Eastern Finland Province

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.

Eastern Finland Itä-Suomen lääni Östra Finlands län
Coat of arms
Country	Finland
Established	September 1, 1997
Abolished	January 1, 2010
Capital	Mikkeli
Largest city	Savonlinna
Government
• Governor	Pirjo Ala-Kapee
Area
• Total	48,726 km2 (18,813 sq mi)
Population  (December 31, 2009)
• Total	569,832
• Density	12/km2 (30/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code	IS
NUTS code	13

History

For history, geography, and culture, see Savonia (historical province) and Karelia (historical province of Finland).

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

All the provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010.^[2]

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.

Regions

Main article: Regions of Eastern Finland

Eastern Finland was divided into three regions:

• North Karelia (Pohjois-Karjala / Norra Karelen)
• Northern Savonia (Pohjois-Savo / Norra Savolax)
• Southern Savonia (Etelä-Savo / Södra Savolax)

Municipalities in 2009 (cities in bold)

Eastern Finland was divided into 54 municipalities in 2009.

• Enonkoski
• Heinävesi
• Hirvensalmi
• Iisalmi
• Ilomantsi
• Joensuu
• Joroinen
• Juankoski
• Juuka
• Juva
• Kaavi
• Kangasniemi
• Karttula
• Keitele
• Kerimäki
• Kesälahti
• Kitee
• Kiuruvesi
• Kontiolahti
• Kuopio
• Lapinlahti
• Leppävirta
• Lieksa
• Liperi
• Maaninka
• Mikkeli
• Mäntyharju
• Nilsiä
• Nurmes
• Outokumpu
• Pertunmaa
• Pieksämäki
• Pielavesi
• Polvijärvi
• Punkaharju
• Puumala
• Rantasalmi
• Rautalampi
• Rautavaara
• Ristiina
• Rääkkylä
• Savonlinna
• Siilinjärvi
• Sonkajärvi
• Sulkava
• Suonenjoki
• Tervo
• Tohmajärvi
• Tuusniemi
• Valtimo
• Varkaus
• Varpaisjärvi
• Vesanto
• Vieremä

Former municipalities (disestablished before 2009)

• Anttola
• Eno
• Haukivuori
• Jäppilä
• Kangaslampi
• Kiihtelysvaara
• Mikkelin mlk
• Pieksämäen mlk
• Pieksänmaa
• Pyhäselkä
• Savonranta
• Tuupovaara
• Vehmersalmi
• Virtasalmi
• Värtsilä

Governors

• Pirjo Ala-Kapee 1997–2009^[3][4]

Heraldry

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