Migrating back to history? The settlement structure and migration in Finland, a 400 years’ perspective

Abstract

Economic historians have shown maps from early history describing settlement structures and boundaries of permanent settlement of Finland. Population has moved towards the north and east and settled the whole country in the long time period up to the early 20th century. Since the Second World War, the Finnish society has undergone vast structural changes and the role of migration has occupied an important position in shaping the regional settlement structure. Nowadays the population settlement concentrates to the coast, river valleys and the nodal centres of foreign trade. These areas are the same as in the early settlement phase.