FINLAND: PERNAJA, PERNÅ

Pernå in Swedish or Pernaja in Finnish is a municipality of Finland.

It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Eastern Uusimaa region. The municipality has a population of 3,925 (2005-12-31) and covers an area of 425.39 km² of which 7.04 km² is water. The population density is 9.3 inhabitants per km².

Pernaja is the oldest municipality in the Eastern Uusimaa region. Current municipalities Lapinjärvi, Liljendal and Loviisa were originally part of it.

Mikael Agricola, the founder of the written Finnish language, was born in Pernaja in the early 16th century. He is also considered to be the Reformator of Finland in the transfer from Catholicism into Lutheranism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikael_Agricola

Situated conveniently by the coast, and engulfing also a small river, the lands of Pernaja were attractiv at a time when waterways rather than proper roads provided the means of transport. Pernaja houses numerous manors dating back to the times when Finland was a part of Sweden. The origin of the name "Pernå" is still being discussed. Some think it links with the Finnish-Ugrian word "Pern" meaning lime- or lindentree. "Å" is Swedish for a small river, i.e. the name then being Lindenriver if translated. (Wikipedia)