Eastern Finland (Finnish: Itä-Suomen lääni, Swedish: Östra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east.

History

On September 1, 1997, the Mikkeli Province, the Kuopio Province and Northern Karelia Province were joined to form the new Eastern Finland Province.

All the provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010.

Administration

The State Provincial Office was a joint regional authority of seven different ministries. It promoted national and regional objectives of the State central administration. Eastern Finland State Provincial Office had branch offices in Mikkeli, Joensuu, and Kuopio.

Subdivisions

At the time of its abolition, the Province of Eastern Finland was composed of three regions:

These regions were further divided into a total of 11 subregions and 54 municipalities. In the list below, the municipalities that designate themselves as cities or towns (Finnish: kaupunki, Swedish: stad) are shown in bold.

North Karelia

Joensuu sub-region

Central Karelia

Pielinen Karelia

North Savo

Upper Savo

Kuopio sub-region

Northeast Savo

Varkaus sub-region

Inner Savo

South Savo

Mikkeli sub-region

Pieksämäki sub-region

Savonlinna sub-region

Former municipalities (disestablished before 2009)

Governors

Heraldry

The coat of arms of Eastern Finland was composed of the arms of Savo and Karelia.

External links

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