Väståboland is a municipality of Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, in the Archipelago Sea

Archipelago Sea

Archipelago Sea 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...

. The big limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 mine in Pargas

Pargas

Pargas is a former town and municipality in south-western Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Nagu to form the new town of Väståboland....

 is the base of the main industry, while there is still significant rural areas. Except the central parts of Pargas the municipality is mostly rural.

Väståboland is located in Åboland

Åboland

Åboland is a sub-region in the archipelago of the Finland Proper region in south-western Finland.Åboland and Turunmaa are also informal names of the region, but in this context Särkisalo is normally included and in the Finnish name Turunmaa also the northern Finnish-speaking part of the...

 in the province

Provinces of Finland

The state of Finland consisted of six provinces between the years 1997 and 2009. The provincial authority was part of the central government's executive branch, not directly elected. The system was created in 1634, and its makeup was changed drastically in 1997, when the number of the provinces...

 of Western Finland

Western Finland

Western Finland was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2010. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland.- History :...

 and is part of the Finland Proper region

Regions of Finland

Finland consists of 19 regions called in Finnish and in Swedish. The regions are governed by regional councils, which serve as forums of cooperation for the municipalities of a region. The main tasks of the regions are regional planning and development of enterprise and education. In addition,...

. It was created January 1, 2009 in Finland Proper

Finland Proper

Finland Proper or Southwest Finland , is a region in south-western Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Tavastia Proper, Ahvenanmaa and Uusimaa.- Municipalities :...

, when the municipalities of Pargas

Pargas

Pargas is a former town and municipality in south-western Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Nagu to form the new town of Väståboland....

, Nagu

Nagu

Nagu is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....

, Korpo

Korpo

Korpo is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region...

, Houtskär

Houtskär

Houtskär is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Iniö, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....

 and Iniö

Iniö

Iniö is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....

 were united into a single municipality.

The municipality has a population of and covers an area of km2 of which km2 is water. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 is PD/km2.

The town is bilingual with a majority speaking Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 as their native language.
Economy=
Väståboland has a large limestone industry, with the industry and Nordkalk

Nordkalk

Nordkalk is a manufacturer of limestone-based products based in Finland. It operates at more than 30 different locations in 8 countries of Central and Northern Europe.-History:...

 as an important local employer, agriculture employs many in the rural regions of the municipality.
The municipality suffering from high debt
History=
On 1st januari 2009, Pargas

Pargas

Pargas is a former town and municipality in south-western Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Nagu to form the new town of Väståboland....

, Nagu

Nagu

Nagu is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....

, Korpo

Korpo

Korpo is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region...

, Houtskär

Houtskär

Houtskär is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Iniö, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....

 and Iniö

Iniö

Iniö is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....

 merged to form Väståboland/Länsi-Turunmaa municipality.

Name dispute

Shortly after the merge people started debating if the "Väståboland" name was the right name for the merged municipality, those arguing against the Väståboland name, proposed Pargas as a 'new' name. The former municipalities could not agree on the name, so the state had to step in and decided the name to be Väståboland/Länsi-Turunmaa. The debates became heated and a referendum was arranged to decide what name the municipality should have in May 2011. The result of the referendum showed that 57,7% of the voters supported "Pargas" and 40,1% of voters supported "Väståboland". Though the overall majority supported changing the name, there was an overwhelming support for the name "Väståboland" in 4 out of 5 of the former municipalities. In Iniö

Iniö

Iniö is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....

 only 1 voter out of 173 total voted for "Pargas", while in Pargas

Pargas

Pargas is a former town and municipality in south-western Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Nagu to form the new town of Väståboland....

where the a strong majority voted for "Pargas".

The municipality council(sv. "Fullmäktige") decided(14.6.2011) in favour of the majority population and decided to rename the municipality "Pargas" at 1.1.2012. Though there has been legal complications and the council decision to rename will be taken to court, the court might override the council decision. The Council considered to take this issue up again for debate and vote. The council made a re-vote on 6.9.2011 with 25 votes for "Pargas", 17 for "Väståboland" and 1 blank vote.

This dispute has consumed much resources that could have been used elsewhere,
External links=

• Town of Väståboland – Official website