{{expand Finnish|date=June 2023|topic=geo}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Alavus | official_name = {{lang|fi|Alavuden kaupunki}}<br />{{lang|sv|Alavo stad}} | other_name = Alavo | settlement_type = Town | image_skyline = Kaupungintalo@Alavus.jpg | imagesize = 225px | image_caption = Former Alavus city hall, demolished in 2021 | image_shield = töysä.vaakuna.svg | shield_size = 120x80px | image_map = Alavus_sijainti_Suomi.svg | map_caption = Location of Alavus in Finland | coordinates = {{coord|62|35.5|N|023|37|E|display=inline,title}} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-marker = town | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Finland}} | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = South Ostrobothnia | subdivision_type2 = Sub-region | subdivision_name2 = Kuusiokunnat | leader_title = Town manager | leader_name = Liisa Heinämäki | established_title = Charter | established_date = 1865 | established_title2 = Market town | established_date2 = 1974 | established_title3 = Town privileges | established_date3 = 1977 | area_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|area_footnotes|Alavus}} | area_total_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|area_total_km2|Alavus}} | area_land_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|area_land_km2|Alavus}} | area_water_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|area_water_km2|Alavus}} | area_rank = {{Data Finland municipality|area_rank|Alavus}} | population_as_of = {{Data Finland municipality|population_as_of|Alavus}} | population_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|population_footnotes|Alavus}} | population_total = {{Data Finland municipality|population_total|Alavus}} | population_density_km2 = {{Data Finland municipality|population_density_km2|Alavus}} | population_rank = {{Data Finland municipality|population_rank|Alavus}} | demographics_type1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics_type1|Alavus}} | demographics1_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_footnotes|Alavus}} | demographics1_title1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title1|Alavus}} | demographics1_info1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info1|Alavus}} | demographics1_title2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title2|Alavus}} | demographics1_info2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info2|Alavus}} | demographics1_title3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title3|Alavus}} | demographics1_info3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info3|Alavus}} | demographics1_title4 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_title4|Alavus}} | demographics1_info4 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics1_info4|Alavus}} | demographics_type2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics_type2|Alavus}} | demographics2_footnotes = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_footnotes|Alavus}} | demographics2_title1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_title1|Alavus}} | demographics2_info1 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_info1|Alavus}} | demographics2_title2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_title2|Alavus}} | demographics2_info2 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_info2|Alavus}} | demographics2_title3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_title3|Alavus}} | demographics2_info3 = {{Data Finland municipality|demographics2_info3|Alavus}} | blank_name = {{Data Finland municipality|blank_name|Alavus}} | blank_info = {{Data Finland municipality|blank_info|Alavus}} | timezone = EET | utc_offset = +02:00 | timezone_DST = EEST | utc_offset_DST = +03:00 | website = {{URL|https://www.alavus.fi/}} }} '''Alavus''' ({{langx|sv|Alavo}}) is a town and municipality of Finland in the province of Western Finland. Part of the South Ostrobothnia region, it is located {{convert|52|km}} southeast of Seinäjoki, {{convert|138|km}} north of Tampere and {{convert|319|km}} north of Helsinki. The town has a population of {{formatnum: {{Data Finland municipality/population count|Alavus}}}} ({{#time: j F Y|{{Data Finland municipality/population count|sourcedate}} }})<ref name="population_count" /> and covers an area of {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/total area|Alavus}}|km2}} of which {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/waters area|Alavus}}|km2|abbr=on}} is water.<ref name="total_area" /> The population density is {{convert|{{Data Finland municipality/population density|Alavus|round=2}}|PD/km2}}. Neighbouring municipalities are Alajärvi, Kuortane, Seinäjoki, Virrat and Ähtäri.

Agriculture and forestry employ a significant share of the population. Most of the industry in Alavus is related to construction: materials, design and contractors. Alavus has 60 lakes with {{convert|324|km}} of shoreline. The town is unilingually Finnish.

==Geography== ===Villages=== In 1967, Alavus had five legally recognized villages ''(henkikirjakylät)'':<ref name="suomenmaa">{{Cite book |last=Korpi |first=Lauri |last2=Papunen |first2=Pentti |title=Suomenmaa: maantieteellis-yhteiskunnallinen tieto- ja hakuteos. 1: Ahlainen–Hausjärvi|publisher=WSOY|year=1967|location=Helsinki|chapter=Alavus}}</ref> * Alavus * Rantatöysä * Sapsalampi * Sulkava * Sydänmaa

== Demographics == In 2020, 16.7% of the population of Alavus was under the age of 15, 54.6% were aged 15 to 64, and 28.7% were over the age of 64. The average age was 46.1, above the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 44.7. Speakers of Finnish made up 98.3% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 0.1%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 1.6%. Foreign nationals made up 1.2% of the total population.<ref name="population key figures">{{Cite web|title=Key figures on population by region, 1990-2020|url=https://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11ra.px/|url-status=dead|access-date=29 April 2021|website=StatFin|publisher=Statistics Finland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406192005/http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11ra.px/|archive-date=2019-04-06}}</ref>

The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Alavus from 1975 to 2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

{{Historical populations | align = none | cols = 2 | percentages = pagr | 1975 |13465 | 1980 |13580 | 1985 |13781 | 1990 |13785 | 1995 |13472 | 2000 |13135 | 2005 |12868 | 2010 |12439 | 2015 |12044 | 2020 |11332 | 2024 |10780 |source=Statistics Finland<ref>{{Cite web|title=Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area, 1972-2020|url=https://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11re.px/|url-status=dead|access-date=29 April 2021|website=StatFin|publisher=Statistics Finland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525152634/http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11re.px/|archive-date=2019-05-25}}</ref> }}

=== Urban areas === In 2019, out of the total population of 6,919, 4,485 people lived in urban areas and 3,641 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 64 people were unknown. This made Alavus's degree of urbanization 60.7%.<ref name="urbanization">{{Cite web|title=Degree of urbanisation by area, 2019|url=https://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11s7.px/|url-status=dead|access-date=28 April 2021|website=StatFin|publisher=Statistics Finland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126094642/http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11s7.px/|archive-date=2019-11-26}}</ref> The urban population in the municipality was divided between three urban areas as follows:<ref name="urban population">{{Cite web|title=Population in urban settlements and sparsely populated areas by age, sex and municipality, 2019|url=https://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11s6.px/|url-status=dead|access-date=28 April 2021|website=StatFin|publisher=Statistics Finland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126094635/http://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/StatFin__vrm__vaerak/statfin_vaerak_pxt_11s6.px/|archive-date=2019-11-26}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! # !! Urban area !! Population |- | align="center" | 1 || '''Alavus central locality''' || align="right" | 4,004 |- | align="center" | 2 || Alavus railway station area ||align="right"| 1,240 |- | align="center" | 3 || Töysä parish village ||align="right"| 898 |- | align="center" | 4 || Tuuri ||align="right"| 777 |}

== Economy == In 2018, 9.1% of the workforce of Alavus worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 24.0% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 65.6% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 8.5%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 33.0%.<ref name="municipal key figures">{{Cite web|title=Municipal key figures 1987-2020 (with the 2021 regional division)|url=https://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/Kuntien_avainluvut/Kuntien_avainluvut__2021/kuntien_avainluvut_2021_aikasarja.px|url-status=live|access-date=28 April 2021|website=StatFin|publisher=Statistics Finland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426165318/https://pxnet2.stat.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/Kuntien_avainluvut/Kuntien_avainluvut__2021/kuntien_avainluvut_2021_aikasarja.px |archive-date=2021-04-26 }} (2018 and 2019)</ref>

The ten largest employers in Alavus in 2019 were as follows:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kunnittainen toimipaikkatilasto|url=https://www.stat.fi/tup/yritystietopalvelu/kunnittainen-toimipaikkatilasto|url-status=live|access-date=29 April 2021|publisher=Statistics Finland|language=fi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114133314/http://www.stat.fi/tup/yritystietopalvelu/kunnittainen-toimipaikkatilasto |archive-date=2016-11-14 }}</ref> {{columns-list|colwidth=25em|style=max-width:70em;| # Kuusiolinna Terveys Oy, 551 employees # Town of Alavus, 518 employees # Veljekset Keskinen Oy, 346 employees # Alavus Ikkunat Oy, 100 employees # Riikku Group Oy, 96 employees # Mattiovi Oy, 90 employees # Etelä-Pohjanmaan Osuuskauppa, 64 employees # Kuusiokuntien sosiaali -ja terveyskuntayhtymä, 58 employees # Normek Oy, 56 employees # Alavuden Betoni Oy, 52 employees }}

==Notable people== * Mimmi Bähr (1844–1923), Finnish inventor and developer of calligraphy. * Erkki Huttunen (1901–1956), architect * Rauha S. Virtanen (1931–2019), author

==See also== *Battle of Alavus *Niinimaa *Tuuri

==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links== * {{commons category-inline}} * [https://www.alavus.fi/ Town of Alavus] – Official website

{{Geographic location | Centre = Alavus | N = Kuortane | NE = Alajärvi | E = Ähtäri | S = Virrat (Pirkanmaa) | W = Seinäjoki }} {{SouthernOstrobothnia}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Alavus Category:Cities and towns in Finland Category:Populated places established in 1865 Category:1865 establishments in Finland