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'Satakunta' (, ) is a region (''maakunta'' / ''landskap'') and a historical province of Finland. It borders the regions of Finland Proper, Tavastia Proper, Pirkanmaa, Southern Ostrobothnia and Ostrobothnia. The main city is Pori. There is a small minority of Finland-Swedes in Satakunta. Its name means literally Hundred. The historic region was a larger area within Österland, covering modern Satakunta as well as much of Pirkanmaa.

Contents

Municipalities

Heraldry

History

Geography

External links

Municipalities

★ Eura

★ Eurajoki

★ Harjavalta

★ Honkajoki

★ Huittinen

★ Jämijärvi

★ Kankaanpää

★ Karvia

★ Kiikoinen

★ Kiukainen

★ Kokemäki

★ Köyliö

★ Lappi

★ Lavia

★ Luvia

★ Merikarvia

★ Nakkila

★ Noormarkku

★ Pomarkku

★ Pori

★ Rauma

★ Siikainen

★ Säkylä

★ Ulvila

★ Vampula

Heraldry

The arms are crowned by a ducal coronet, though in Finnish tradition this resembles a Swedish count's coronet. Blazon: "Per fess azure and or, an upright bear sable, armed and langued gules, crowned or, holding in both paws a sword argent, sword handle or. In the upper field, on each side of the bear's head, a seven-pointed star argent."

History

The province was formed in the late Finnish pre-Christian era in the beginning of the first millennium, and became gradually a part of Sweden in the 12th century. At the same time, the coastal strip received some Swedish inhabitants, who however were assimilated in the mainstream Finnish population by the early 20th century. Administratively, the province lost its function in 1649 when it was combined with Finland Proper to form the province of Turku and Pori. In the 19th century, the eastern parts of the province were transferred to the province of Tavastia. Satakunta, with the rest of Finland, was separated from Sweden when Finland was ceded to Russia in 1809. At the present, the eastern part of the old province has formed the region of Pirkanmaa and the western part forms the region of Satakunta.

Geography

The exact borders of Satakunta towards Finland Proper, Ostrobothnia and Southern Tavastia are rather well-defined. However, this is not the case with the Northern Tavastia, i.e. in the modern day region of Pirkanmaa. This is due to the fact that northern parts of Pirkanmaa were only sparsely inhabited wilderness and the borders of the provinces were never well defined before the introduction of county system in 1634. In that year, the border between Turku and Pori county which included Satakunta, and Uusimaa and Tavastia county was rather arbitrarily drawn in Tammerkoski. To further complicate matters, Tampere with her surroundings was transferred to Tavastia Province in the 19th century. As a result, the region around Ikaalinen and Parkano is variously described as being part of Satakunta, Tavastia, ''Sata-Häme'' or Pirkanmaa.
Satakunta is characterized by a strong contrast of coast and inland areas. The southernmost part of the coast is flanked by the archipelago of Rauma but towards north, the number of coastal islands decreases markedly. The seabed is flat and due to this, the still-continuing post-glacial rising is perceivable even during a single person's lifetime. The dominating feature of the northern coast of Satakunta is the delta of Kokemäenjoki northeast of the town of Pori.
The valley of river Kokemäenjoki and the area south of it form one of the most important agricultural regions of Finland. The main crops are rye, barley, potato and sugar beet. On the other hand, north of Kokemäenjoki valley, forests dominate the landscape and population density is much lower than in southern Satakunta. Towards inland, the flat agricultural plain gives way to a more hilly landscape blotted by lakes. In this area, the population centers are located along the most important waterways, as a result of the original inhabitation period.

External links

★ Regional Council of Satakunta