Purmo is a former municipality of

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, ...

. It was incorporated into the rural municipality of

Pedersöre Pedersöre (, before 1989 ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Pedersöre is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pedersöre is approximately , while the sub-region has a pop ...

(currently the municipality of Pedersöre) in Ostrobothnia in 1977. Purmo is home to a wooden church built by Antti Hakola in 1772. Approximately 1,400 people live in Purmo and like in Pedersöre, they are mainly Swedish-speaking. The Purmo Group, a manufacturing firm, was founded in Purmo in 1953.

Villages

*Nederpurmo *Överpurmo *Lillby

Name

According to Lars Huldén, the name of Purmo may come from the Finnish words ''puro'' (stream) and ''maa'' (land) or from a North Karelian surname, ''Purmonen''. Other possibilities include a common origin with ''Purmoniemi'', a peninsula in

Evijärvi Evijärvi () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Kauhav ...

and ''Purmonsaari'', a hill in

Lappajärvi Lappajärvi is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland's Southern Ostrobothnia region. It is located from Seinäjoki, from Kokkola and from Vaasa. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which , or near ...

; as well as a relation to the South Ostrobothnian dialectal word ''purmu'' referring to a pit for storing beets during the winter.

History

Purmo was first mentioned as a village within the

parish in 1543. It became a chapel community in 1771 and an independent parish and municipality in 1867. Purmo was merged back into Pedersöre in 1977.

References

Former municipalities of Finland Pedersöre {{WesternFinland-geo-stub