Southern Finland Province

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

Southern Finland Province Etelä-Suomen lääni Södra Finlands län
Coat of arms
Country	Finland
Established	September 1, 1997
Abolished	January 1, 2010
Capital	Hämeenlinna
Largest city	Helsinki
Government
• Governor	Anneli Taina
Area
• Total	34,378 km2 (13,273 sq mi)
Population  (December 31, 2009)
• Total	2,209,677
• Density	64.276/km2 (166.47/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 code	ES
NUTS code	18

History

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

On September 1, 1997 the Uusimaa Province, the Kymi Province and the southern parts of the Häme Province were joined to form the new Southern Finland Province.

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

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. The State Provincial Office of Southern Finland employed about 380 persons. Its service offices were located in the cities of Hämeenlinna, Helsinki, and Kouvola. The administrative seat was placed at Hämeenlinna.

Regions

Main article: Regions of Southern Finland

Southern Finland was divided into six regions:

• South Karelia (Etelä-Karjala / Södra Karelen)
• Päijät-Häme (Päijät-Häme / Päijänne Tavastland)
• Kanta-Häme (Kanta-Häme / Egentliga Tavastland)
• Uusimaa (Uusimaa / Nyland)
• Eastern Uusimaa (Itä-Uusimaa / Östra Nyland)
• Kymenlaakso (Kymenlaakso / Kymmenedalen)

Municipalities in 2009 (cities in bold)

Southern Finland was divided into 72 municipalities in 2009.

• Artjärvi
• Asikkala
• Askola
• Espoo
• Forssa
• Hamina
• Hanko
• Hartola
• Hattula
• Hausjärvi
• Heinola
• Helsinki
• Hollola
• Humppila
• Hyvinkää
• Hämeenkoski
• Hämeenlinna
• Iitti
• Imatra
• Ingå
• Janakkala
• Jokioinen
• Järvenpää
• Karjalohja
• Karkkila
• Kauniainen
• Kerava
• Kirkkonummi
• Kotka
• Kouvola
• Kärkölä
• Lahti
• Lapinjärvi
• Lappeenranta
• Lemi
• Liljendal
• Lohja
• Loppi
• Loviisa
• Luumäki
• Miehikkälä
• Myrskylä
• Mäntsälä
• Nastola
• Nummi-Pusula
• Nurmijärvi
• Orimattila
• Padasjoki
• Parikkala
• Pernå
• Pornainen
• Porvoo
• Pukkila
• Pyhtää
• Raseborg
• Rautjärvi
• Riihimäki
• Ruokolahti
• Ruotsinpyhtää
• Savitaipale
• Sipoo
• Siuntio
• Suomenniemi
• Sysmä
• Taipalsaari
• Tammela
• Tuusula
• Vantaa
• Vihti
• Virolahti
• Ylämaa
• Ypäjä

Former municipalities (disestablished before 2009)

• Anjalankoski
• Ekenäs
• Elimäki
• Hauho
• Jaala
• Joutseno
• Kalvola
• Karis
• Kuusankoski
• Lammi
• Pohja
• Renko
• Saari
• Sammatti
• Tuulos
• Uukuniemi
• Valkeala
• Vehkalahti

Governors

• Tuula Linnainmaa 1997-2003
• Anneli Taina 2003-2009

Heraldry

The coat of arms of Southern Finland was composed of the arms of Häme (Tavastia), Karelia and Uusimaa.