Provinces of Finland
editFinland consists of 6 provinces (läänit/län), 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
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| Name of Provinces | Finnish/Swedish name | Residence city | Population | Area in km² | Old Province(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Southern Finland | Etelä-Suomen lääni/Södra Finlands län | Hämeenlinna, Tavastehus | 2 000 000 | 34 378 | Uusimaa, Kymi and (Southern-)Häme |
| 2. Western Finland | Länsi-Suomen lääni/Västra Finlands län | Turku, Åbo | 184 000 | 74 185 | Vaasa, Turku-Pori, Keski-Soumi and (Northern-)Häme |
| 3. Eastern Finland | Itä-Suomen lääni/Östra Finlands län | Mikkeli, S:t Michel | 588 000 | 48 726 | Kuopio, Pohjois-Karelien and Mikkeli |
| 4. Oulu(some it is called Oulu-land) | Oulun lääni/Uleåborgs län | Oulu, Uleåborg | 455 000 | 57 000 | Oulu |
| 5. Lapland | Lapin lääni/Lapplands län | Rovaniemi | 188 000 | 98 946 | Lapland |
| 6. Åland¹ | Ahvenanmaan lääni ²/Ålands län | Mariehamn, Maarianhamina ² | 26 000 | 6 784 | Åland |
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edit¹ Some duties, which on Mainland Finland are handled by the provinces, are on the Åland Islands transferred to the autonomous Government of Åland. ² The Åland Islands are unilingually Swedish.
Each province has a State Provincial Office (Lääninhallitus/Länsstyrelse) 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 led by a Governor (Maaherra/Landshövding) who is appointed by the president after a proposal by the cabinet.