Central Ostrobothnia
Central Ostrobothnia (Finnish Keski- Ostrobothnia [ ˌ kɛski pɔhjɑnmɑ ː ], swedish Mellersta Ostrobothnia ) is one of 19 landscapes of Finland. As the name implies, it includes the very small, central part of the historic landscape Ostrobothnia ( Ostrobothnia ). From 1997 to 2010 belonged to the Central Ostrobothnia province of Western Finland, previously it was part of the province of Vaasa. The region is characterized by flat, crossed by rivers Field landscapes. With 200 organic farms Central Ostrobothnia is a major supplier of grains and berries organically grown. Deeper inland begins the sparse forest and swampland of Suomenselkä. The population of the countryside is just under 70,000.
The main town is Kokkola, formerly with the port, but now no longer connected due to the growing mainland directly to the sea. The small town Kaustinen is internationally known for its summery folk music festival.
History
Central Ostrobothnia has been inhabited since around the comb ceramic period around 5000 years ago. In the Middle Ages the landscape was characterized by modest village structures along the rivers. From 17th - 19th Century played the tar production (wooden), shipbuilding and trade an important economic role and the landscape developed in the 19th century to a wealthy region in Finland. With the administrative reform of the mid- 1990s, the northern communities of the region of Northern Ostrobothnia landscape were divided and assigned to the southern Swedish-speaking communities of the landscape Ostrobothnia.
Coat of arms
Description: In a Blue rotbewehrter resist sighted silver marten above the bar, three and under him two silver crosses are nagelgespitzte paws. The escutcheon is placed a flat pearl crown.
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Communities
In Central Ostrobothnia there are eight churches, two of which have city status (in bold). The only bilingual community ( with Finnish as majority and Swedish as a minority language ) is Kokkola ( swedish Kokkola ). Population figures as at 31 July 2011.