Iniö
Iniö is an island and a former municipality in the Archipelago off the coast of southwestern Finland. Today Iniö belongs to the city of Pargas (Parainen).
history
Iniö was first mentioned in 1554 as a chapel parish of the Taivassalo parish on the mainland . Iniö became an independent municipality in 1908. At the beginning of 2009, Iniö merged with the municipalities of Nagu , Korpo and Houtskär as well as the city of Pargas to form the city of Väståboland, which in 2012 was renamed Pargas.
geography
The former municipality of Iniö is located around 50 kilometers as the crow flies west of Turku in the western part of the archipelago off the coast of southwestern Finland. South of Iniö is Houtskär, in the west the Skiftet (Finnish: Kihti ) separates Iniö from the municipality of Brändö , which belongs to the autonomous archipelago of Åland , beyond an open lake area called Iniöfjärden (Finnish: Iniönaukko ), to the north are the archipelago of the neighboring municipality of Kustavi .
The Iniö archipelago is highly structured: the former municipality of Iniö comprises over 1000 islands and cliffs, and the total coastline is over 700 km. Excluding the marine areas, Iniö had an area of 65.20 km². Eleven islands are inhabited all year round. The main island is the eponymous Iniö. The parish village of Norrby and the villages of Skagen, Söderby and Dalen are located on it. The second largest island in the municipality is Keistiö, west of the main island, with the village of the same name. North of the main island is the island of Jumo with the port of Kannvik. The more remote islands of Kolko, Åselholm and Perkala are also inhabited.
population
At the time of its incorporation, Iniö was the smallest Finnish municipality outside Åland, with 259 inhabitants. The Åboland region traditionally belongs to the settlement area of the Finland-Swedes . Most recently, 69.9% of the inhabitants of Inios were Swedish and 34.0% Finnish. Officially, the community was bilingual with Swedish as the majority and Finnish as the minority language. The Swedish People's Party , the traditional political representation of Finland-Swedes, received 100% of the votes in the 2004 local elections and thus provided all 13 members of the local council.
Economy and Infrastructure
economy
The main occupations of the inhabitants of Inios are agriculture, fishing, seafaring and tourism. With boat harbors, bed-and-breakfast offers, holiday homes , cafés and restaurants, the municipality offers a tourist infrastructure that has attracted many tourists, especially after the completion of the Schärenringstrasse. In the summer, the population of Iniös increases sixfold due to the numerous holiday guests.
Services
Despite the small number of inhabitants, the most important municipal services were located in Iniö because of its remote location. In the main village of Norrby, for example, there is a state health center, a Swedish-language primary school in which around ten students in grades 1 to 9 are taught, a library housed in the school building, a post office and a branch of the Nordea bank. The " Allaktivitetshus Snäckan " in Norrby served as the community center . In addition, the municipality had its own radio station, Radio Iniö, the only municipal radio station in Finland.
traffic
Iniö is connected to the archipelago ring road , a route that also serves as a holiday route and transport link between the islands of the archipelago. Coming from the mainland, Iniö can be reached via the northern neighboring municipality of Kustavi, which is connected to the mainland by a bridge. The ferry M / s Aurora operated by the Finnish Maritime Authority operates seven to eight times a day on weekdays between Heponiemi in Kustavi and the port of Kannvik on the island of Jumo, which belongs to Iniö. The crossing takes around 25 minutes; At the beginning of 2007 the ferry route was declared part of the road network and has been free since then. Iniö is connected to the neighboring municipality of Houtskär to the south, the next station on the archipelago ring road, by the M / s Antonia ferry, which is also operated by the Maritime Authority. The one-hour crossing leads from Dalen in Iniö to Mossala in Houtskär and is chargeable.
Since the distances between the main island Iniö and the islands Jumo and Keisitö are only short, free ferries from the road construction authority operate here. The remote islands of Åselholm and Kolko are connected to the port of Kannvik by a ferry operated by the Maritime Administration.
Culture and sights
On the main island of Iniö there is a 2.5 km long nature trail that leads through a varied landscape to the 40 meter high Kasberg rocks, the highest point in Iniö. There is an observation tower on the Kasberg, from which there is a view of the archipelago all the way to the mainland and the Åland archipelago.
Another attraction of Iniö is the parish church. The stone Sophia Wilhelmina Church was built between 1797 and 1800 and named after a Swedish princess. A fire in 1880 severely damaged the church, but it was repaired shortly afterwards, and the church was renovated again in 1967/68. The idyllic village landscapes of Norrby, Jumo, Keistiö, Kolko and Åselholm are officially recognized as milieus of cultural and historical value. The Åselholm windmill is also worth seeing.
Web links
- Official website of the municipality (Swedish, Finnish)
- The archipelago - Iniö - small, tough, barren and wild
Individual evidence
- ↑ As of 2008, source: Maanmittauslaitos (Finnish land surveying office) (PDF; 247 kB)
- ↑ As of December 31, 2007, source: Tilastokeskus (Finnish Statistics Office) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Message from the Finnish Maritime Administration dated December 22, 2006 ( memento of the original dated February 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Museovirasto
Coordinates: 60 ° 24 ' N , 21 ° 24' E