Malax

Malax (Finland Swedish: [ˈmɑːlɑks]; Finnish: Maalahti, Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmɑːˌlɑhti]) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Malax is situated in Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Malax is approximately 5,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 111,000. It is the 160th most populous municipality in Finland.

Malax Malax – Maalahti
Municipality
Malax kommun Maalahden kunta
Coat of arms
Location of Malax in Finland
Coordinates: 62°56.5′N 021°33′E
Country	Finland
Region	Ostrobothnia
Sub-region	Vaasa
Charter	1607
Government
• Municipal manager	Mats Brant
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	1,954.94 km2 (754.81 sq mi)
• Land	522.11 km2 (201.59 sq mi)
• Water	1,433.95 km2 (553.65 sq mi)
• Rank	169th largest in Finland
Population  (2025-06-30)[2]
• Total	5,423
• Rank	160th largest in Finland
• Density	10.39/km2 (26.9/sq mi)
Population by native language [3]
• Swedish	84.8% (official)
• Finnish	9.4% (official)
• Others	5.9%
Population by age [4]
• 0 to 14	15.2%
• 15 to 64	56%
• 65 or older	28.8%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Website	www.malax.fi/en/

Malax covers an area of 1,954.94 square kilometres (754.81 sq mi) of which 1,433.95 km² (553.65 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 10.39 inhabitants per square kilometre (26.9/sq mi).

Malax is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 9% Finnish speakers, 85% Swedish speakers, and 6% speakers of other languages.

Name

The town's Swedish name has been recorded as Malax (by) and Madelax (by), beginning in the 15th century. The name descends from Finnish Madelaksi, from made ("burbot") + laksi ("bay"), where made- was shortened to ma- in Swedish. The river running through the town is known as Malax river, but its tributary in Laihia, Madesjoki, retains the older made- elemenet. The Finnish name maalahti was in turn reborrowed from the Swedish form.^[5]

Politics

Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Malax:

• Swedish People's Party 82.7%
• Social Democratic Party 7.8%
• Christian Democrats 2.9%
• Finns Party 2.5%
• Centre Party 1.5%
• National Coalition Party 0.9%
• Left Alliance 0.8%
• Green League 0.3%