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Alavus

Coordinates: 62°35.5′N 023°37′E / 62.5917°N 23.617°E / 62.5917; 23.617
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Alavus
Alavo
Town
Alavuden kaupunki
Alavo stad
Former Alavus city hall, demolished in 2021
Former Alavus city hall, demolished in 2021
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; 23.617
Country Finland
RegionSouthern Ostrobothnia
Sub-regionKuusiokunnat sub-region
Charter1865
Market town1974
Town privileges1977
Government
 • Town managerLiisa Heinämäki
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total
1,151.46 km2 (444.58 sq mi)
 • Land1,087.23 km2 (419.78 sq mi)
 • Water52.31 km2 (20.20 sq mi)
 • Rank71st largest in Finland
Population
 (2024-08-31)[2]
 • Total
10,851
 • Rank90th largest in Finland
 • Density9.98/km2 (25.8/sq mi)
Population by native language
[3]
 • Finnish97.4% (official)
 • Swedish0.1%
 • Others2.5%
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)
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 10,851 (31 August 2024)[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 9.98 inhabitants per square kilometre (25.8/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

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Villages

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

  • Alavus
  • Rantatöysä
  • Sapsalampi
  • Sulkava
  • Sydänmaa

Demographics

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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 to 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

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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 Alavus railway station area 1,240
3 Töysä parish village 898
4 Tuuri 777

Economy

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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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,625,011 at the end of August 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2024-09-24. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  3. ^ "Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2024-04-26. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  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. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  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. Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area, 1972-2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-05-25. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Degree of urbanisation by area, 2019". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2019-11-26. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "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)
  12. ^ "Kunnittainen toimipaikkatilasto" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
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