Finland

The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavalta Swedish: Republiken Finland) is a Nordic country in northeastern Europe, bounded by the Baltic Sea to the southwest, the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west. Finland has land frontiers with Sweden, Norway and Russia. The Åland Islands, off the southwestern coast, are under Finnish sovereignty while enjoying extensive autonomy. The Finnish name for Finland is Suomi; in Swedish it is Finland. The Latin language name is Fennia. Finland has a population of only five million people in three hundred thousand square kilometres,

Provinces

Main articles: Provinces of Finland, Historical provinces of Finland

Related Topics:
Provinces of Finland - Historical provinces of Finland

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Today, Finland has 6 administrative provinces (lääni, pl. läänit) The province authority is part of the executive branch of the national government; a system that had not changed drastically since its creation in 1634 to the new division to "greater provinces" in 1997. Since then, the six provinces are:

Related Topics:
6 administrative provinces - Pl. - 1634 - 1997

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• Southern Finland
• Western Finland
• Eastern Finland
• Oulu
• Lapland
• Åland

The Åland Islands enjoy a degree of autonomy. According to international treaties and Finnish laws, the regional government for Åland handles some matters which belong to the province authority in Mainland Finland.

Related Topics:
Åland Islands - Autonomy - Mainland Finland

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Another kind of provinces are those echoing the pattern of colonisation of Finland. Dialects, folklore, customs and people's feeling of affiliation are associated with these historical provinces of Finland, although the re-settlement of 420,000 Karelians during World War II and urbanization in the latter half of the 20th century have made differences less pronounced.

Related Topics:
Dialect - Folklore - Custom - Historical provinces of Finland - Karelia - World War II - Urbanization - 20th century

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Local government is further organised in 432 (1.1.2005) municipalities of Finland. Since 1977, no legal or administrative distinction is made between towns, cities and other municipalities. The municipalities co-operate in 20 regions of Finland.

Related Topics:
Municipalities of Finland - 1977 - Towns - Regions of Finland

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