Pargas

Economy

Pargas has a large limestone industry, with the industry and Nordkalk as an important local employer, agriculture employs many in the rural regions of the municipality. Furthermore, the shipping industry is a relevant industry in the region. The municipality is suffering from high debt.

History

Archaeological excavations revealed that the vikings used to travel to the archipelago in the 9th century.

Karin Thomasdotter (1610–1697), who served as vogt in Pargas for over forty years, was one of the longest serving vogts, and also one of only two females to have the position in contemporary Finland.

Population history

Population in Pargas from 1749 to 1845 ("Women, Men, Children, & Nobles") as gathered by Sven Gabriel Elmgren.

• 1749: 2872 persons
• 1760: 3069
• 1772: 3236
• 1780: 3129
• 1790: 3211
• 1800: 3589
• 1810: 3529
• 1820: 3420
• 1830: 3797
• 1840: 4263
• 1845: 4340

Recent history

On 1 January 2009, Pargas, Nagu, Korpo, Houtskär and Iniö merged to form the new municipality of Väståboland ().

Name dispute

Shortly after the merge, people started debating if the Väståboland name was the right name for the merged municipality; those arguing against the Väståboland name proposed Pargas as a 'new' name. The former municipalities could not agree on a new name, and Pargas insisted on a change, so the state had to step in and decided that the name would be Väståboland. The debates became heated and a referendum was arranged to decide what name the municipality should have in May 2011. The result of the referendum showed that 57.7% of the voters supported Pargas and 40.1% of voters supported Väståboland. Though the overall majority supported changing the name, there was an overwhelming support for the name Väståboland in 4 out of 5 of the former municipalities. In Iniö, only 1 voter out of 173 total voted for Pargas, in all four, 62 out of 2,060, while in Pargas proper, 74.5% voted for Pargas.

The municipality council () decided on 14 June 2011 in favour of the majority population and decided to rename the municipality Pargas on 1 January 2012. The Council considered taking this issue up again for debate and vote. The council made a re-vote on 6 September 2011 with 25 votes for Pargas, 17 for Väståboland and 1 blank vote.

Merge with Kimitoön

The possibility of merging with Kimitoön to form a single municipality that would include the entire Åboland archipelago has been discussed since 2007, with interest being reignited by the healthcare reforms during the Sipilä Cabinet.

Climate

Pargas has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) closely bordering on an oceanic climate (Cfb).

|Jan record high C = 7.7 |Feb record high C = 6.7 |Mar record high C = 11.6 |Apr record high C = 15.9 |May record high C = 21.5 |Jun record high C = 25.9 |Jul record high C = 29.2 |Aug record high C = 27.1 |Sep record high C = 22.3 |Oct record high C = 17.0 |Nov record high C = 12.8 |Dec record high C = 9.2 |year record high C = 29.2 |Jan record low C = -27.6 |Feb record low C = -28.0 |Mar record low C = -21.2 |Apr record low C = -11.4 |May record low C = -1.2 |Jun record low C = 0.8 |Jul record low C = 7.0 |Aug record low C = 7.4 |Sep record low C = 0.6 |Oct record low C = -4.5 |Nov record low C = -9.9 |Dec record low C = -22.4 |year record low C = -28.0

|Jan record high C= 8.5 |Feb record high C= 8.9 |Mar record high C= 11.6 |Apr record high C= 20.1 |May record high C= 25.8 |Jun record high C= 28.2 |Jul record high C= 31.7 |Aug record high C= 30.5 |Sep record high C= 24.6 |Oct record high C= 17.0 |Nov record high C= 14.1 |Dec record high C= 9.7 |year record high C= 31.7 |Jan record low C= -26.8 |Feb record low C= -25.7 |Mar record low C= -20.8 |Apr record low C= -11.3 |May record low C= -1.2 |Jun record low C= 4.2 |Jul record low C= 9.6 |Aug record low C= 8.2 |Sep record low C= 3.5 |Oct record low C= -4.0 |Nov record low C= -12.0 |Dec record low C= -20.3 |year record low C= -26.8

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Pargas is twinned with:

• SWE Haninge Municipality, Sweden

References

References

1. (22 January 2015). "Discovering Swedish-speaking municipalities: Pargas".
2. "Ekonomin högst upp på den väståboländska agendan".
3. [http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/kb/artikkeli/3913/ Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography of Finland])
4. Ohlander, Ann-Sofie. ''Tusen svenska kvinnoår'', 2008. Upplaga 3. uppl.
5. Elmgren, Samuel. (1847). "Suomi: Tidskrift i Fosterländska Ämnen (1847 Issue)".
6. "Det blev Väståboland stad".
7. Oy, Ch5 Finland. "Folkomröstning angående stadens namn".
8. Oy, Ch5 Finland. "Rådgivande kommunal folkomröstning 22.5 - resultat".
9. "Väståboland blir Pargas".
10. "Regeringen ändrar på förutsättningen för namnfrågan".
11. Oy, Ch5 Finland. "Fullmäktige beslöt om stadens namn".
12. ""Åboländsk storkommun måste diskuteras"".
13. [https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/parainen Parainen Weather Records]{{better source needed. (November 2022)