| Province of Oulu Oulun lääni Uleåborgs län | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County ofSweden 1775–1809 Province ofGrand Duchy of Finland 1809–1917 Province of independentFinland 1917–2009 | |||||||
| 1775–2009 | |||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||
 Province of Oulu (in red) | |||||||
| Capital | Oulu | ||||||
| Area | |||||||
• 1 January 1993 | 61,582 km2 (23,777 sq mi) | ||||||
• 31 December 2009 | 61,582 km2 (23,777 sq mi) | ||||||
| Population | |||||||
• 1 January 1993 | 445,706 | ||||||
• 31 December 2009 | 471,774 | ||||||
| History | |||||||
• Established | 1775 | ||||||
• Disestablished | 2009 | ||||||
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Oulu Province (Finnish:Oulun lääni,Swedish:Uleåborgs län,Russian:Губерния О́улу) was aprovince ofFinland from 1775 to 2009. It bordered the provinces ofLapland,Western Finland andEastern Finland and also theGulf of Bothnia and Russia.
The Province of Oulu was established in 1775 when Finland was an integrated part of Sweden from the northern part ofOstrobothnia County. The new province was named after its administrative seat ofOulu.
As a consequence of the tumultuous conflicts of theNapoleonic Wars,Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire,United Kingdom and the other parties of theFourth Coalition againstNapoleonic France. However, following the treaty ofTreaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France and left the coalition. This enabled Russia in 1808 to challenge Sweden in theFinnish War, over the control of Finland. In theTreaty of Fredrikshamn on 17 September 1809 Sweden was obliged to cede all its territory in Finland, to Russia.
The ceded territories became a part of the Russian Empire and were reconstituted into the Grand Duchy of Finland, with the Russian Tsar as Grand Duke. The Province of Oulu was expanded in 1809 with the parts of theVästerbotten County (eastern part of theTorne Valley and historicalLapland).
After Finland became independent from Russia, in 1917, there were no changes in Oulu Province until 1938, when the northern part was split off and established as theLapland Province.
All the provinces of Finland were abolished on 1 January 2010.[1]
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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 Province of Oulu was divided into two regions:
The Province of Oulu was divided into 43municipalities in 2009.
Formerprovinces of Finland | ||
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In parentheses are years when provinces were established and disestablished. | ||
| 1634–1775 |
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| 1775–1831 |
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| 1831–1918 | ||
| 1918–1997 |
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| 1997–2009 |
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