Alavieska (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈɑlɑˌʋie̯skɑ]) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 2,431 (31 October 2024)[2] and covers an area of 253.02 square kilometres (97.69 sq mi) of which 1.66 km2 (0.64 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 9.67 inhabitants per square kilometre (25.0/sq mi).
Alavieska | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
| Alavieskan kunta Alavieska kommun | |
 The Alavieska Church | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Alavieska in Finland | |
| Coordinates: 64°10′N 024°18.5′E / 64.167°N 24.3083°E | |
| Country |  Finland |
| Region | North Ostrobothnia |
| Sub-region | Ylivieska |
| Charter | 1879 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Kari Pentti |
| Area (2018-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 253.02 km2 (97.69 sq mi) |
| • Land | 251.5 km2 (97.1 sq mi) |
| • Water | 1.66 km2 (0.64 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 245th largest in Finland |
| Population (2024-10-31)[2] | |
• Total | 2,431 |
| • Rank | 238th largest in Finland |
| • Density | 9.67/km2 (25.0/sq mi) |
| Population by native language | |
| • Finnish | 97.9% (official) |
| • Swedish | 0.2% |
| • Others | 1.9% |
| Population by age | |
| • 0 to 14 | 19.3% |
| • 15 to 64 | 55.8% |
| • 65 or older | 24.9% |
| Time zone | UTC 02:00 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC 03:00 (EEST) |
| Website | www.alavieska.fi |
The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The word Ala means "lower", while the word Vieska is supposed to mean a "shallow ford".[6]
The scythe theme of Alavieska's coat of arms refers to the extensive meadows in the municipality's territory. The coat of arms was designed by Kaj Kajander, and the Alavieska municipal council approved it at its meeting on September 20, 1960. The Ministry of the Interior approved the coat of arms for use on November 25 of the same year.[7][8]
Geography
editNeighbouring municipalities are Kalajoki, Merijärvi, Oulainen and Ylivieska.
Villages
editIn 1967, Alavieska had six legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):[9]
Demographics
editPopulation
editOn the 31 October 2024, the municipality has a population of 2,431 (238th largest in Finland).[2] The population density was 9.67/km2.[2] In 2020, the age structure of a population was: children (under 15 years old) — 19.3%; the working-age residents (15–64 years) — 55.8%; the elderly (65 years and older) — 24.9%.[4] The average age was 43.8, above the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 40.8.
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The data refers to the conditions on 31 December of the current year according to the territorial division on 1 January 2022. | |||||||||
Languages
editThe population by language (mother tongue) on 31 December 2022. Finnish (suomi), Swedish (ruotsi) and Sami (saame) count as indigenous languages as they have official status in the country. The rest of the languages are counted as foreign. For languages with fewer than 10 speakers, the figure is hidden by Tilastokeskus due to confidentiality reasons.[11][12] Speakers of Finnish made up 99.0% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 0.2%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 0.8%. Foreign nationals made up 0.6% of the total population.[13]
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Urban areas
editIn 2019, out of the total population of 2,519, 1,281 people lived in the sole urban area, the Alavieska parish village, while lived 1,220 in sparsely populated areas and the coordinates of 18 people were unknown. This made Alavieska's degree of urbanization 51.2%.[14][15]
Economy
editIn 2018, 23.1% of the workforce of Alavieska worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 22.4% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 52.9% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 8.8%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 29.5%.[16]
Notable people
edit- Pentti Kahma, discus thrower
- Teemu Kattilakoski, skier
- Rauli Pudas, pole vaulter
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,635,560 at the end of October 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2024-11-19. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
- ^ "Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2024-04-26. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
- ^ Rahkonen, Pauli (2013). "Suomen etymologisesti läpinäkymätöntä vesistönimistöä". Virittäjä (in Finnish). No. 1. p. 21.
- ^ Suomen kunnallisvaakunat (in Finnish). Suomen Kunnallisliitto. 1982. p. 126. ISBN 951-773-085-3.
- ^ "Sisäasiainministeriön vahvistamat kaupunkien, kauppaloiden ja kuntien vaakunat 1949-1995 I:8 Alavieska" (in Finnish). Kansallisarkiston digitaaliarkisto. Retrieved July 28, 2022.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Maijala, Veikko; Papunen, Pentti (1967). "Alavieska". Suomenmaa: maantieteellis-yhteiskunnallinen tieto- ja hakuteos. 1: Ahlainen–Hausjärvi. Helsinki: WSOY.
- ^ "Väestö kielen mukaan sekä ulkomaan kansalaisten määrä ja maa-pinta-ala alueittain 1980 - 2016" (in Finnish). Tilastokeskus (Statistics Finland). 29 March 2017. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
- ^ "11rm — Kieli sukupuolen mukaan kunnittain, 1990-2023" (in Finnish). Tilastokeskus. 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ "11ra — Tunnuslukuja väestöstä alueittain, 1990-2023" (in Finnish). Tilastokeskus. 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ "Key figures on population by region, 1990-2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ "Degree of urbanisation by area, 2019". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-11-26. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ "Population in urban settlements and sparsely populated areas by age, sex and municipality, 2019". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-11-26. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ "Municipal key figures 1987-2020 (with the 2021 regional division)". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2021-04-26. Retrieved 28 April 2021. (2018 and 2019)
External links
edit
Media related to Alavieska at Wikimedia Commons
Alavieska travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Municipality of Alavieska – Official website (in Finnish)