Western Finland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Province of Western Finland is a province of Finland. It borders the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland.

**Länsi-Suomen lääni**
**Västra Finlands län**

Province	FI-LS
Residence city	Turku
Governor	Rauno Saari
Historical provinces	Finland Proper Satakunda Ostrobothnia
Regions	Finland Proper Central Finland Pirkanmaa Satakunta Central Ostrobothnia Ostrobothnia Southern Ostrobothnia
Area - Total	Ranked 2nd 74,185 km²
Population - Total (2002) - Density	Ranked 2nd 1,839,581 24,8/km²

Map highlighting the location of the Province of Western Finland

1 Historical Provinces
2 Administration
3 Regions
4 Heraldry
5 External links

[edit] Historical Provinces

For History, Geography and Culture see: Finland Proper, Satakunta and Ostrobothnia

In the 1997 redesign that reduced their number of provinces from 12 to 6 the Turku ja Pori province, Vaasa province, Central-Finland province and the northern parts of Häme province formed the new province of Western Finland.

[edit] Administration

Main article: Western Finland State Provincial Office

The Western Finland State Provincial Office is a joint regional administrative authority of seven ministries. The State Provincial Office serves at five localities; the main office is in Turku, regional service offices are located in Jyväskylä, Tampere and Vaasa, and finally there is an office in Pori. The State Provincial Office is led by Governor Rauno Saari. Approximately 350 persons work at the State Provincial Office. The agency is divided into eight departments.