| Summary: | The aim of this study is to determine the boundaries of the spheres of influence of functional centres in the Oulu province of Northern Finland. These are determined empirically by means of enquiries made among influential people, including tradesmen buying and delivering commodities, in districts provisionally set up on the basis of elementary school catchment areas. The major concentrations of analytical boundaries drawn according to the answers received concerning the orientation of trade in agricultural products and the provision of goods and services serve to indicate the location of the synthetic spheres of influence of the functional centres. These results, together with an evaluation of the hierarchical organization of functional centres, are then compared with results of earlier investigations, and the relationship between centrality of the centre and population within its sphere of influence is investigated. The functional centres in the sparsely settled NE part of the Oulu province belonging to ‘Nature Finland’ are separated by considerable distances, mainly because of the lower profitability of their functions. They show, however, a remarkable degree of centrality compared with the general level for the province, being capable of attracting even the people living in the most distant parts of their spheres of influence. The spheres of influence of the most powerful centres have remained unchanged at least since beginning of the 1930's. Relatively strong positive correlations are found to exist between the centrality of the functional centres and the size of the total population under their influence, and between the population sizes of the spheres of influence and of the centres themselves. The total population and that part of the population living within the sphere of influence alone are both found to be smaller compared with the centrality of the centre in the SW and W areas of the province than in the NE, the former areas being characterized by more intense human activity. Here the centres may be ...
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