Åboland ( fi, Turunmaa) is a

sub-region A subregion is a part of a larger region or continent and is usually based on location. Cardinal directions, such as south are commonly used to define a subregion. United Nations subregions The Statistics Division of the United Nations (UN ...

in the archipelago of the

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a Regions of Finland, region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-H ...

region in south-western

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 Bo ...

. Åboland and Turunmaa are also informal names of the region, but in this context Särkisalo ( sv, Finby) is normally included and in the Finnish name Turunmaa also the northern Finnish-speaking part of the archipelago. Whether e.g.

Kaarina Kaarina (; sv, S:t Karins, i.e. " Saint Catherine's") is a small town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region and is a neighbouring town of Turku, which is the capital of Southwest Finland, therefore Kaarina ...

should be included is unclear. Historically also the inland was included. The sub-region consists of the majority

Finland-Swedish Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly ...

former

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

Dragsfjärd Dragsfjärd is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009 it was consolidated with Kimito and Västanfjärd to form the new municipality of Kimitoön. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwes ...

, Houtskär, Iniö,

Kimito Kimito (; fi, Kemiö ) is a former municipality of Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Dragsfjärd and Västanfjärd to form the new municipality of Kimitoön. Prior to the consolidation, it was one of the four municipalities ...

, Korpo, Nagu,

Pargas Pargas ( fi, Parainen) is a town and municipality of Finland, in the Archipelago Sea, the biggest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, 50,000. The big limestone mine in Pargas is the base of the main industry and except for the cen ...

, and Västanfjärd, all of which are located in the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

around the city of

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

( sv, Åbo), 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 ...

. The sub-region has a population of 22,774 (2004), of which 63.6% are Swedish-speakers. It is one of the major concentrations of Swedish-speakers in the country, together with coastal Ostrobothnia, southern Nylandia, and

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

. The only city in the sub-region was Pargas, which accounts for more than a half of its population. There are over 20,000 islands in the area, mostly sparsely inhabited, and many people from around Turku and

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

have summer residences there. Politically the sub-region, like other areas in Finland with a Swedish-speaking majority, is largely ruled by the Swedish People's Party (SFP) which received 57 per cent of the vote in the last municipal elections in 2004. The archipelago municipalities were merged to form the two new municipalities Väståboland and

Kimitoön Kimitoön ( fi, Kemiönsaari) is a municipality and island of Finland. It was created on 1 January 2009, when the municipalities of Dragsfjärd, Kimito and Västanfjärd were consolidated into a single municipality. The municipality is located ...

on January 1, 2009. The Archipelago Ring Road ( sv, Skärgårdens Ringväg, fi, Saariston Rengastie) connects the municipalities by

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s and

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

s journalist Tristan Parker wrote on July 29, 2021 an article praising about the Turku Archipelago, mentioning that "nowhere has the gentle magic of the smaller islands – or their wildlife."

References

External links

Region Åboland – Turunmaan seutu
Finnish islands in the Baltic Sub-regions of Finland Archipelagoes of Finland Archipelagoes of the Baltic Sea Landforms of Southwest Finland {{WesternFinland-geo-stub