Köping (cognate to the English toponymical name chipping) was a Swedish denomination for a market town. This term was abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Municipalities of Sweden (currently amounting to 290). In medieval times it was the designation of an official market place/market town. 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 in Finnish.