Uusimaa

Uusimaa (Finnish: [ˈuːsimɑː]; Swedish: Nyland, Finland Swedish: [ˈnyːlɑnd], Sweden Swedish: [ˈny̌ːland]; both lit. "new land") is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, along with the surrounding Greater Helsinki area, are both contained in the region, and Uusimaa is Finland's most populous region. The population of Uusimaa is 1,638,469.

Uusimaa

Uudenmaan maakunta
landskapet Nyland
Flag
Coat of arms
Anthem: Uusmaalaisten laulu
Uusimaa in Red on a map of Finland
CountryFinland
Historical provinceUusimaa
CapitalHelsinki
Government
  Regional MayorOssi Savolainen
  President of the CouncilEero Heinäluoma
Area
  Total9,568 km2 (3,694 sq mi)
Population
 (December 31, 2019)
  Total1,689,725
  Density176/km2 (460/sq mi)
Demonym(s)uusmaalainen (Finnish)
nylänning (Swedish)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 codeFI-18
NUTS181
HDI (2018)0.946[1]
very high
Regional birdBlackbird
Regional fishZander
Regional flowerWindflower
Regional animalEuropean hedgehog
Regional stoneHornblende
Websiteuudenmaanliitto.fi

History

The place name of Nuuksio derives from Sami word njukča which means Swan.[2] Later Finns proper and Tavastians inhabited the area. Some place names have traces of Tavastian village names, like Konala which likely derives from older Tavastian village name Konhola.[3] Estonians inhabited the region to a smaller extent, specifically for seasonal fishing.[4]

Swedish colonisation of coastal Uusimaa started after the second crusade to Finland in the 13th century.[5][6] The colonisation was part of converting pagan areas to Catholicism. Eastern Uusimaa had its first Christian Swedish colonialists earlier than the western part, which got its colonialists in one mass transfer of people to Porvoo in the 14th century. The colonisation was supported by the Swedish kingdom and the immigrants were provided with grain seeds and cattle. They also got a four-year tax exemption from the crown.[4] All the Swedish placenames of Uusimaa date back to this period.[7]

The names Uusimaa and Nyland meaning “new land” in English derives from the Swedish colonisation era. The Swedish-language name Nyland appears in the documents from the 14th century. The Finnish-language name Uusimaa appears for the first time in 1548 as Wsimaa in the first translation of the New Testament to Finnish by Mikael Agricola.[8] Much of Uusimaa is literally new - it has risen off Baltic sea due to post-glacial rebound.

The Finnish provinces were ceded to Imperial Russia in the War of Finland in 1809. After this, Uusimaa became the Province of Uusimaa in the old lääni system. From 1997 to 2010, Uusimaa was a part of the Province of Southern Finland. In 1994 it was divided into the regions of Uusimaa and Eastern Uusimaa, but in 2011 the two regions were merged as Uusimaa.

March 28, 2020, Uusimaa was isolated from the rest of Finland due to the worst coronavirus outbreak in the region.[9]

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 91.2 billion € in 2018, accounting for 38.9% of Finnish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 43,500 € or 144% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 120% of the EU average.[10]

Languages

Languages in Uusimaa[11]
Languages percent
Finnish
78.2%
Swedish
7.7%
Russian
2.4%
Estonian
2.0%
Somali
1.0%
Arabic
1.0%
Other
7.7%

Uusimaa is a bilingual region, with municipalities both bilingual in Finnish and Swedish, and monolingual in Finnish. Uusimaa's coastal areas tend to be Swedish-speaking. The traditional regional dialects of Swedish (nyländska) are currentlymostly spoken in Eastern Uusimaa, while in the rest of the Uusimaa Swedish dialect has become more standardised.

The Finnish-speaking population started to grow when the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland was moved from Turku to Helsinki by Emperor of Russia Alexander I in 1812, and the region attracted settlers from other parts of Finland. Helsinki's slang first evolved in the late 19th century. 8,5% of population of the region speak the Swedish language natively.

Regional council

The regional council is the main governing body for region and focuses primarily on urban planning. Like all regional councils, it is mandated by law.

Municipalities

Uusimaa sub-regions, towns and municipalities

The region of Uusimaa is made up of 26 municipalities, of which 13 have city status (marked in bold).[12]

Media

Hufvudstadsbladet's building, Mannerheimintie, Helsinki
Yle's headquarters, Pasila, Helsinki

Newspapers

The largest subscription newspapers published in the region are Helsingin Sanomat and Hufvudstadsbladet in Helsinki, Aamuposti in Hyvinkää, Länsi-Uusimaa in Lohja, Loviisan Sanomat and Östra Nyland in Loviisa, Uusimaa and Borgåbladet in Porvoo, Västra Nyland in Raseborg, and Keski-Uusimaa in Tuusula. Also two popular tabloid newspapers, Iltalehti and Ilta-Sanomat, are published there.

Radio stations

Yle's local radio stations in the western part of the region are Finnish-language Ylen läntinen and Swedish-language Yle Vega Västnyland, in the Capital Region Finnish-language Yle Radio Suomi Helsinki and Swedish-language Yle Vega Huvudstadsregionen, and in the eastern part Finnish-language Yle Radio Itä-Uusimaa and Swedish-language Yle Vega Östnyland.

Politics

Results of the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election in Uusimaa (consisting of two constituencies, named Helsinki and Uusimaa):

Heraldry

Household pennant of Finnish-speaking Uusimaa
Household pennant of Swedish-speaking Uusimaa

The coat of arms of the province is Azure, a boat Or between two fesses wavy Argent (a golden boat which is a symbol for the coastal areas, and two silver wavy fesses which are the symbol for rivers.)

Uusimaa received its coat of arms at the end of the 16th century. There is an image of the coat of arms made in 1599. In 1997, the traditional coat of arms became the official coat of arms of the region.

See also

References

  1. "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  2. Tarkiainen, Kari (2010). Ruotsin itämaa. Helsinki: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. p. 120.
  3. Terhi Ainiala, Minna Saarelma ja Paula Sjöblom (2008). Nimistötutkimuksen perusteet. Helsinki: Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura. p. 66.
  4. Tarkiainen, Kari (2010). Ruotsin itämaa. Helsinki: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. pp. 119–136.
  5. V.-P. Suhonen and Janne Heinonen (2011). "Helsingin keskiaikaiset ja uuden ajan alun kylänpaikat 2011, Inventointiraportti 2011. Museovirasto" (PDF).
  6. Tarkiainen, Kari (2010). Ruotsin itämaa. Porvoo: Svenska litteratussällskapet i Finland. pp. 122–125. ISBN 9789515832122.
  7. Terhi Ainiala, Minna Saarelma ja Paula Sjöblom (2008). Nimistötutkimuksen perusteet. Helsinki: Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura. p. 68.
  8. Uusimaa Regional Council (May 12, 2010). "Nytt Land, Nylands historia" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
  9. Checkpoints ready: Parliament approves government plans to isolate Uusimaa
  10. "Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018". Eurostat.
  11. "Väestö". Stat.fi: Statistics – Population structure. Statistics Finland. 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  12. "Regional Council – Uudenmaan liitto". www.uudenmaanliitto.fi. March 5, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2017.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.