Soini is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . 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. 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 – ) References External links Municipality of Soini – Official website Municipalities of South Ostrobothnia Populated places established in 1868