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Köping, cognate to the Saxon word chipping, is a Swedish term similar to "market town". In medieval times it was the designation of an official for town or market place. As present-day Finland was then a part of Sweden, the Finnish word kauppala has the same meaning. The Finnish word kaupunki, borrowed from the Old Norse word for köping, is today the main word for town or city in Finnish.
Historically, many of the cities in Sweden were market towns before being granted full town privileges. In 1971, the disctinctions between cities, market towns and rural municipalities were removed when the unitary authority municipalities were introduced. There are several towns and current municipalities named after market towns that have incorporated "köping" into their names.