Regions of Finland

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Finland comprises 19 regions called maakunta in Finnish and landskap in Swedish. The regions are governed by regional councils, which serve as forums of cooperation for the municipalities of a region. The main tasks of the regions are regional planning and development of enterprise and education. In addition, the public health services are usually organized on the basis of regions. Currently, the only region where a popular election is held for the council is Kainuu. Other regional councils are elected by municipal councils, each municipality sending representatives in proportion to its population.

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.

Regions represent dialectal, cultural and economic variations better than the former provinces, which were purely administrative divisions of the central government. Historically, regions are divisions of historical provinces of Finland, areas which represent dialects and culture more accurately.

Regions

Coat of Arms English name Finnish name Swedish name Capital Map
Lapland Lappi Lappland Rovaniemi
Regions of Finland
(the borders of historical provinces are shown in grey)
Northern Ostrobothnia Pohjois-Pohjanmaa Norra Österbotten Oulu
Kainuu Kainuu Kajanaland Kajaani
North Karelia Pohjois-Karjala Norra Karelen Joensuu
Northern Savonia Pohjois-Savo Norra Savolax Kuopio
Southern Savonia Etelä-Savo Södra Savolax Mikkeli
Southern Ostrobothnia Etelä-Pohjanmaa Södra Österbotten Seinäjoki
Central Ostrobothnia Keski-Pohjanmaa Mellersta Österbotten Kokkola
Ostrobothnia Pohjanmaa Österbotten Vaasa
Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa Birkaland Tampere
Central Finland Keski-Suomi Mellersta Finland Jyväskylä
Satakunta Satakunta Satakunda Pori
Southwest Finland Varsinais-Suomi Egentliga Finland Turku
South Karelia Etelä-Karjala Södra Karelen Lappeenranta
Päijät-Häme Päijät-Häme Päijänne Tavastland Lahti
Tavastia Proper Kanta-Häme Egentliga Tavastland Hämeenlinna
Uusimaa Uusimaa Nyland Helsinki
Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso Kymmenedalen Kotka, Kouvola
Åland[1] Ahvenanmaa Åland Mariehamn

The region of Eastern Uusimaa was consolidated with Uusimaa on January 1, 2011.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The role that the regional councils serve on Mainland Finland are, in Åland, handled by the autonomous Government of Åland.
  2. ↑ "Valtioneuvosto päätti Uudenmaan ja Itä-Uudenmaan maakuntien yhdistämisestä" (in Finnish). Ministry of Finance. October 22, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2010.

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