Soini, Finland

Soini is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 1,793 (30 June 2025)^[2] and covers an area of 574.22 square kilometres (221.71 sq mi) of which 22.17 km² (8.56 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 3.25 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.4/sq mi).

Soini
Municipality
Soinin kunta Soini kommun
Coat of arms
Location of Soini in Finland
Coordinates: 62°52.5′N 24°12.5′E
Country	Finland
Region	Southern Ostrobothnia
Sub-region	Järviseutu
Charter	1868
Government
• Municipal manager	Maija Pihlajamäki
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• Total	574.22 km2 (221.71 sq mi)
• Land	551.95 km2 (213.11 sq mi)
• Water	22.17 km2 (8.56 sq mi)
• Rank	155th largest in Finland
Population  (2025-06-30)[2]
• Total	1,793
• Rank	264th largest in Finland
• Density	3.25/km2 (8.4/sq mi)
Population by native language [3]
• Finnish	98.6% (official)
• Others	1.4%
Population by age [4]
• 0 to 14	15.6%
• 15 to 64	52.3%
• 65 or older	32.1%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Website	soini.fi

Neighbouring municipalities are Alajärvi, Karstula, Kyyjärvi, Saarijärvi and Ähtäri.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

The name is derived from the male name Soini, a Finnish variant of the Scandinavian name Sven. The village was first mentioned in 1754 as a part of the Alajärvi parish. Soini gained a chapel in 1784 and a church in 1859. It was fully separated from Alajärvi in 1895. Soini originally had a Swedish name, Konungsåby, which referred to the river Kuninkaanjoki.^[5]

People born in Soini

• Aukusti Mäenpää (1891 – 1933)
• Eino Uusitalo (1924 – 2015)
• Pekka Pesola (1925 – 2009)
• Jorma Huuhtanen (1945 – )
• Aulis Akonniemi (1958 – )
• Merja Korpela (1981 – )
• Noora Hautakangas (1984 – )