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Nature and Culture

Satakunta Is Finland In Small Scale

The Province of Satakunta, exceptionally versatile both in nature and in culture, is often described by saying that it is like Finland in small scale. The area of Satakunta is about 8,200 square kilometres, of which about 65 % i.e. over half a million hectares is forested. Lakes, of which there are about 300 in Satakunta, and rivers cover a total surface area of 450 square kilometres, and there is actually over 3,200 km of shorelines to be found in this regional province. About 20 % of the surface area of Satakunta are fields.

The versatile natural environment has been and still is a strength of Satakunta. The long coast, the valley of Kokemäenjoki, the ridge sections, the vast swamp and forest areas create variety in the landscape, and they facilitate the occurrence of a lot of biotope types. Nowadays, the most significant sites are protected by national conservation programmes, all around Satakunta.

An important part of Satakunta's nature is the eternal power lane of the province, the Kokemäenjoki that is, a river with the fourth largest watershed in Finland, and its drainage area which is about 8 % of Finland's surface area. The most significant natural sites of the valley of Kokemäenjoki are the estuary of the river, the area of the Preiviiki Bay and of Yyteri as well as the Puurijärvi-Isosuo National Park, which are also internationally valuable. The estuary of Kokemäenjoki is the largest estuary zone of the Nordic countries, and a stopover spot of special significance for the migrant birds.

An internationally most extraordinary feature in the nature of Satakunta is the ever continuing rise of the Earth’s crust, as a consequence of which the coastal zone is a unique living environment, in which one can follow up how the new land emerging from the sea is conquered by plants and even how evolution progresses in the realm of plants. In Satakunta, the coast line shifts about 60 - 80 cm a century, which also bears significant influence on human activities.

Satakunta Is An Ancient Cultural Area

Satakunta has got a rather long history of inhabitation, and the oldest finds suggest, that the area was inhabited already 4500 years ago. Over all the eras, Kokemäenjoki has been a major transportation lane in the area, and it can be claimed, that culture has also been transported along the river, from coast to inland.

Historically, fishing has been a significant source of livelihood in Satakunta, and the Kokemäenjoki has once been the most important salmon river of the country. The river connection between inland and coast as well as the good harbour places have always highlighted the significance of transport, and also of foreign trade, together with it. Abundant forest riches in the area facilitated a development of livelihood industries in form of among others tar and timber products business, and their projections are clear, to our very day, e.g. in cellulose and paper industry. The rising of the Earth’s crust has left its mark as a seal on the cultural development of Satakunta. As a consequence of the continued rising, the old ports and trading places had one after the other remained far inland, and always new centres had to be built.

In our present days, Satakunta is particularly famous for several of its grand cultural events, even though the interaction between, as well as the limitlessness of, nature and culture - which create the basis for everyday quality life, and ceaselessly give experience and adventure to the visitors - have also been highlighted more and more. In the Pori Region, efforts have been made to create a uniform, high-standard, and freely and publicly accessible net of hiking trails, which functions as the operational environment of versatile service provision in the fields of accommodation, catering, and outdooring guidance, thereby serving both those from Satakunta and other tourists from further afield. This entity is called by the name REITTI Satakunta.

Translated from Finnish to English by Volford Péter.