| Lapland Lapin maakunta Lapplands landskap |
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| — Region — | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Finland | ||
| Capital | Rovaniemi | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 98,984 km2 (38,217.9 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| • Total | 184,000 | ||
| • Density | 1.9/km2 (4.8/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | LL | ||
| NUTS | |||
| Website | lapinliitto.fi | ||
Lapland (Finnish: Lappi; Northern Sami: Lappi; Swedish: Lappland) is the largest and northernmost of the regions of Finland. The municipalities in the province cooperate in a Regional Council. It borders the Region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Finnmark County and Troms County in Norway as well as Murmansk Oblast in Russia.
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Lapland was separated from Oulu Province in 1936. After the Second World War, the Petsamo and Salla areas were ceded to the Soviet Union. Under the royalist constitution of Finland during the first half of 1918, Lapland was to become a Grand Principality and part of the inheritance of the proposed king of Finland.
Lapland was one of the provinces of Finland, until the provinces were abolished on January 1, 2010.[1]
Lapland is the home of about 3.6% of Finland's population, and is by far the least densely populated area in the country. The biggest towns in Lapland are Rovaniemi (the regional capital), Kemi, and Tornio. In 2009, Lapland had a population of 183,748 of whom 179,070 spoke Finnish, 1,473 spoke Sami, 338 spoke Swedish and 2,867 spoke some other languages as their mother language.[2] Of the Sami languages Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami are spoken in the region.
The State Provincial Office was a joint regional authority of seven different ministries. It promoted national and regional objectives of the State central administration.
The 21 municipalities of Lapland are organised into a single Region, where they cooperate in the Lapland Regional Council, Lapin liitto or Lapplands förbund.
Results of the Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 in Lapland:
The northermost municipalities of Lapland where the Sami people are the most numerous, form the Sami Domicile Area. Sami organization exists in parallel with the provincial one.
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The Regional Council of Lapland uses the Finnish variation of the coat of arms for Laponia. The coat of arms for the Province of Lapland was composed out of the coats of arms of Laponia and Ostrobothnia.
Most of the gold used to mint Finnish gold coins comes from Lapland. Lapland itself has been the main motif for a recent commemorative coin, the Finish First Finnish gold euro commemorative coin, minted in 2002. On the reverse side, the midnight sun above a lake in Lapland can be observed.
| Regional flower - Finnish - Latin |
Globe-flower - Kullero - Trollius europaeus |
| Regional bird | Bluethroat |
| Regional fish | Salmon |
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