Oulu Province


The Province of Oulu was a province of Finland from 1775 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Lapland, Western Finland and Eastern Finland and also the Gulf of Bothnia and Russia.

History

For History, Geography and Culture see: Ostrobothnia
The Province of Oulu was established in 1775 when Finland was an integrated part of Sweden from the northern part of Ostrobothnia County. The new province was named after its administrative seat of Oulu.
As a consequence of the tumultuous conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire, United Kingdom and the other parties of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleonic France. However, following the treaty of Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France and left the coalition. This enabled Russia in 1808 to challenge Sweden in the Finnish War, over the control of Finland. In the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on 17 September 1809 Sweden was obliged to cede all its territory in Finland, to Russia.
The ceded territories became a part of the Russian Empire and were reconstituted into the Grand Duchy of Finland, with the Russian Tsar as Grand Duke. The Province of Oulu was expanded in 1809 with the parts of the Västerbotten County.
After Finland became independent from Russia, in 1917, there were no changes in Oulu Province until 1938, when the northern part was split off and established as the Lapland Province.
All the provinces of Finland were abolished on 1 January 2010.

Administration

The State Provincial Office was a joint regional authority of seven different ministries. It promoted national and regional objectives of the State central administration.

Regions

The province of Oulu was divided into two regions: