Southwest Finland

The name of Finland Proper has a historical function. In historic times, in the area of the present Southern Finland lived three tribes, which were the Finns, the Tavastians and the Karelians. The southwestern part of the country, the province where the Finns lived, was called simply Finland (Finnish: Suomi). In the 17th century the name began to be used to refer to the whole land and a specified name for the lesser Finland was required. The first notes Fennigia specialiter dicta and Fennigia presse dicta were recorded in Latin in the 1650s and the Swedish Finland för sig sielft and Egenteliga Finland later in the 18th century the modern form Egentliga Finland being in official use at the end of the century. The Finnish term Varsinais-Suomi became established only around the 1850s.[2]

Southwest Finland's nature differs from other regions. The most notable biotopes are the Archipelago Sea and groves. 80% of Finland's insect species can be found in Southwest Finland.[3] There are around 20,000 islands near the coast.[4]

The southernmost point of Southwest Finland and the southernmost inhabited island is Utö.[5] Highest point is 164 meters in Kiikala.[6]

The region of Southwest Finland is made up of 27 municipalities, of which 11 have city status (marked in bold).

As of 2018, Southwest Finland had an population of 478,582, making it the third most populated Finnish region after Uusimaa and Pirkanmaa. 87.18% speak Finnish, 5.67% Swedish and 7.15% speak other languages, the most common being Russian, Estonian, Arabic, Kurdish and Albanian.

It has the most summer cottages out of any Finnish region, with 49,000 as of 2012.[8]

Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Southwest Finland:

• Finns Party 19.14%
• National Coalition Party 18.95%
• Social Democratic Party 17.78%
• Left Alliance 12.84%
• Centre Party 10.78%
• Green League 9.16%
• Swedish People's Party 5.51%
• Movement Now 1.93%
• Christian Democrats 1.85%
• Blue Reform 0.52%
• Seven Star Movement 0.16%
• Other parties 1.38%

The region uses the coat of arms of the historical province of Finland Proper.

Finland Proper travel guide from Wikivoyage

• Regional Council of Southwest Finland – official website
• South Finland EU Office