Vörå (Finland Swedish: [ˈvœːro]; Finnish: Vöyri) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Vörå is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Vörå is approximately 6,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 111,000. It is the 149th most populous municipality in Finland.

Vöyri
VöråVöyri
Municipality
Vörå kommun
Vöyrin kunta
Coat of arms of Vöyri
Location of Vörå in Finland
Location of Vörå in Finland
Coordinates: 63°08′N 022°15′E / 63.133°N 22.250°E / 63.133; 22.250
Country Finland
RegionOstrobothnia
Sub-regionVaasa sub-region
Charter1868 (Vörå)
Re-established2007 (Vörå-Maxmo)
Re-established2011 (Vörå)
Government
 • Municipal managerJan Finne
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total1,499.91 km2 (579.12 sq mi)
 • Land782.13 km2 (301.98 sq mi)
 • Water718.6 km2 (277.5 sq mi)
 • Rank107th largest in Finland
Population
 (2024-08-31 2020)[2]
 • Total6,226 6,388
 • Rank149th largest in Finland
 • Density7.96/km2 (20.6/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Swedish80.9% (official)
 • Finnish12.2%
 • Others6.9%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Websitewww.vora.fi

Vörå is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 12% Finnish speakers, 81% Swedish speakers, and 7% speakers of other languages.

In 2011, Vörå was formed by merging the municipalities of Vörå-Maxmo and Oravais.[6] Vörå-Maxmo, in turn, was established in 2007 by merging the municipalities of (old) Vörå and Maxmo.

As of 2014, primary industries in Vörå employ "15.5 per cent of the population, 32.9 per cent of people work in the industrial sector, and 50.3 per cent of people work in the service sector."[7]

The Battle of Oravais during the Finnish War (1808-1809) took place in Vörå.[7]

Old Vörå

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Former coat of Arms of Vörå

The former municipality had a population of 3,524 (2003) and covered an area of 427.50 square kilometres (165.06 sq mi) of which 2.38 square kilometres (0.92 sq mi) is water. The population density was 8.3 inhabitants per km2. The majority were speakers of Swedish (85%) and the minority speakers of Finnish (14%).[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Finland's preliminary population figure was 5,625,011 at the end of August 2024". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 24 September 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Population growth biggest in nearly 70 years". Population structure. Statistics Finland. 26 April 2024. ISSN 1797-5395. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  6. ^ "1.1.2011 yhdistyvien kuntien uudet nimet". Kunnat.net (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomen Kuntaliitto. 2 July 2010. Archived from the original on 15 April 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  7. ^ a b c "Discovering Swedish-speaking municipalities: Vörå". www.helsinkitimes.fi. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
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