More than 25% of People in this Remote Northern Michigan Township Speak Finnish, not English, At Home
Welcome to Bohemia Township, Michigan. Population 75. While the actual population of this town is small, it holds a large distinction. Bohemia Township may be home to the largest percentage of Finnish speakers in America.
Finnish is the native language of Finland, a country in the Scandinavian region of Europe. People with Finnish heritage are found in large portions of the upper Great Lakes from Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula to northern Minnesota.
Famously, Hancock in Michigan's Keeweenaw Peninsula across the Portage Lift Bridge from its twin city of Houghton, was home to Finlandia University and features street signs in both Finnish and English.
But there may be no greater proportion of Finnish speakers per capita than in Bohemia Township. The sliver of land is in western Ontonagon County and located southwest of Hancock. In the 2000 Census, it was reported that 26 percent of the township's population spoke Finnish at home and 74 percent spoke English. That's a pretty incredible margin.
If you're looking to find one of the township's Finnish speakers, perhaps your best bet would be to head to the Rosseau Bar (where it's never too far). The bar appears to perhaps be the township's lone establishment. If you do find your way to the Rouss, perhaps you can take part in some leg wrestling. Caution, a single NSFW word in the video below.
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