Närpes, Ostrobothnia, Finland

🇫🇮 Närpes (Närpiö) is a town in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Närpes is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. It is the 101st most populous municipality in Finland.

Närpes covers an area of 2,334.14 square km (901.22 sq mi) of which 1,357 km² (524 sq mi) is water. The population density is 9.84 inhabitants per square kilometre (25.5/sq mi). Economically, the municipality is known for extensive greenhouse farming of tomatoes and manufacture of trailers for trucks.

Närpes is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 5% Finnish speakers, 75% Swedish speakers, and 20% speakers of other languages, which is well above the national average. Närpes has been a bilingual municipality since 2016. Before that, Närpes was the last unilingual Swedish-speaking municipality in mainland Finland. Most residents speak a variant of Ostrobothnian Swedish.

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 Närpes has attracted many immigrants, and has also welcomed refugees.

Largest immigrant groups: 1 Vietnam (403); 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina (388); 3 Sweden (254); 4 Yugoslavia (254); 5 Thailand (58); 6 Russia (54); 7 Ukraine (51); 8 Estonia (42); 9 Croatia (32); 10 Lithuania (30); 11 United States (28); 12 Ecuador (25).