Närpes (Swedish: Närpes) is a Finnish city located in the province of Ostrobothnia in western Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Kaskinen, Korsnäs, Kristiinankaupunki, Kurikka, Maalahti and Teuva. Närpes has 9,479 inhabitants (31 December 2019). More than 78 percent of the residents are Swedish-speaking.
Several explanations have been put forward for the interpretation of
the name, three of the most notable of which are based on Finnish
sources. The Närvijoki River flows from the former neighboring
municipality of Jurva, which runs on the Närpiö side as the Närpiönjoki.
There is also a house in Jurva called Närvä, which contains a personal
name. In Elias Lönnrot's dictionary, närvä and närpä mean a village or a
village. The people of Jurva have used the name forms Närppiö, Närpöö,
Närppöö, Närviö for the parish of Närpiö. Based on these, it has been
assumed that the old name form was Närvipää, where the head is
"headland". Lars Huldén has interpreted the name directly from the
personal name Närppi, Närppinen. In the Swedish name, the s-suffix
naturally combines with the Finnish personal name. Saulo Kepsu has put
forward a third theory: Närväjoki > Närvijoki ~ Närpijoki. Many names
ending in river have developed into an io-ending, so the result has
become Närviö ~ Närpiö. This name has become a village name, borrowed
and adapted by Swedish settlers in the Middle Ages into their own
language.
In the map published by the Finnish Literary Society in
the 1850s, Närpiö was translated as Nääräpää. According to an article in
Suomettare, the translation was considered incorrect and opponents
believed that the place was called Närpiö in Finnish. Suomettare wrote:
»This map published by the Finnish Literary Society has been in the
hands of the public for two or three years, and as far as I remember, it
has already been criticized and studied in newspapers, so that no one
needs to go to that trouble anymore. And what would be the improvement
if it were proven that, for example, "Tammerkoski" is the name of the
rapids, but "Tampere" is the name of the city, that "Raahe" is a more
modern name than "Praahe", that no one says "Laihila" in Finnish when it
is "Laihia", and no one says "Nääräpää" when it is "Närpiö", that the
water between Kvarken and Åland is the "Raumaanmeri", etc. All these
small errors and mistakes are insignificant in general, that we hardly
notice them with pleasure, when we now have such an excellent map of
Finland in Finnish.
The first mentions of the great parish of Närpes date
back to 1331. The great parish of Närpes included large areas
bordering the Great River in the south, Bergö in the west and
Petolahti in the north.
At the beginning of the 18th century,
the villages in the Närpes area were destroyed as a result of storms
and robberies. Many residents fled across the Gulf of Sweden to
Sweden at that time. In the late 19th century, Närpes was divided
into smaller villages. The municipality of Närpes was founded in
1867. In 1973, the northern parts of Ylimarkku and Pirttikylä were
annexed to Närpes. The municipality gained its current size in 1975,
when the northern part of Pirttikylä became part of Maalahti.
In the 19th century, the Berga glass factory was located in
Närpes, which was a large-scale industry in Swedish-speaking
Ostrobothnia at the time.
Närpes became a town on January 1,
1993.
In Närpes and Kaskinen, the association of
municipalities was voted on 18 November 2019. Närpes' council
supported the union: yes, the votes won as expected 26–8, but the
Kaskinen council rejected the union by 9 votes to 8.
The history of Närpiö is evident in the countryside. Excavations have
uncovered several ancient sites. Wooden churches are located in
Pirttilahti and Ylimarku.
The whitewashed stone church in Närpiö
dates back to the 15th century. Around the stone church are over a
hundred stables where travelers could leave their horses. The church's
stables form a unique ensemble in Finland.
The Öjskogsparken
museum area houses a 19th-century farmhouse, which houses a pharmacy
museum and an agricultural museum. Benvik Farm, built by Petter Johan
Bladh in 1780, is located towards Kaski from Närpiö.
Natura sites that are partly or entirely within the Närpiö municipality include the Närpiö archipelago, the Kristiinankaupunki archipelago, Bredmossmyran, where flying squirrels and northern woodpeckers can be found, Orrmossliden, the valuable bird lake Hinjärvi, Sanemossen, which is also an excellent lacquer bog, Risnäsmossen and Kackurmossen.
Alamarkku (Yttermark), Bäckby, Böle, Finby, Gottböle, Kalax, Kaldnäs, Karila (Karlå), Klaresund, Knåpnäs, Kåtnäs, Norrnäs, Nämpnäs (originally Niemenpää), Näsby, Pielahti (Pjelax), Pirttikylä (Pörtom), Rangsby, Ståbacka, Tervalahti (Tjärlax), Träskböle, Töjby, Ylimarkku (Övermark)
As an economic area, Närpiö belongs to the Suupohja coastal region,
whose regional gross domestic product per capita was 44,514 euros in
2022. The regional GDP is lower than the national average and the 19th
largest among regional municipalities.
In 2022, Närpiö had a
total of 4,513 jobs and 4,209 employed people lived in the city. The
proportion of employed people working in their municipality of residence
is 84.9 percent. The proportion of jobs in Närpiö is service-oriented.
Services account for 51.9 percent of jobs, processing for 24.2 percent,
and primary production for 23.0 percent.
Närpiö's job
self-sufficiency is 107.2 percent. The employment rate of working-age
people was 81.9 percent in 2022, and the share of unemployed people in
the labor force was 6.4 percent. According to the economic dependency
ratio, there are 127.7 people outside the labor force and unemployed in
Kaskinen per 100 employed people.
Finnish greenhouse farming is concentrated in Närpiö. The
municipality grows 60 percent of Finland's tomatoes and 35 percent of
cucumbers. There are over 400 greenhouse farmers in Närpiö, and the
total area of the municipality's greenhouses is 77 hectares.
Greenhouse farming employs approximately 1,200 people in Närpiö.
The largest employers in Närpiö are Närpiön Puu ja Metalli, which
specializes in the manufacture of waste trucks, Närkö, which specializes
in trailers, cucumber farmer Jan-Erik Sigg, and furniture factory
Hilding Anders Finland. The largest corporate income tax payers in
Närpiö also include the gardens Träskböle Trädgård and Johan Prinsén in
2021.
Georg Backlund (1905–2002), MP (SKDL), journalist
Karl Johan Bonde
(1811–1867), farmer and member of parliament
Albert Brommels
(1891–1962), farmer and MP
Oskar Jeppson (1878–1931), farmer and MP
Frank Mangs (1897–1994), preacher and free church evangelist
Josef
Mangs (1883–1955), farmer and MP
Oskar Nix (1872–1932), MP
Ivar
Nordlund (1855–1937), priest and MP
Bengt Stenwall (1929–1993), mayor
Edvin Stenwall (1899–1976), vicar and Member of Parliament
August Tåg
(1871–1959), farmer, municipal councillor and Member of Parliament
K.
J. Wenman (1895–1964), farmer and Member of Parliament
Ulla-Maj
Wideroos (b. 1951), Member of Parliament