Description & Facts: Pargas (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈpɑrɡɑs]; Finnish: Parainen, pronounced [ˈpɑrɑinen]) is a former town and municipality in south-western Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Nagu to form the new town of Väståboland. It is known as the "capital" of the archipelago of Turku and had been a city since 1977. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The town had a population of 12,266 (as of 31 December 2008)[2] and covered an land area of 273.18 square kilometres (105.48 sq mi).[1] The population density was 44.9 inhabitants per square kilometre (116 /sq mi). The municipality was bilingual, with the majority (54%) being Swedish and the minority (45%) Finnish speakers. It is the only city in Mainland Finland that is situated on an island. The city has many little suburbs around it, including Kirjala and Lielax.