Regions of Finland

	This article is part of the; Subdivisions of Finland series
	Provinces Governors
	Regions
	Sub-regions Local districts
	Municipalities list list by population list by area
	NUTS:FI ISO 3166-2:FI

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Regions of Finland

Finland is divided into 20 regions (Finnish: maakunta; Swedish: landskap). 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, each region has a state Employment and Economic Development Centre, which is responsible for the local administration of labour, agriculture, fisheries, forestry and entrepreneurial affairs. 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 provinces, which are purely administrative divisions of the central government. Historically, regions are divisions of historical provinces of Finland, areas which represent dialects and culture more accurately.

[edit] Regions

Lapland (Lappi / Lappland)
Northern Ostrobothnia (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa / Norra Österbotten)
Kainuu (Kainuu / Kajanaland)
North Karelia (Pohjois-Karjala / Norra Karelen)
Northern Savonia (Pohjois-Savo / Norra Savolax)
Southern Savonia (Etelä-Savo / Södra Savolax)
Southern Ostrobothnia (Etelä-Pohjanmaa / Södra Österbotten)
Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa / Österbotten), also disambiguated as "coastal region of Vaasa" (Vaasan rannikkoseutu)
Pirkanmaa (Pirkanmaa / Birkaland)
Satakunta (Satakunta / Satakunda)
Central Ostrobothnia (Keski-Pohjanmaa / Mellersta Österbotten)
Central Finland (Keski-Suomi / Mellersta Finland)
Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland)
South Karelia (Etelä-Karjala / Södra Karelen)
Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme / Päijänne Tavastland)
Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme / Egentliga Tavastland)
Uusimaa (Uusimaa / Nyland)
Eastern Uusimaa (Itä-Uusimaa / Östra Nyland)
Kymenlaakso (Kymenlaakso / Kymmenedalen)
Åland Islands^[1] (Ahvenanmaa / Åland)