Provinces of Finland
| This article is part of the Subdivisions of Finland series |
| Provinces |
| Governors |
| Provincial Offices |
| Regions |
| Councils |
| Districts |
| Municipalities |
| List |
| List by population |
| List by area |
| Towns |
Finland consists of 6 provinces (lÃÂäÃÂänit/lÃÂän), 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:
- Province of Southern Finland
(EtelÃÂä-Suomen lÃÂäÃÂäni/SÃÂödra Finlands lÃÂän) captial: Helsinki (Helsinki, Helsingfors) - Province of Western Finland
(LÃÂänsi-Suomen lÃÂäÃÂäni/VÃÂästra Finlands lÃÂän) captial: Turku (Turku, ÃÂàbo) - Province of Eastern Finland
(ItÃÂä-Suomen lÃÂäÃÂäni/ÃÂÃÂstra Finlands lÃÂän captial: Mikkeli (Mikkeli, S:t Michel) - Province of Oulu
(Oulun lÃÂäÃÂäni/UleÃÂÃÂ¥borgs lÃÂän) captial: Oulu (Oulu, UleÃÂÃÂ¥borg) - Province of Lapland
(Lapin lÃÂäÃÂäni/Lapplands lÃÂän/Sami: Lappi) - Province of ÃÂÃÂ
land¹
(ÃÂàlands lÃÂän²)
² The ÃÂàland Islands are unilingually Swedish. The name of the province in Finnish language is: Ahvenanmaan lÃÂäÃÂäni.
Each province has a State Provincial Office (LÃÂäÃÂäninhallitus/LÃÂänsstyrelse) 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
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2 See also 3 External links |
Abolished provinces
Before the redesign in 1997 the provinces were:
See also
External links