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Regions of Finland

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Not to be confused with provinces of Finland, historical provinces of Finland, or Regional State Administrative Agency.

Finland is divided into 19 regions (Finnish: maakunta; Swedish: landskap).[a]

Regions
maakunta (Finnish)
landskap (Swedish)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationFinland
Number19
Populations29,884 (Åland) — 1,689,725 (Uusimaa)
Areas1,553 km2 (Åland) — 92,674 km2 (Lapland)
Government
  • Regional council
Subdivisions

The regions are governed by regional councils that serve as forums of cooperation for the municipalities of each region. The councils are composed of delegates from the municipal councils. The main tasks of regional councils are regional planning, development of enterprises, and education. Between 2004 and 2012 the regional council of Kainuu was elected via popular elections as part of an experimental regional administration.[2]

In 2022 new wellbeing services counties were established as part of a health care and social services reform. The wellbeing services counties follow the regional borders, and are governed by directly elected county councils.[3]

Åland

One region, Åland, has a special status and has a much higher degree of autonomy than the others, with its own Parliament and local laws, due to its unique history and the fact that the overwhelming majority of its people are Finland Swedes. The sole language of Åland is Swedish/Finland Swedish, unlike the rest of the country where Finnish and Swedish share official status. It has its own elected head of government who carries the title of Premier and heads the Lantråd, the regional executive. Most powers that would be exercised by the Government of Finland on the mainland are instead exercised by Åland-specific authorities which execute independent policy in most areas. The Åland islanders elect a single representative to the national legislature, while the Government of Finland appoints a Governor to represent the national government on Åland. Åland is a demilitarized zone and Åland islanders are exempt from conscription.

Representation of the state

In addition to inter-municipal cooperation, which is the responsibility of regional councils, there are 15 Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (Finnish: elinkeino-, liikenne- ja ympäristökeskus, abbreviated ely-keskus), which is responsible for the local administration of labour, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and entrepreneurial affairs. 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. The Finnish Defence Forces regional offices are responsible for the regional defence preparations and for the administration of conscription within the region.

List of regions

Flag Coat of arms Name Official English name[4] Finnish name Swedish name Capital Area (km2) Population
(31 Dec 2019)[5]
  Lapland Lapland Lappi Lappland Rovaniemi 92,674 177,161
  North Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia Pohjois-Pohjanmaa Norra Österbotten Oulu 36,815 412,830
    Kainuu Kainuu Kainuu Kajanaland Kajaani 20,197 72,306
    North Karelia North Karelia Pohjois-Karjala Norra Karelen Joensuu 17,761 161,211
    Northern Savonia North Savo Pohjois-Savo Norra Savolax Kuopio 16,768 244,236
    Southern Savonia South Savo Etelä-Savo Södra Savolax Mikkeli 14,257 142,335
  South Karelia South Karelia Etelä-Karjala Södra Karelen Lappeenranta 5,327 127,757
    Central Finland Central Finland Keski-Suomi Mellersta Finland Jyväskylä 16,703 275,104
    South Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia Etelä-Pohjanmaa Södra Österbotten Seinäjoki 13,444 188,685
  Ostrobothnia Ostrobothnia Pohjanmaa Österbotten Vaasa 7,753 180,445
    Central Ostrobothnia Central Ostrobothnia Keski-Pohjanmaa Mellersta Österbotten Kokkola 5,020 68,158
  Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa Birkaland Tampere 12,585 517,666
    Satakunta Satakunta Satakunta Satakunta Pori 7,820 216,752
    Päijänne Tavastia Päijät-Häme Päijät-Häme Päijänne-Tavastland Lahti 5,125 199,604
    Kanta-Häme (Tavastia Proper) Kanta-Häme (Tavastia Proper) Kanta-Häme Egentliga Tavastland Hämeenlinna 5,199 170,925
  Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso Kymmenedalen Kotka, Kouvola 5,149 171,167
    Uusimaa Uusimaa Uusimaa Nyland Helsinki 9,097 1,689,725
  Southwest Finland Southwest Finland Varsinais-Suomi Egentliga Finland Turku 10,663 479,341
    Åland[6] Åland Ahvenanmaa Åland Mariehamn 1,553 29,884

Former regional borders

 

Number Coat of Arms Name Official English name[7] Finnish name Swedish name Capital Dissolution (date)
20   Eastern Uusimaa Itä-Uusimaa Itä-Uusimaa[8] Östra Nyland Porvoo January 1, 2011

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Northern Sami: eanangoddi, Inari Sami: eennâmkodde, and Skolt Sami: mäddkåʹdd.[1]

References

  1. ^ "Sátnegirjjit, Dictionaries of Finnish, Swedish, the Sami Languages, English and Russian". dicts.uit.no. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Historiallinen maakuntahallinto opetti valtiota". Yle uutiset. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Health and social services reform". Finnish Government. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Suomen hallintorakenteeseen ja maakuntauudistukseen liittyviä termejä sekä maakuntien ja kuntien nimet fi-sv-en-(ru)" (PDF). vnk.fi. p. 8–9. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  5. ^ Tilastokeskus. "Population". www.stat.fi.
  6. ^ The role that the regional councils serve on Mainland Finland are, in Åland, handled by the autonomous Government of Åland.
  7. ^ "Regions of Finland 2010". Statistics Finland. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  8. ^ "Valtioneuvosto päätti Uudenmaan ja Itä-Uudenmaan maakuntien yhdistämisestä" (in Finnish). Ministry of Finance. October 22, 2009. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
 
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