Provinces of Finland

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[[fi:L��ni]][[sv:L�n_i_Finland]]

Finland consists of 6 provinces ([[l�n|l��nit/l�n]]), following a 1997 redesign that reduced their number from 12.

The province authority is part of the central government's executive branch; a system that hasn't changed drastically since its creation in 1634.

The State of Finland is since the late 19th century bilingual. Its governmental offices and agencies use both domestic languages in contacts with the public. Below the local names are given in Finnish/Swedish:

1. Province of Southern Finland
   (Etel�-Suomen l��ni/S�dra Finlands l�n)
2. Province of Western Finland
   (L�nsi-Suomen l��ni/V�stra Finlands l�n)
3. Province of Eastern Finland
   (It�-Suomen l��ni/�stra Finlands l�n)
4. Province of Oulu
   (Oulun l��ni/Ule�borgs l�n)
5. Province of Lapland
   (Lapin l��ni/Lapplands l�n/Saami: Lappi)
6. [[�land (province)|Province of �land]]¹
   (�lands l�n²)

¹ Some duties, which on mainland-Finland are handled by the provinces, are on the autonomous [[�land Islands]] transferred to the local government.
² The �land Islands are unilingually Swedish. The name of the province in Finnish language is: Ahvenanmaan l��ni.

Each province has a State Provincial Office (L��ninhallitus/L�nsstyrelse) which act as the joint regional authority for seven ministries in the following domains:

• social and health care
• education and culture
• police administration
• rescue services
• traffic administration
• competition and consumer affairs
• judicial administration

Each State Provincial Office authority is lead by a Governor (Maaherra/Landsh�vding) who is appointed by the president after a proposal by the cabinet.

Contents 1 Abolished provinces 2 See also 3 External links 3.1 References

Abolished provinces

Before the redesign in 1997 the provinces were:

1. Ahvenanmaan l��ni/�lands l�n
2. H�meen l��ni/Tavastehus l�n
3. Keski-Suomen l��ni/Mellersta Finlands l�n
4. Kuopion l��ni/Kuopio l�n
5. Kymen l��ni/Kymmene l�n
6. Lapin l��ni/Laplands l�n
7. Mikkelin l��ni/St. Michels l�n
8. Oulun l��ni/Ule�borgs l�n
9. Pohjois-Karjalan l��ni/Norra Karelens l�n
10. Turun ja Porin l��ni/�bo och Bj�rneborgs l�n
11. Uudenmaan l��ni/Nylands l�n
12. Vaasan l��ni/Vasa l�n

See also

• Regions of Finland (Maakunta, Landskap)
• Municipalities of Finland (Kunta, Kommun)
• List of cities in Finland.
• Historical provinces of Finland

External links

• State Provincial Offices

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Provinces_of_Finland" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_Finland, used under the GNU Free Documentation License