Houtskär

Houtskär ( Swedish), Finnish Houtskari, is a former municipality in the archipelago off the coast of Southwest Finland. Today Houtskär belongs to the city of Parga.

The area of Houtskär was settled in the Middle Ages by Swedish farmers. The first documentary mention of the place as a chapel congregation of the parish Korpo dates from 1554th to a separate parish Houtskär was in 1865. At the beginning of 2009, Houtskär merged with the municipalities of Nagu, Korpo and Iniö as well as the city of Parga together to the city Väståboland that 2012 was again renamed in Parga.

The former municipality of Houtskär located in the western part of the archipelago sea off the coast of Southwest Finland northwest of Korpo and south of Iniö and comprises a total of some 700 islets and cliffs. The main town Houtskär lies about 50 kilometers in a straight line south-west of Turku. Excluding the marine areas Houtskär had an area of ​​120.64 km ². The population was 633, of which 85.9 % Finland Sweden. Officially, the municipality was bilingual with Swedish as majority and Finnish as a minority language. The Swedish People's Party, the traditional political representation of Finland Sweden, received in the municipal elections 2004 100 % of the votes.

Boat houses in the village Hyppeis