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44-539: It was located in the province of Western Finland and was part of the Southwest Finland region . The municipality had a population of 9,491 (2004-12-31) and covered an area of 357.31 km (excluding sea) of which 0.52 km was inland water. The population density was 26.60 inhabitants per km. The municipality was unilingually Finnish . There is evidence that areas in Halikko has been settled in

88-531: A change in law, Tampere was first city to elect a mayor ( pormestari / borgmästare ) in 2007. The mayor is not, however, currently elected directly, but by the municipal council. The mayor acts as municipal manager and as a speaker of municipal council. Although municipalities do not have police or legislative powers, local ordinances concerning traffic can be set, and municipal parking inspectors can give parking tickets. Municipalities are legal persons and can appear in an administrative court . Likewise,

132-548: A new (and Finnish-speaking) suburb with multiple times the inhabitants than there are in Sipoo. There is currently a heated political debate in Finland about reforming the municipality system. Essentially, a multitude of small municipalities is seen as detrimental to the provision of public services, having originated during Finland's agrarian years. As a result, there have been suggestions of state-imposed mergers. A committee led by

176-415: A place of business in the municipality (3.8% of income). Some municipal functions receive direct funding both from the municipality and the state, e.g. AMK vocational colleges. Finland has an extensive welfare state , and municipalities are responsible for much of the services to that end. Tasks of the municipalities are as follows: Although municipalities are responsible for their own finances, there

220-418: A property tax, amounting to 3.6% of income, which is comparatively low: the annual fee is 0.32-0.75% of net present value for permanent residences and 0.50-1.00% for leisure properties like summer cottages as well as undeveloped plots. This is always paid by the owner, never a tenant directly, unlike the council tax . Municipalities receive a share of corporate tax revenue ( yhteisövero ) from companies having

264-462: A state agency, and used primarily for traffic-related purposes (signage, speed limits, and highway planning). There are 745 officially recognized urban areas in Finland, 49 of which have more than 10,000 inhabitants and six more than 100,000. Each municipality has a distinct coat of arms . They are posted on the municipal borders and shown in official documents representing the municipality. The coats of arms for many municipalities have been designed in

308-488: A target of population 20,000 per municipality. Commuter belts have also been proposed as a target by a government committee, such that municipalities where more than 35% of workforce commutes would be subject to a merger. The Sipilä cabinet , from 2015, had been preparing a significant reform of health and social services ( sote-uudistus ), aimed at increasing choice between municipal and private healthcare, and assigning some healthcare responsibilities into larger units than

352-493: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Provinces of Finland Between 1634 and 2009, Finland was administered as several provinces ( Finnish : Suomen läänit , Swedish : Finlands län ). Finland had always been a unitary state : the provincial authorities were part of the central government's executive branch and apart from Åland , the provinces had little autonomy. There were never any elected provincial parliaments in continental Finland. The system

396-429: Is collected only from medium to high income earners. However, in practice even the municipal tax is progressive due to generous deductions granted to the lowest income levels. The pre-deduction base tax varies from 16% in affluent Kauniainen to 20% or more in a number of small rural municipalities. Next to the municipal tax, municipalities receive funding from the state budget ( valtionapu , 19% of income). This funding

440-423: Is derived from the composition of the council, not along government-opposition lines. Furthermore, individual decisions are prepared in specialized municipal boards ( lautakunta ) for a council meeting, which include, for example, zoning, social assistance, and education boards. Council, executive board, and municipal board memberships are elected positions of responsibility, not full-time jobs. Remuneration depends on

484-429: Is expected as the name of the municipality refers to the entire parish, not just a single center like a church village. Villages have no administrative role, although some have voluntary village associations ( kyläyhdistys ) and other non-governmental public life. Although related, urban areas in Finland ( taajama ) are not local administrative units. A catalog is independently compiled each year by Statistics Finland ,

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528-483: Is from 1313. The stone church of Halikko was built in 1440. The municipality of Halikko was formed in 1865 due to the municipal reform. The count of Wiurila became the first municipal manager. In 1932 Halikko had to give land to its growing neighbour Salo . In 1967 the municipality of Angelniemi was merged with Halikko. On January 1, 2009, Halikko ceased to exist as it was attached to the City of Salo . The territory of

572-542: Is legally autonomous and answers only to the voters. The size of the council is proportional to the population, the extremes being 9 in Sottunga and 85 in Helsinki . A subsection of the council, the municipal executive board ( kunnanhallitus ), controls the municipal government and monitors the implementation of decisions of the council. Its decisions must be approved by the council. Unlike national cabinets, its composition

616-522: Is means-tested to municipality wealth and serves to balance the differences in municipal tax revenue. Besides taxes, sales revenue, fees and profit of operations also form a substantial share of municipal income (21%). In 2023, taxation will be significantly changed, when new wellbeing services counties are founded. Since these are funded by the state, municipal taxes will be reduced by 12.64 percentage points from ~20 to ~7%, and state taxes will be increased correspondingly. Additionally, municipalities levy

660-503: Is much highly specific legislation and regulation that requires the services to be provided up to a standard. Thus, although municipalities have the power to voluntarily spend tax-generated income, they are required to first allocate funds to legally prescribed services. Municipalities may provide some of these services through corporations that they own or from private companies that they regulate. For example, Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) provides public transport services in

704-613: The Finnish Environment Institute classifies urban settlements with over 15,000 inhabitants as kaupunki , municipalities can name themselves kaupunki with fewer inhabitants. There are 44,991 inhabitants in Nurmijärvi , the largest kunta in Finland, and 1,246 inhabitants in Kaskinen , the smallest kaupunki , so the kunta–kaupunki categorisation mainly concerns the name of the municipality. The areas of

748-799: The Stone Age . One of the prehistoric villages, Rikala, became an important trade and meeting place on the Finnish coast during the Iron Age . The vikings sailed to Rikala to trade with the finns. Several Iron Age treasures has been found in Halikko, e.g. the Treasure of Halikko . In the first centuries of the Swedish rule in Finland, the land was given to the ruling class. Manors of Åminne, Vuorentaka and Wiurila were founded and they became powerful owners in Halikko. The oldest documented record of Halikko

792-643: The 18th century, King Gustaf III implemented the Great Partition, where common lands were redistributed into larger properties, and claimed all unclaimed land to the crown. Thus, there is no "leftover" land outside the jurisdiction of municipalities, as all land belongs to either to a private property or to the government. The secular government divided the properties to taxable units (villages and secular municipalities) according to its own convenience, which were not necessarily convergent with parishes. Furthermore, cities were chartered separately. Up to 1734,

836-727: The Ministries of Employment and the Economy , Transport and Communications and Environment. Municipalities of Finland The municipalities ( Finnish : kunta ; Swedish : kommun ) represent the local level of administration in Finland and act as the fundamental, self-governing administrative units of the country. The entire country is incorporated into municipalities and legally, all municipalities are equal, although certain municipalities are called cities or towns ( Finnish : kaupunki ; Swedish : stad ). Municipalities have

880-460: The capital area. From 2023, new wellbeing services counties will take the responsibility for healthcare and social services from the municipalities. As of 2021 , there are 309 municipalities in Finland, and from 1 January 2025 308, of which (the following numbers not updated) 107 are cities or towns ( kaupunki ). Sixteen municipalities are unilingually Swedish (all in the autonomous Åland region), while 33 are bilingual: 15 with Swedish as

924-532: The church village ( kirkonkylä , abbreviated kk ) is the historical center, the largest or administrative center may be in another village. For example, Askola has a church village (Askolan kirkonkylä), but its administrative center is in Monninkylä . Often, the church village has the same name as the municipality, as with Askola. However, this is not necessarily so, e.g. Enontekiö is governed from Hetta ; these villages are often erroneously labeled in maps. This

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968-577: The city of Helsinki proper comprises the electoral district of Helsinki, the rest of Greater Helsinki belonging to the Uusimaa electoral district. a. ^ Some duties, which in Mainland Finland are handled by the provinces, are on the Åland Islands transferred to the autonomous Government of Åland . b. ^ The Åland Islands are unilingually Swedish. The provinces were abolished altogether effective 1 January 2010. Since then,

1012-474: The economy, transport and environment, while law and environmental enforcement is handled by the local aluehallintovirasto , governing multi-region jurisdictions termed alue .-G.H- Residents pay a municipal tax that is a form of income tax , which is the mainstay of the income of a municipality (42% of income). Municipal tax is nominally a flat tax that is levied from a broader population (including lower income levels) than progressive state income tax, which

1056-691: The former Halikko thus changed status from rural to urban. The name Halikko is mentioned for the first time in 1313. One theory is that the name derives from the Germanic name Halicho or Halik . Saulo Kepsu has suggested that the toponym is Finnic in origin, being derived a possible pre-Christian personal name *Halikka or *Halikkoi , which would be derived from the verb haluta (to want). [REDACTED] Media related to Halikko at Wikimedia Commons 60°23′50″N 23°04′40″E  /  60.39722°N 23.07778°E  / 60.39722; 23.07778 This Western Finland location article

1100-1189: The former Minister for Regional and Municipal Affairs, Hannes Manninen , suggested creating a two-tier system of municipalities with different powers, while the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities ( Kuntaliitto ) favoured a system where municipalities would be units of at least 20,000–30,000 inhabitants, cf. the current median at 4,700. The motion was inspired by a similar reform in Denmark (see Municipalities of Denmark ). The former government ( Vanhanen II ), however, planned to not impose mergers. Recently, many voluntary mergers have been agreed on. Ten mergers were completed in 2005, one in 2006, 14 in 2007 and one in 2008. In 2009, there were even more, many of which consolidated more than two municipalities. Several cities merged with surrounding rural municipalities in Hämeenlinna , Salo , Kouvola , Seinäjoki , Naantali , Kauhava , Lohja , Raseborg , Jyväskylä and Oulu in 2009. In total, there were 32 mergers, involving 99 municipalities, that reduced

1144-649: The former province of Western Finland , and the former province of Oulu was revamped as Northern Finland; other old provincial boundaries remain much the same in the new disposition. In parallel, there are 15 Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (Finnish: elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus , usually abbreviated ely-keskus ), which are responsible for other state administration: employment, road and transport infrastructure, and environmental monitoring . They are each responsible for one or more of regions of Finland , and include offices of

1188-412: The former provinces, the municipalities of Finland form the fundamental subdivisions of the country. In current use are the regions of Finland , a smaller subdivision where some pre-1997 lääni s are split into multiple regions. Åland retains its special autonomous status and its own regional parliament . Each province was led by a governor (Finnish maaherra , Swedish landshövding ) appointed by

1232-577: The law was different in cities than in rural municipalities. On 6 February 1865, the modern municipalities were established as secular entities separate from the parishes. The reform was inspired by the Swedish municipal reforms of 1862 . Up to 1964, cities financed their own police and registry services. Until 1977 municipalities were divided into cities ( kaupunki , stad ), market towns ( kauppala , köping ) and rural municipalities ( maalaiskunta , landskommun ). The market town category

1276-574: The majority language (all but four in Ostrobothnia ) and 18 with Finnish as the majority language (all but five in Uusimaa region). Four municipalities in northern Lapland ( Utsjoki , Inari , Sodankylä and Enontekiö ) have one or all of the three Sami languages spoken in Finland as an official language. Finnish municipalities can choose to be called either kaupunki ( city or town ) or kunta (small town or rural municipality). Although

1320-432: The modern era, many of them by Gustaf von Numers . In addition, municipalities like Vantaa since 2015 and Helsinki since 2017 have a logo distinct from their coat of arms. Distinctively, the Helsinki capital region , has no special arrangements. The area consists of four entirely independent cities that form a continuous conurbation . The Helsinki metropolitan area has grown in population and area relatively quickly:

1364-478: The municipalities vary, as the population is the primary criterion for forming a municipality. The largest municipalities in size are found in Lapland, of which the largest is Inari at 17,333.65 km (6,692.56 sq mi) (130 km square). The smallest municipalities are very small towns. Kaskinen is an independent town with a land area of only 10.49 km (4.05 sq mi). Kauniainen , which

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1408-508: The municipality and position, but is generally nominal or modest: a regular council member is paid 70 euro on average on a per-meeting basis (2017). Municipal managers ( kaupunginjohtaja , stadsdirektör for cities, kunnanjohtaja , kommunsdirektör for other municipalities) are civil servants named by the council. The city manager of Helsinki is called ylipormestari / överborgmästare "Lord Mayor" for historical reasons. There were previously no mayors in Finland, but after

1452-456: The nearby municipalities, considered rural only 50 years ago, have become suburbs , and the growth is projected to continue. A state-imposed merger of Helsinki and a part of Sipoo , a rural, 40% Swedish-speaking municipality adjacent to the Helsinki metropolitan area, was approved by the government in 2006, counter to the opinion of the Sipoo municipal council. This area will effectively become

1496-556: The number of municipalities by 67. The year 2009 also marked the end of the last maalaiskunta , a municipality surrounding a city but sharing the name, in Jyväskylä . There were four mergers in 2010, six in 2011, ten in 2013, three in 2015, four in 2016, two in 2017, one in 2020 and one in 2021. In the period 2005–2021, the number of municipalities was voluntarily reduced from 444 to 309. In 2012, Katainen's government published an extensive plan aiming at merging municipalities to reach

1540-632: The president on the recommendation of the cabinet. The governor was the head of the State Provincial Office (Finnish lääninhallitus , Swedish länsstyrelse ), which acted as the joint regional authority for seven ministries in the following domains: The official administrative subentities under the Provincial Office authorities were the Registry Offices (Finnish maistraatti , Swedish magistrat ). Formerly there

1584-757: The regional administration of the Finnish state has two parallel top-level organs in the hierarchy: the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment on the one hand, and the Regional State Administrative Agencies on the other. Six Regional State Administrative Agencies ( aluehallintovirasto, regionförvaltningsverk , abbr. avi ) – in addition to the State Department of Åland – are primarily responsible for law enforcement. Among these, South-Western Finland and Western and Central Finland cover

1628-481: The responsibility of municipalities of Finland . Many municipalities are too small for a hospital and some other services, so they cooperate in municipality groups, e.g. health care districts, using borders that vary depending on the type of service. Often Swedish-language municipalities cooperate even if they do not share a border. In 1634, administratives provinces were formed in Sweden, and therefore in Finland, which

1672-516: The right to levy a flat percentual income tax , which is between 16 and 22 percent, and they provide two thirds of public services . Municipalities control many community services, such as schools, health care and the water supply, and local streets. They do not maintain highways, set laws or keep police forces, which are responsibilities of the central government. Municipalities have council-manager government : they are governed by an elected council ( kunnanvaltuusto , kommunfullmäktige ), which

1716-420: The state of Finland is a separate legal person. Excluding judicial review of formal compliance to administrative law, municipalities are independent and not a part of a local state hierarchy. Municipalities cooperate in regions of Finland . State agencies have jurisdictions spanning one or more regions: each region is served by an ely-keskus ( elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus ) on matters of employment,

1760-434: Was a part of Sweden until 1809. Five of the provinces covered what is now Finland; some of these also covered parts of what are now Russia. The exact division of the country into provinces has fluctuated over time. The boundaries of the old provinces partly survive in telephone area codes and electoral districts. The exception is Helsinki: there is a telephone numbering area that comprises Greater Helsinki (code 09), while only

1804-496: Was abolished and these were renamed as cities. The rest of the municipalities were classified as 'other municipalities'. All municipalities called maalaiskunta were eventually either merged to their parent cities or changed their names. From 1995 onwards only 'municipality' is recognized by law and any municipality is allowed to call itself a city. Not all municipalities have an obvious urban center; indeed, rural municipalities are often composed of distributed rural villages. Although

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1848-426: Was also a division to state local districts (Finnish kihlakunta , Swedish härad ), which were districts for police, prosecution, and bailiff services, but there was reorganization such that 24 police districts were founded. These usually encompass multiple municipalities. Provinces governed only state offices, such as the police. Most services, such as healthcare and maintenance of local streets, were and remain today

1892-450: Was initially created in 1634. Its makeup was changed drastically on 1 September 1997, when the number of the provinces was reduced from twelve to six. This effectively made them purely administrative units, as linguistic and cultural boundaries no longer followed the borders of the provinces. The provinces were eventually abolished at the end of 2009. Consequently, different ministries may subdivide their areal organization differently. Besides

1936-681: Was originally a corporation in Espoo , is only 6.00 km (2.32 sq mi). Municipalities were originally parishes . The old word for a municipality is pitäjä , 'keeper', because when the system was instituted, one municipality kept one minister. Municipalities were divided into villages, which consisted of individual properties. Borders between properties and thus municipalities were defined by oral agreements passed down from generation to generation; usually along straight lines between defined markers such as boulders. Medieval documentation survives only from legal disputes concerning borders. In

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