Historical provinces of Finland

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Historical provinces of Finland(the borders of modern provinces with pink colour)
Historical provinces of Finland
(the borders of modern provinces with pink colour)

The historical provinces (Finnish: historialliset maakunnat, singular historiallinen maakunta, Swedish: historiska landskap) of Finland is a legacy of the country's joint history with Sweden. The provinces ceased to be an administrative entity already in 1634 when they were superseded by the Counties, a reform which remained in force in Finland until 1997. The provinces remain as a tradition, but have no administrative function today. The spread of dialects of Finnish language approximately follow their borders.

First name in the parentheses is the Finnish name and the second is the Swedish.

Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi, Egentliga Finland)
Karelia (Karjala, Karelen)
Laponia (Lappi, Lappland)
Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa, Österbotten)
Satakunta (Satakunta, Satakunda)
Savonia (Savo, Savolax)
Tavastia (Häme, Tavastland)
Uusimaa (Uusimaa, Nyland)
Åland (Ahvenanmaa, Åland)

[edit] Heraldry

At the funeral of King Gustav Vasa in 1560 the coats of arms for the provinces were displayed together for the first time and several of them had been granted for that particular occasion. After the separation of Finland from Sweden in 1809 the traditions for the provincial arms has somewhat diverged. Finland maintains the distinction between Ducal and Countal dignity shown in the coronets for arms of the historical provinces while all the Swedish provinces carry the Swedish style Dukal coronet since 1884. The division of Lapland also necessitated a distinction between the Finnish and the Swedish coats arms.

During the reign of king Karl IX there was emigration from Savo to the western parts of Sweden and eastern Norway, to the Finnskogen or "Finnish forest." The dialect was preserved in an old form in this areas until the last speakers died in the 1960s.

The coats of arms of the historical provinces has served as a basis for the arms of newer administrative divisions.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links