Number of residents on Finnish islands is growing
Permanent residents are in decline, but second-homers are increasing apace
According to an as yet unpublished report by the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, a total of 551 of all islands with no road connection in Finland’s sea and inland waters are permanently inhabited. The Åland Islands are not included in the number.
Around 8,700 people go to the mainland by a cable/chain ferry, a ferryboat, or a boat. Only few of them live in a place where they can get directly by boat.
For example the island of Kurensalo, with two permanent inhabitants, is located in the Saimaa archipelago, around 20 kilometres or so from the centre of the municipality of Puumala.
Kurensalo is an example of the good and the bad aspects of living on islands. The landscape features the most beautiful parts of Lake Saimaa, while remoteness makes everyday life difficult.
”I tell everybody to come here in the winter when they would not find this so lovely”, says Matti Lankinen, a resident of Kurensalo.
Lankinen usually goes shopping once a week: four kilometres by boat and the rest by car. During the thaw season, when the ice does not carry and roads are bad, travelling is more arduous.
”In the spring we have to use five different means of transportation, including an all-terrain vehicle, walking, two different rowing boats, and a car”, Lankinen notes.
Does your house have running water?
”Sure. Take a bucket in each hand and start running”, Lankinen replies.
At one time, Kurensalo had at least seven houses with permanent inhabitants, but the island started to slide downhill already before the regular ship route was put an end to half a century ago.
The number of permanent inhabitants on the Finnish islands is gradually declining, while the number of part-time residents has climbed to roughly 60,000.
The ministry’s report indicates that the number of inhabitants on the islands has never been so high, if part-time residents are included.
In the summer, the number of residents in Kurensalo also grows by dozens. For example Irmeli and Heikki Nikunen from Tampere move to the island for the summer. Heikki Nikunen can be heard practising his wind instrument on the island from May until the end of the summer.
”Initially we planned to spend six months on the island and another six in the city, but there are all sorts of events in the city”, Irmeli Nikunen notes.
It is unlikely that Kurensalo could have new permanent residents. However, at least Kauko Sipinen, one of the two permanent inhabitants on the island, does not want to move away.
”Here we can live in peace”, Sipinen notes in his small cottage.
Kurensalo was conneced to the grid in 1993, but Sipinen still gets along with solar cells, a wind turbine that was installed last spring, and a petrol generator.
Carrying water and other chores keep him fit, but there are also some risks: in the old days, when Sipinen’s father fell ill, he had to be taken to hospital by helicopter.
”One must not think of all that could happen. Once one starts thinking along those lines the situation is already alarming”, Sipinen notes.
In general, rescue operations are difficult on islands. The growth in the number of part-time residents has increased the number of emergency assignments at least in the Turku Archipelago.
Sometimes a helicopter is the only way to respond to an emergency call. The use of one’s independent initiatives is one of the requirements for those who plan to live on an island.
In order to be prepared for fires, the Rescue Department has revived the old tradition of hose sheds. Many islands have a separate place from where residents themselves can fetch fire-fighting equipment if there is a fire.
The municipalities also try to provide their aged residents with services in their homes, but for example in Puumala the principle cannot always be followed.
”Unfortunately, we cannot very well keep to the principle in the most distant corners”, says Anne Julin, the head of services in Puumala.
Links:
Ministry of Employment and the Economy
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.8.2010 - TODAY |
Number of residents on Finnish islands is growing
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