Purmo

Former municipality in Vaasa Province, Finland

Coat of arms

Location of Purmo in Finland

Coordinates: 63°31′20″N 22°57′34″E / 63.522194°N 22.959333°E / 63.522194; 22.959333CountryFinlandProvinceVaasa ProvinceRegionOstrobothniaEstablished1867Merged into Pedersöre1977SeatLillbyArea

• Land261.4 km² (100.9 sq mi)Population

(1976-12-31)

• Total1,560

Purmo is a former municipality of Finland. It was incorporated into the rural municipality of Pedersöre (currently the municipality of Pedersöre) in Ostrobothnia in 1977. Purmo is home to a wooden church built by Antti Hakola in 1772.^[1] Approximately 1,400 people live in Purmo and like in Pedersöre, they are mainly Swedish-speaking.

The Purmo Group, a manufacturing firm, was founded in Purmo in 1953.^[2]

Villages

Nederpurmo
Överpurmo
Lillby

Name

According to Lars Huldén, the name of Purmo may come from the Finnish words puro (stream) and maa (land) or from a North Karelian surname, Purmonen. Other possibilities include a common origin with Purmoniemi, a peninsula in Evijärvi and Purmonsaari, a hill in Lappajärvi; as well as a relation to the South Ostrobothnian dialectal word purmu referring to a pit for storing beets during the winter.^[3]

History

Purmo was first mentioned as a village within the Pedersöre parish in 1543. It became a chapel community in 1771 and an independent parish and municipality in 1867.^[4]

Purmo was merged back into Pedersöre in 1977.

References

^ "RKY". www.rky.fi. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
^ "The history of Purmo". global.purmo.com. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
^ "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja e-kirja kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 353. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
^ "SuomalainenPaikannimikirja e-kirja kuvallinen.pdf" (PDF). kaino.kotus.fi (in Finnish). p. 353. Retrieved October 10, 2022.