were aged 15 to 64, and 28.7% were over the age of 64. The average age was 46.1, above the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 44.7. Speakers of Finnish made up 98.3% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 0.1%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 1.6%. Foreign nationals made up 1.2% of the total population.[7]

The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Alavus from 1975-2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1975 13,465—    
1980 13,580+0.17%
1985 13,781+0.29%
1990 13,785+0.01%
1995 13,472−0.46%
YearPop.±% p.a.
2000 13,135−0.51%
2005 12,868−0.41%
2010 12,439−0.68%
2015 12,044−0.64%
2020 11,332−1.21%
Source: Statistics Finland[8]

Urban areas[]

In 2019, out of the total population of 6,919, 4,485 people lived in urban areas and 3,641 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 64 people were unknown. This made Alavus's degree of urbanization 60.7%.[9] The urban population in the municipality was divided between three urban areas as follows:[10]

# Urban area Population
1 Alavus central locality 4,004
2 1,240
3 898
4 Tuuri 777

Economy[]

In 2018, 9.1% of the workforce of Alavus worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 24.0% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 65.6% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 8.5%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 33.0%.[11]

The ten largest employers in Alavus in 2019 were as follows:[12]

  1. Kuusiolinna Terveys Oy, 551 employees
  2. Town of Alavus, 518 employees
  3. Veljekset Keskinen Oy, 346 employees
  4. Alavus Ikkunat Oy, 100 employees
  5. Riikku Group Oy, 96 employees
  6. Mattiovi Oy, 90 employees
  7. Etelä-Pohjanmaan Osuuskauppa, 64 employees
  8. Kuusiokuntien sosiaali -ja terveyskuntayhtymä, 58 employees
  9. Normek Oy, 56 employees
  10. Alavuden Betoni Oy, 52 employees

Notable people[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Preliminary population structure by area, 2021M01*-2021M03*". StatFin (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  4. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003-2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. ^ "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2021" (PDF). Tax Administration of Finland. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  6. ^ Korpi, Lauri; Papunen, Pentti (1967). "Alavus". Suomenmaa: maantieteellis-yhteiskunnallinen tieto- ja hakuteos. 1: Ahlainen–Hausjärvi. Helsinki: WSOY.
  7. ^ "Key figures on population by region, 1990-2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area, 1972-2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Degree of urbanisation by area, 2019". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Population in urban settlements and sparsely populated areas by age, sex and municipality, 2019". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Municipal key figures 1987-2020 (with the 2021 regional division)". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2021. (2018 and 2019)
  12. ^ "Kunnittainen toimipaikkatilasto" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

External links[]


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