Between 1634 and 2009, Finland was administered as several provinces (Finnish: Suomen läänit, Swedish: Finlands [[län]]). Finland had always been a unitary state: the provincial authorities were part of the central government's executive branch and apart from Åland, 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 on 1 September 1997,[1] 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 s are split into multiple regions. Åland retains its special autonomous status and its own regional parliament.
Each province was led by a governor (Finnish maaherra, Swedish landshövding) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the cabinet. The governor was the head of the State Provincial Office (Finnish lääninhallitus, Swedish länsstyrelse), 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 (Finnish maistraatti, Swedish magistrat). Formerly there was also a division to state local districts (Finnish kihlakunta, Swedish härad), 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.
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 (code 09), 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 number | English name | Finnish name | Swedish name | Residence city | Dates of existence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turun ja Porin lääni | Åbo och Björneborgs län | 1634 - 1997 | • one of the original provinces formed in 1634, though parts were split off since then • merged into the province of Western Finland | ||
| 14 | Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni | Nylands och Tavastehus län | 1634 - 1831 | • one of the original provinces formed in 1634 | ||
| 18 | Pohjanmaan lääni | Österbottens län | 1634 - 1775 | • one of the original provinces formed in 1634 | ||
| 20 | Viipurin ja Savonlinnan lääni | Viborgs och Nyslotts län | 1634 - 1721 | • one of the original provinces formed in 1634 | ||
| 21 | Käkisalmen lääni | Kexholms län | 1634 - 1721 | • one of the original provinces formed in 1634 | ||
| 19 | Savonlinnan ja Kymenkartanon lääni | Kymmenegårds och Nyslotts län | 1721 - 1747 | • former province of Viborg and Nyslott | ||
| 17 | Kymenkartanon ja Savon lääni | Savolax och Kymmenegårds län | 1747 - 1775 | • former province of Kymmenegård and Nyslott | ||
| 4 | Province of Vaasa | Vaasan lääni | Vasa län | 1775 - 1997 | • split off from the province of Ostrobothnia • merged into the province of Western Finland | |
| 10 | Province of Oulu | Oulun lääni | Uleåborgs län | 1775 - 2009 | • split off from the province of Ostrobothnia | |
| 15 | Province of Kymmenegård | Kymenkartanon lääni | Kymmenegårds län | 1775 - 1831 | • split off from the province of Savolax and Kymmenegård | |
| 16 | Province of Savolax and Karelia | Savon ja Karjalan lääni | Savolax och Karelens län | 1775 - 1831 | • split off from the province of Savolax and Kymmenegård | |
| 13 | Viipurin lääni | Viborgs län | 1812 - 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 | Uudenmaan lääni | Nylands län | 1831 - 1997 | • produced by splitting the province of Nyland and Tavastehus • merged into the province of Southern Finland | ||
| 3 | Province of Häme | Hämeen lääni | Tavastehus län | 1831 - 1997 | • produced by splitting the province of Nyland and Tavastehus • merged into the provinces of Southern Finland and Western Finland | |
| 6 | Mikkelin lääni | St. Michels län | 1831 - 1997 | • former province of Kymmenegård • merged into the provinces of Eastern Finland and Southern Finland | ||
| 8 | Province of Kuopio | Kuopion lääni | Kuopio län | 1831 - 1997 | • former province of Savolax and Karelia • merged into the province of Eastern Finland | |
| 12 | Ahvenanmaan lääni | Ålands län | 1918 - 2009 | • had a special status: even though the province was discontinued at the end of 2009 along with the others, there was (and still is) a coextensive "maakunta" (a translation of "province" with a slightly different meaning from the usual) that is semi-autonomous and demilitarized by international treaties | ||
| 25 | Petsamon lääni | Petsamo län | 1921 - 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 | Lapin lääni | Lapplands län | 1938 - 2009 | • split off from the province of Oulu | ||
| 5 | Province of Kymi | Kymen lääni | Kymmene län | 1945 - 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 | Keski-Suomen lääni | Mellersta Finlands län | 1960 - 1997 | • split off from the provinces of Vaasa, Häme, Mikkeli and Kuopio • merged into the province of Western Finland | ||
| 9 | Pohjois-Karjalan lääni | Norra Karelens län | 1960 - 1997 | • split off from the province of Kuopio • merged into the province of Eastern Finland | ||
| 22 | Etelä-Suomen lääni | Södra Finlands län | 1997 - 2009 | • merged from provinces of Uusimaa, Kymi, Häme (part) and Mikkeli (part) | ||
| 23 | Länsi-Suomen lääni | Västra Finlands län | 1997 - 2009 | • merged from provinces of Turku and Pori, Vaasa, Central Finland and Häme (part) | ||
| 24 | Itä-Suomen lääni | Östra Finlands län | 1997 - 2009 | • merged from provinces of Kuopio, North Karelia and Mikkeli (part) | ||
| No. | Coats of arms | Provinces | Finnish and Swedish names | Residence city | Largest city | Population (2003) | Area (km2) | Merged Provinces (1997) | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Southern Finland | Etelä-Suomen lääni Södra Finlands län | Hämeenlinna Tavastehus | Helsinki | 2,116,914 | 34,378 | Uusimaa, Kymi, Häme | ||
| 2. | Western Finland | Länsi-Suomen lääni Västra Finlands län | Turku Åbo | Tampere | 1,848,269 | 74,185 | Vaasa, Turku-Pori, Central Finland, Häme | ||
| 3. | Eastern Finland | Itä-Suomen lääni Östra Finlands län | Mikkeli S:t Michel | Kuopio | 582,781 | 48,726 | Kuopio, North Karelia, Mikkeli | ||
| 4. | Oulu | Oulun lääni Uleåborgs län | Oulu Uleåborg | Oulu | 458,504 | 57,000 | No changes | ||
| 5. | Lapland | Lapin lääni Lapplands län | Rovaniemi Rovaniemi | Rovaniemi | 186,917 | 98,946 | No changes | ||
| 6. | Åland | Ahvenanmaan lääni Ålands län | Mariehamn Maarianhamina | Mariehamn | 26,000 | 6,784 | No 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.
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 (aluehallintovirasto, regionförvaltningsverk, abbr. avi) - in addition to the State Department 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 (Finnish: elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus, usually abbreviated ely-keskus), 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.