| Native Name: | Oulun lääni Uleåborgs län |
| Conventional Long Name: | Province of Oulu |
| Common Name: | Oulu |
| Subdivision: | County |
| Nation: | Sweden 1775–1809 Province of Grand Duchy of Finland 1809–1917 Province of independent Finland 1917–2009 |
| Year Start: | 1775 |
| Year End: | 2009 |
| P1: | County of Ostrobothnia |
| Flag P1: | Flag of Sweden.svg |
| Image Map Caption: | Province of Oulu (in red) |
| Capital: | Oulu |
| Stat Year1: | 1 January 1993 |
| Stat Area1: | 61582 |
| Stat Pop1: | 445,706 |
| Stat Year2: | 31 December 2009 |
| Stat Area2: | 61582 |
| Stat Pop2: | 471,774 |
The Province of Oulu (Finnish: Oulun lääni, Swedish: Uleåborgs län) 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.
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 (eastern part of the Torne Valley and historical Lapland).
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.[1]
The State Provincial Office was a joint regional authority of seven different ministries. It promoted national and regional objectives of the State central administration.
See main article: Regions of Oulu.
The Province of Oulu was divided into two regions:
The Province of Oulu was divided into 43 municipalities in 2009.