Närpes (Swedish: Närpes) is a Finnish city located in the province of Ostrobothnia in western Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Kaskinen, Korsnäs, Kristiinankaupunki, Kurikka, Maalahti and Teuva. Närpes has 9,479 inhabitants (31 December 2019). More than 78 percent of the residents are Swedish-speaking.
The first mentions of the great parish of Närpes date
back to 1331. The great parish of Närpes included large areas
bordering the Great River in the south, Bergö in the west and
Petolahti in the north.
At the beginning of the 18th century,
the villages in the Närpes area were destroyed as a result of storms
and robberies. Many residents fled across the Gulf of Sweden to
Sweden at that time. In the late 19th century, Närpes was divided
into smaller villages. The municipality of Närpes was founded in
1867. In 1973, the northern parts of Ylimarkku and Pirttikylä were
annexed to Närpes. The municipality gained its current size in 1975,
when the northern part of Pirttikylä became part of Maalahti.
In the 19th century, the Berga glass factory was located in
Närpes, which was a large-scale industry in Swedish-speaking
Ostrobothnia at the time.
Närpes became a town on January 1,
1993.
In Närpes and Kaskinen, the association of
municipalities was voted on 18 November 2019. Närpes' council
supported the union: yes, the votes won as expected 26–8, but the
Kaskinen council rejected the union by 9 votes to 8.
Etymology of the name
In order to interpret the name, several
explanations have been presented, the three most notable of which
are based on Finnish-language material. The Närvijoki River flows
from the former neighboring municipality of Jurva, which runs along
the Närpes side under the name Närpiönjoki. Jurva also has a house
called Närvä, which contains a personal name. In Elias Lönnrot's
dictionary, Nervous and Nervous means sage or itch. The people of
Jurva have used the names Närppiö, Närpöö, Närppöö, Närpes from the
parish of Närpes. Based on these, the old name form Närvipää has
been assumed, where the head is "cape". Lars Huldén has interpreted
the name directly from the personal name Närppi, Närppinen. In the
Swedish name, the s-appendix naturally combines with the Finnish
personal name. Saulo Kepsu has presented a third theory: Närväjoki>
Närvijoki ~ Närpijoki. Many river-ending names have evolved into
io-ending, so the result has been Närviö ~ Närpiö. This name has
become a village name borrowed and adapted by Swedish settlers in
the Middle Ages to their own language.
The map published by
the Finnish Literary Society in the 1850s was translated Närpiö/
Närpes. According to an article in Suomettare, the translation was
considered incorrect and the opponents thought that the place was
called Närpiö in Finnish.