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Laihia

Laihia
Laihela
Municipality
Laihian kunta
Lakeus.jpg
Coat of arms of Laihia
Coat of arms
Location of Laihia in Finland
Location of Laihia in Finland
Coordinates: 62°58.5′N 022°00.5′E / 62.9750°N 22.0083°E / 62.9750; 22.0083Coordinates: 62°58.5′N 022°00.5′E / 62.9750°N 22.0083°E / 62.9750; 22.0083
Country  Finland
Region Ostrobothnia
Sub-region Kyrönmaa sub-region
Charter 1576
Government
 • Municipal manager Juha Rikala
Area (2016-01-01)
 • Total 504.30 km2 (194.71 sq mi)
 • Land 504.24 km2 (194.69 sq mi)
 • Water 4.14 km2 (1.60 sq mi)
Area rank 172nd largest in Finland
Population (2016-03-31)
 • Total 8,121
 • Rank 126th largest in Finland
 • Density 16.11/km2 (41.7/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Finnish 98.3% (official)
 • Swedish 1%
 • Others 0.6%
Population by age
 • 0 to 14 18%
 • 15 to 64 64.7%
 • 65 or older 17.3%
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate 19.5%
Website www.laihia.fi

Laihia (Swedish: Laihela) is a municipality of Finland, founded in 1576 through a separation from Isokyrö and Korsholm.

It is located in the province of Western Finland and is a part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 8,121 (31 March 2016) and covers an area of 504.30 square kilometres (194.71 sq mi) of which 4.14 km2 (1.60 sq mi) is water. The population density is 16.11 inhabitants per square kilometre (41.7/sq mi). Laihia consists of 37 villages.

Laihia is within the economical region of the neighbouring city Vaasa. The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Only 79 people speak Swedish as a native language. Most inhabitants speak a dialect typical of this region. The municipal manager is Juha Rikala. There are a total of 469 farms in the municipality.

Laihia is located along the international tourist route Blue Highway, which goes from Norway to Russia via Sweden and Finland.

In Finland, Laihians are renowned for their stinginess (Finnish: nuukuus, saituus, itaruus, piheys or kitsaus) and there are hundreds of jokes told about them. However, Laihians are not usually offended by it. To the contrary, they are proud of their frugality and even have a Museum of Stinginess (Nuukuuren museo). In any case, Laihia has high-level public services for education, health, sports, seniors etc.


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