Houtskär (; fi, Houtskari ) is an island group and former municipality of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Iniö, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the municipality of Pargas (briefly named Väståboland). It is located in the

Archipelago Sea The Archipelago Sea ( fi, Saaristomeri, sv, Skärgårdshavet) is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Åland, within Finnish territorial waters. By some definitions it contains the largest ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

Western Finland Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...

and is part of the Southwest Finland

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. The municipality had a population of 621 (as of 31 December 2008) and covered a land area of . The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was . The municipality was

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

with the majority (86%) being Swedish and minority Finnish speakers. There are one store in Houtskär, a bank and post office, and the church of Santa Maria in Näsby center. At various times throughout the year dances, accompanied by live music, are held which are an old tradition kept alive by both older and younger participants who dance in a variety of styles. Houtskär consists of a group of bigger islands and many smaller islands in the surrounding sea area. Communications to the mainland is by the ”Archipelago road” through Pargas, Nagu and Korpo, with three ferries considered part of the road network, the trip with the last one from Korpo to Houtskär lasting half an hour. The main islands are connected by bridges or

cable ferries A cable ferry (including the terms chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

, the outer inhabited islands usually have daily connections with ship-like ferries.

History

The name of Houtskär is of Finnish origin. The ''hout-'' element does not come from any Swedish word, instead coming from the Finnish word ''hauta'' which in this context may refer to a deep part of the sea or a burial site. The original Finnish name can be reconstructed as ''*Hautasaari'' or ''*Hautasalo'', where ''saari/salo'' was then translated into Swedish as ''skär''. ''Houtskari'' is a later Finnish transcription of the Swedish name. Houtskär was first mentioned in 1554. A chapel was built in the village of Näsby in the early 17th century, while a church was built there in the 18th century. At the time, Houtskär was a part of the Korpo (Korppoo) parish. In 1865, Houtskär became a separate municipality. In 2009, Houtskär became a part of the new Väståboland municipality, which was renamed to Pargas in 2012.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houtskar Pargas Finnish islands in the Baltic Former municipalities of Finland