Provinces of Finland information

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Politics of Finland
State Constitution Declaration of Independence Human rights Law enforcement Military
Executive President (list) Sauli Niinistö Prime Minister (list) Sanna Marin Government Ministries (list)
Legislative Parliament Speaker: Matti Vanhanen
Judiciary General Courts Supreme Court Courts of Appeal District Courts Administrative Courts Supreme Administrative Court Regional Administrative Courts Prosecutor General Chancellor of Justice
Recent elections Presidential: 2006 2012 2018 Parliamentary: 2011 2015 2019 European: 2014 2019 2024
Political parties Social Democratic Party (SDP) Finns Party (PS) National Coalition Party (KOK) Centre Party (KESK) Green League (VIHR) Left Alliance (VAS) Swedish People's Party (RKP) Christian Democrats (KD) Movement Now (LIIK)
Administrative divisions Regions (Maakunnat, Landskap) Sub-regions (Seutukunnat, Ekonomiska regioner) Municipalities (Kunnat, Kommuner)
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Pekka Haavisto Diplomatic missions of / in Finland Ambassadors Politics of the European Union
Finland portal Other countries
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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 läänis are split into multiple regions. Åland retains its special autonomous status and its own regional parliament.