If you ask a Finn what things they associate with the word "Pohjanmaa", or Ostrobothnia, they'll probably mention the hot-headed group of knife-swishing troublemakers known as "häjyt" in the region's history.

But the people living in Ostrobothnia today are a different breed altogether.

There's the inventive entrepreneur who comes up with the most astonishing things to attract tourists; there's the person who digs a hole for a lake because a lake didn't exist before, another one who sets up an amusement park next to his engineering workshop, a third who buys a ship and starts to run services to Sweden because no-one else will, and so on.

This ingenuity and entrepreneurship alone is a good reason to take a holiday in Ostrobothnia - you never know what crazy things someone has invented!

In Ostrobothnia, you will find cosy accommodation in farmhouses and will get a chance to become acquainted with the farm animals. In some farms, they'll even let you try farm work - for a fee, of course. After all, money must always change hands when work is done.

Of course, there are several of the more traditional tourist attractions and services available, such as amusement parks, zoos, spas and beaches for the kids, and a bit of this and that for the parents, from high culture to the Kvarken archipelago which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.