Provinces of Finland


Between 1634 and 2009, Finland was administered as several provinces. Finland had always been a unitary state: the provincial authorities were part of the central government's executive branch and a part of the Åland Islands, the provinces had little autonomy. There were never any elected provincial parliaments in continental Finland. The system was initially created in 1634. Its makeup was changed drastically in 1997, when the number of the provinces was reduced from twelve to six. This effectively made them purely administrative units, as linguistic and cultural boundaries no longer followed the borders of the provinces. The provinces were eventually abolished at the end of 2009. Consequently, different ministries may subdivide their areal organization differently. Besides the former provinces, the municipalities of Finland form the fundamental subdivisions of the country. In current use are the regions of Finland, a smaller subdivision where some pre-1997 läänis are split into multiple regions. Åland islands retain their special autonomous status and their own regional parliament.

Duties

Each province was led by a governor appointed by the president on the recommendation of the cabinet. The governor was the head of the State Provincial Office, which acted as the joint regional authority for seven ministries in the following domains:
The official administrative subentities under the Provincial Office authorities were the Registry Offices. Formerly there was also a division to state local districts, which were districts for police, prosecution, and bailiff services, but there was reorganization such that 24 police districts were founded. These usually encompass multiple municipalities.
Provinces governed only state offices, such as the police. Most services, such as healthcare and maintenance of local streets, were and remain today the responsibility of municipalities of Finland. Many municipalities are too small for a hospital and some other services, so they cooperate in municipality groups, e.g. health care districts, using borders that vary depending on the type of service. Often Swedish-language municipalities cooperate even if they do not share a border.

List of all provinces that ever existed

In 1634, administratives provinces were formed in Sweden, and therefore in Finland, which was a part of Sweden until 1809. Five of the provinces covered what is now Finland; some of these also covered parts of what are now Russia. The exact division of the country into provinces has fluctuated over time.
The boundaries of the old provinces partly survive in telephone area codes and electoral districts. The exception is Helsinki: there is a telephone numbering area that comprises Greater Helsinki, while only the city of Helsinki proper comprises the electoral district of Helsinki, the rest of Greater Helsinki belonging to the Uusimaa electoral district.
Map numberEnglish nameFinnish nameSwedish nameResidence cityDates of existenceNotes
1 Province of Turku and PoriTurun ja Porin lääniÅbo och Björneborgs län Turku1634-1997• one of the original provinces formed in 1634, though parts were split off since then
• merged into the Province of Western Finland
14 Province of Nyland and TavastehusUudenmaan ja Hämeen lääniNylands och Tavastehus län Helsinki / Hämeenlinna1634-1831• one of the original provinces formed in 1634
18 Province of OstrobothniaPohjanmaan lääniÖsterbottens län Oulu / Vaasa1634-1775• one of the original provinces formed in 1634
20 Province of Viborg and NyslottViipurin ja Savonlinnan lääniViborgs och Nyslotts län Vyborg1634-1721• one of the original provinces formed in 1634
21 Province of KexholmKäkisalmen lääniKexholms län Kexholm1634-1721• one of the original provinces formed in 1634
19 Province of Kymmenegård and NyslottSavonlinnan ja Kymenkartanon lääniKymmenegårds och Nyslotts län Lappeenranta1721-1747• former Province of Viborg and Nyslott
17 Province of Savolax and KymmenegårdKymenkartanon ja Savon lääniSavolax och Kymmenegårds län Loviisa1747-1775• former Province of Kymmenegård and Nyslott
4 Province of VaasaVaasan lääniVasa län Vaasa1775-1997• split off from the Province of Ostrobothnia
• merged into the Province of Western Finland
10 Province of OuluOulun lääniUleåborgs län Oulu1775-2009• split off from the Province of Ostrobothnia
15 Province of KymmenegårdKymenkartanon lääniKymmenegårds län Heinola1775-1831• split off from the Province of Savolax and Kymmenegård
16 Province of Savolax and KareliaSavon ja Karjalan lääniSavolax och Karelens län Kuopio1775-1831• split off from the Province of Savolax and Kymmenegård
13 Province of ViipuriViipurin lääniViborgs län Vyborg1812-1947• Russian Vyborg Governorate 1744–1812; transferred as Province of Viipuri to autonomic Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812
• most of its area was lost to the Soviet Union in World War II, and the remainder became the Province of Kymi
2 Province of UusimaaUudenmaan lääniNylands län Helsinki1831-1997• produced by splitting the Province of Nyland and Tavastehus
• merged into the Province of Southern Finland
3 Province of HämeHämeen lääniTavastehus län Hämeenlinna1831-1997• produced by splitting the Province of Nyland and Tavastehus
• merged into the Provinces of Southern Finland and Western Finland
6 Province of MikkeliMikkelin lääniSt. Michels län Mikkeli1831-1997• former Province of Kymmenegård
• merged into the Provinces of Eastern Finland and Southern Finland
8 Province of KuopioKuopion lääniKuopio län Kuopio1831-1997• former Province of Savolax and Karelia
• merged into the Province of Eastern Finland
12 Province of ÅlandAhvenanmaan lääniÅlands län Mariehamn1918-2009• had a special status: even though the province was discontinued at the end of 2009 along with the others, there was a coextensive "maakunta" that is semi-autonomous and demilitarized by international treaties
25 Province of PetsamoPetsamon lääniPetsamo län Pechenga1921-1921• gained from Soviet Russia
• merged into the Province of Oulu
• the entire area of the former Province of Pechenga was lost to the Soviet Union in World War II
11 Province of LaplandLapin lääniLapplands län Rovaniemi1938-2009• split off from the Province of Oulu
5 Province of KymiKymen lääniKymmene län Kouvola1945-1997• formed from the part of the Province of Viipuri that remained on the Finnish side of the border with Russia
• merged into the Province of Southern Finland
7 Province of Central FinlandKeski-Suomen lääniMellersta Finlands län Jyväskylä1960-1997• split off from the Provinces of Vaasa, Häme, Mikkeli and Kuopio
• merged into the Province of Western Finland
9 Province of North KareliaPohjois-Karjalan lääniNorra Karelens län Joensuu1960-1997• split off from the Province of Kuopio
• merged into the Province of Eastern Finland
22 Province of Southern FinlandEtelä-Suomen lääniSödra Finlands län Hämeenlinna1997-2009• merged from Provinces of Uusimaa, Kymi, Häme and Mikkeli
23 Province of Western FinlandLänsi-Suomen lääniVästra Finlands län Turku1997-2009• merged from Provinces of Turku and Pori, Vaasa, Central Finland and Häme
24 Province of Eastern FinlandItä-Suomen lääniÖstra Finlands län Mikkeli1997-2009• merged from Provinces of Kuopio, North Karelia and Mikkeli

Geographical evolution of provincial administration

Provinces of Finland at abolition

No.Coats of armsProvincesFinnish and
Swedish names		Residence cityLargest cityPopulation Area Merged Provinces Map
1.Southern FinlandEtelä-Suomen lääni
Södra Finlands län		Hämeenlinna
Tavastehus		Helsinki2,116,91434,378Uusimaa, Kymi, Häme
2.Western FinlandLänsi-Suomen lääni
Västra Finlands län		Turku
Åbo		Tampere1,848,26974,185Vaasa, Turku-Pori, Central Finland, Häme
3.Eastern FinlandItä-Suomen lääni
Östra Finlands län		Mikkeli
S:t Michel		Kuopio582,78148,726Kuopio, North Karelia, Mikkeli
4.OuluOulun lääni
Uleåborgs län		Oulu
Uleåborg		Oulu458,50457,000No changes
5.LaplandLapin lääni
Lapplands län		Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi		Rovaniemi186,91798,946No changes
6.ÅlandAhvenanmaan lääni
Ålands län		Mariehamn
Maarianhamina		Mariehamn26,0006,784No changes

a. Some duties, which in Mainland Finland are handled by the provinces, are on the Åland Islands transferred to the autonomous Government of Åland.
b. The Åland Islands are unilingually Swedish.

After abolition

The provinces were abolished altogether effective 1 January 2010. Since then, the regional administration of the Finnish state has two parallel top-level organs in the hierarchy: the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment on the one hand, and the Regional State Administrative Agencies on the other.
Six Regional State Administrative Agencies - in addition to the Government of Åland - are primarily responsible for law enforcement. Among these, South-Western Finland and Western and Central Finland cover the former province of Western Finland, and the former province of Oulu was revamped as Northern Finland; other old provincial boundaries remain much the same in the new disposition.
In parallel, there are 15 Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, which are responsible for other state administration: employment, road and transport infrastructure, and environmental monitoring. They are each responsible for one or more of regions of Finland, and include offices of the Ministries of Employment and the Economy, Transport and Communications and Environment.