Pellinki (; , ) is an island community in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

made up of several small islands, the main ones linked by bridges. It is located 80 km east of the capital

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and 30 km south of the town of

Porvoo Porvoo (; ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately , while the Porvoo sub-region, sub-re ...

(). It is administered as part of the municipality of Porvoo. Pellinge is accessible from the Finnish mainland via a small vehicle/pedestrian

cable ferry A cable ferry (including the types 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 ...

from Tirmo. The ferry runs at 15-minutes intervals and is provided free, as such ferries are considered an integral part of the national road network. Pellinki ferry

Approximately 260 persons live on Pellinge. 95% of the population are Swedish-speakers. There is a school which teaches pupils in grades 1-4 of the Finnish education system (from grade 5, pupils must attend schools on the mainland). There is also a daycare centre for pre-school children. Both these institutions use the Swedish language as the medium for instruction. Pellinge has its own graveyard and also a chapel dedicated to

St. Olaf Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the ...

. The community has several organisations that are well attended and participated. For instance, there is a voluntary fire brigade and two Martha unions (a Finnish women's society). Traditional ways of life on Pellinge include fishing, boat building, forestry,

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

throwing and agriculture - although these have all declined significantly in recent times. Today many of the island's inhabitants commute to work to workplaces on the mainland. At a young age,

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Helsinki, Stockholm, ...

and her family spent many of their summers in a rented cottage on one of the islands of Pellinki.

References

External links

Visit Pellinge
(in English) Finnish islands in the Baltic {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub