SUOMI •
FINLAND
Provinces
A carving on the wall of Pori’s Old Apothecary
(The Market Apothecary). On
the breast of the two-headed Russian eagle is Finland’s arms without the crown;
on its wings are the arms of the eight Provinces of Finland. (The Satakunta
Museum, Pori. Sculptor unknown) In the 16th century Finland was divided into duchies. The provincial
system was established in 1634 by the creation of the provinces ofTurku and Pori, Nyland and Häme, Pohjanmaa, Viipuri and
Savo and Kexholm (Käkisalmen lääni)
which comprised the former duchies. In thge course of kthe centuries the provinces underwent several
changes in border and name, particularly after the loss of territory in the
Swedish-Russian wars of the 18th century. In
particular the eastern border has fluctuated considerably The provinces
were abolished altogether effectively on 1 January 2010. The state
administration has two local hierarchies now, ely-keskus and aluehallintovirasto.
Six Regional State Administrative Agencies (aluehallintovirasto,
regionförvaltningsverk, abbr. avi) – in addition to the Government of Åland – are primarily
responsible for law enforcement: Southern
Finland, Eastern Finland,
South-Western
Finland, Western
and Central Finland, Northern
Finland and Lapland. Among these, South-Western Finland and
Western and Central Finland cover the former province of Western Finland, and
the former province of Oulu was recreated as Northern Finland. Other old
provincial boundaries remain much the same in the new disposition. There are
15 agencies which are responsible for employment, road and transport
infrastructure, and environmental monitoring. |
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Åland
/ Ahvenanmaan lääni / Ålands län |
1918-2009 |
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Capital: Mariehamn Had a special status: even though the province was discontinued at the end of 2009 along with the others, there was (and still is) a coextensive "maakunta" (a translation of "province" with a slightly different meaning from the usual) that is semi-autonomous and demilitarized by international treaties The deer of Åland by Dahlberg, 1699 Arms: A deer Or, hoofed proper, collared set with
jewels Or. The arms occur for the first time on an
epitaph of 1593 and was then of the Swedish isle of Öland which received Azure,
strewn with roses two elks Or instead. Arms of Åland Stained glass window by Eric O.W. Ehrström National Museet Aland Police Logo Sleeve Patch |
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Central Finland
/ Keski-Suomen lääni / Mellersta Finlands län |
1960-1997 |
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Capital: Jyväskylä Split off from the Provinces of Vaasa, Häme, Mikkeli and Kuopio Merged into the Province of Western Finland |
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Eastern Finland
/ Itä-Suomen lääni / Östra Finlands län |
1997-2009 |
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Capital: Mikkeli Merged from Provinces of Kuopio, Northern Karelia and Mikkeli (part) The arms of the province of Eastern Finland are
the arms of former Kuopio but, because the historical duchy of Karelia used
to be the more important of the two, its blason was placed on the first
(dexter) place. |
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Häme /
Hämeen lääni / Tavastehus län |
1831-1997 |
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Capital: Hämeenlinna Created by splitting the Province of Nyland and Tavastehus merged into the Provinces of Southern Finland and Western Finland The oldest
representation of the arms of Tavastehus are in a manuscript from about
1550-1561. It shows a lynx. Arms of Tavastehus by Margaretha Gripin, 1560 |
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Arms on the monument of Gustav Vasa, 1581 |
Arms of
H.G. Ströhl 1903 |
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Arms: Gules a lynx passant proper, between in chief three six-pointed
stars and in base three/four roses Argent. |
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Kexholm / Käkisalmen lääni /
Kexholms län |
1634-1721 |
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Capital: Kexholm One of the original provinces formed in 1634 |
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Kuopio
/ Kuopion lääni / Kuopio län |
1831-1997 |
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Capital: Kuopio Former Province of Savolax and Karelia merged into the Province of Eastern Finland |
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Arms: Per pale of Savolax
and Karelia. |
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Kymi / Kymen lääni / Kymmene
län |
1945-1997 |
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Capital: Kouvola Created from the part of the Province of Viipuri that remained on the Finnish side of the border which Russia merged into the Province of Southern Finland |
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Kymmenegård
/Kymenkartanon lääni / Kymmenegårds län |
1775-1831 |
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Capital: Heinola Split off from the Province of Savolax and Kymmenegård |
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Arms of
Kexholm emboidered for the funeral procession of 1660 Coll. Livrustkammaren, Stockholm |
Arms of Kexholm,
19th cent. The
exploding grenades replaced by stars |
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Savonlinnan ja Kymenkartanon lääni
Kymmenegårds och Nyslotts län |
1721-1747 |
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Capital: Lappeenranta former Province of Viborg and Nyslott |
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Lapland
/ Lapin lääni / Lapplands län |
1938-2009 |
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Capital: Rovaniemi Split off from the Province of Oulu |
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Arms of Lapland by Dahlberg, 1699 |
Arms of the Province of Lapland, 1997 |
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Arms: Gules, a
savage with a crown and a loin cloth of oak-leaves, proper,
shouldering a club Or. The arms are known from a coin minted 1660. The arms of the province of 1997 are parted
per pale of Lapland and Osterbotten, the savage coloured Argent instead of
proper. |
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Mikkeli /
Mikkelin lääni / St. Michels län |
1831-1997 |
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Capital: Mikkeli former Province of Kymmenegård merged into the Provinces of Eastern Finland and Southern Finland The arms of the province are the arms
of former Karelia |
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Northern Karelia /
Pohjois-Karjalan lääni / Norra Karelens län |
1960-1997 |
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Capital: Joensuu Split off from the Province of Kuopio merged into the Province of Eastern Finland Northern Karelia had the arms of Karelia |
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Nyland and Tavastehus /
Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni / Nylands och Tavastehus län |
1634-1831 |
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Capital: Helsinki / Hämeenlinna One of the original provinces formed in 1634 Æ Uusimaa |
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1634-1775 |
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Capital: Oulu / Vaasa One of the original provinces of 1634 Arms: Azure, six ermines
passant proper 2, 2 and 2. The first arms of Osterbotten in a
manuscript from 1550 showed a marten. The present arms with the six ermines
are known from a coin of John III minted 1576.
Early representations of the arms of Osterbothnia Left: B.N. Paris, Ms. lat. 18410, fol. 27 a, 1562 Right: Johan Petri
Klint Ms., 1560 [1] Double golden rosenoble, 1585-‘86 The arms with the six ermines of
Osterbothnia at ten past half. |
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Arms by Dahlberg, 1699 |
Arms by H.G. Ströhl 1903 |
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Oulu / Oulun lääni /
Uleåborgs län |
1775-2009 |
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Capital: Oulu Split off from the province of Ostrobothnia The boundaries of the Province of Oulu
remained unchanged in 1997. The arms are: Arms: Per pale of
Osterbothnia and Azure, a two-towered castle Or opened Gules for Kajaani. Crown: A ducal crown. The castle refers to the old, now ruined,
castle in the city of Kajaani. |
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Petsamo /
Petsamon lääni / Petsamo län |
1921 |
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Capital: Pechenga The province
was established in 1921 when Bolshevist Russia ceded the area of Pechenga to
Finland. In 1922, it was merged with the province of Oulu. In 1938, Lapland
was separated from the province of Oulu and Petsamo also became part of the
new province. The whole of the former province was then ceded to the Soviet
Union in 1944. Original of the grant of arms of Petsamo, 27.01.1921 Petsamo became a province of Finland on 27 january 1921 and
it was granted a coat of arms on the same day. The arms are: Arms: Sable, three stockfish Or Crest: Fructed blueberry twigs sprouting from
the upper rim of the shield, proper. The arms were designed by the artist E.O.W. Ehrström (1881-1934). The province however, was abolished before the
arms could be taken into use. The arms were later adopted by the municipality
of Pechenga. |
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North Finland / Satakunta |
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The first arms of North Finland (Nörrafinlandh) showed a (running) bear
passant between two 8-pointed stars in chief and the letter S (of Satakunta)
in base. It is in a manuscript dated 1560 which also shows the arms of
Upland, Ingermanland, Gelsingaland, Westerbotnia and Osterbotnia. In 1557 the
arms of North Finland are descibed as: Per fess Azure and Or, in chief two
six-pointed stars Argent and a bear rampant proper with a sword in his
forepaws. Å Leaf from the manuscript of Ö. Stenby for curate Johan Petri Klint,
1560. |
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Arms on the monument of Gustav Vasa, 1581 |
Arms by Dahlberg, 1699 |
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Savolax and Karelia /
Savon ja Karjalan lääni / Savolax och Karelens län |
1775-1831 |
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Capital: Kuopio Split off from the Province of Savolax and Kymmenegård. Became Küopio Province in 1831 |
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Savolax and Kymmenegård /
Kymenkartanon ja Savon lääni / Savolax och Kymmenegårds län |
1747-1775 |
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Capital: Loviisa Former Province of Kymmenegård and Nyslott Savolax Arms: Sable, a bow-and-arrow per bend Argent, the point and feathers of the
arrow Or. The arms are known
from a coin minted 1576. |
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Southern Finland /
Etelä-Suomen lääni / Södra Finlands län |
1997-2009 |
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Capital: Hämeenlinna Merged from Provinces of Uusimaa, Kymi, Häme (part) and Mikkeli (part) Southern Finland had a coat of arms per pale of Häme and Karelia and a
bas of Nyland |
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Arms on the monument of Gustav Vasa, 1581 |
Arms by Dahlberg, 1699 |
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Turku and Pori
/ Turun ja Porin lääni / Åbo och
Björneborgs län |
1634–1997 |
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Capital: Turku One of the original provinces formed in 1634, though parts were split off since the. Merged into the Province of Western Finland Arms: Tierced per pile embowed of Southern
Finland, Northern Finland and Aland. |
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Uusimaa
/ Uudenmaan lääni / Nylands län |
1831-1997 |
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Capital: Helsinki Created by splitting the Province of Nyland and Tavastehus. Merged into the Province of Southern Finland |
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Arms of
Nyland emboidered for the funeral processions in
1633 (left) and 1660 (right) Coll. Livrustkammaren, Stockholm |
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Arms by Dahlberg, 1669 |
Arms by H.G. Ströhl 1903 |
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Vaasa
/ Vaasan lääni / Vasa län / |
1775-1997 |
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Capital: Vaasa Split off from the Province of Ostrobothnia merged into the Province of Western Finland The Province of Vaasa was created in
1775 from the southern part of Ostrobothnia County and disbanded in 1996.
The province was named after the city of Vaasa and the royal
house of Sweden. On the death of
Tsar Nicholas I in 1855, the name of the city was changed to
Nikolaistad. This also meant that the
Vaasa Province was called Nikolaistad Province, after 1855. In 1862 a large group
of citizens in the city unsuccessfully petitioned to have the old name
restored. The new name remained official until 1917, but colloquially the old
name continued in use. |
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Arms of Vaasa Province by H.G. Ströhl, 1903 |
Vaasa |
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In 1960 the
eastern part was separated as the Province of Central Finland. In 1997 it
was reunited with Central Finland, together they merged with the northern part
of the Province of Häme and the Province of Turku and Pori to
establish the new Province of Western
Finland. The former
province corresponds to the current regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia and Southern Ostrobothnia. |
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1812-1947 |
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Capital: Vyborg In the Swedish era Karelia, a territory between the river Kymijoki in the west and the Sestra and Volchya Rivers in the east. The duchy was a bone of contest between Sweden and Russia for centuries and suffered many changes of name. In 1744 it became the Russian Vyborg Governorate and was transferred as the Province of Viipuri to the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812 Most of its area was lost to the Soviet Union in World War II, and is a part of St. Petersburg Oblast now, the remainder becoming the Province of Kymi (disappearing in 1997) The first
Vyborg Castle was founded during the so-called "Third Swedish Crusade" in 1293 by
marshal Torkel Knutsson. The castle was fought over for
decades between Sweden and the Novgorod Republic. By the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323, Vyborg was finally
recognized as a part of Sweden. Under Swedish
rule, Vyborg was closely associated with the noble family of Bååt,
originally from Småland. The late-medieval commanders and fief holders of
Vyborg were (almost always) descended from or married to the Bååt family. Vyborg, the
main city of Karelia remained in Swedish hands until its capture in 1710
after the Siege of Vyborg by Tsar Peter the Great in the Great Northern War.
In the course of Peter's second administrative reform, Vyborg became the seat
of Vyborg Province of St. Petersburg Governorate. The 1721 Treaty of
Nystad, which concluded the war with Sweden, finalized the transfer of the
town and a part of Old Finland, the areas that Russia gained from Sweden
in the Great Northern War and in the Russo-Swedish War (1741–‘43), to Russia.
In 1744, Vyborg
became the seat of Vyborg Governorate. In 1783, the governorate
was transformed into Vyborg Viceroyalty, then in 1801 back into Vyborg
Governorate. In 1802, Vyborg Governorate was renamed Finland Governorate. In
1812 it was transferred as Viipuri
Province from Russia proper to the Grand Duchy of Finland. Following the
Russian Revolution of 1917 and the fall of the Russian Empire, Finland
declared itself independent. During the Finnish Civil War, Vyborg was in the
hands of the Finnish Red Guards until it was captured by
the White Guard on April 29, 1918. In the
inter-war decades, the town was known as Viipuri, In 1939 the Finnish Democratic Republic
was established on its territory. The Moscow Peace Treaty, stipulated the transfer
of Vyborg and the whole Karelian Isthmus to Soviet control, where it was
incorporated into the Karelo-Finnish Soviet
Socialist Republic on March 31, 1940. The town became the
administrative center of Vyborgsky District. On
August 29, 1941, Vyborg was recaptured by Finnish troops and, soon
after, the Government of Finland formally annexed it along with the other
areas lost in the Moscow Peace Treaty. In the subsequent Moscow Armistice of
September 19, 1944, Finland returned to the borders set by the Moscow Peace
Treaty and ceded more land than the treaty originally demanded. In the 1947
Paris Peace treaties, Finland relinquished all claims to Viipuri/Vyborg. After the
Winter War, Leningrad Oblast wanted to incorporate the area of Vyborg, but it
took until November 1944 for it to be finally transferred from the
Karelo-Finnish SSR. The Kymi Province (Kymen lääni, Kymmene län) was a
province of Finland from 1945 to 1997. The Kymi Province
was the remainder of the territory from the Viipuri Province after the main
part was left to Russia at the Moscow Armistice in 1944. By the Paris Peace
Treaty in 1947 territories on the Karelian Isthmus and around of the Lake
Ladoga were formally ceded to the Soviet Union. In 1997 the
Kymi Province was merged with the Uusimaa Province and the southern parts of
the Häme Province into the Southern Finland Province. The arms The oldest representation of the arms of Karelia
are in a manuscript from 1562. They are: Arms: Gules, two arms opposing, the one on the dexter in
armor, swinging a sword, the one on the sinister in coat of mail swinging a
sabre all proper. In the time of John III a crown was added in
chief |
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B.N. Paris, Ms. lat. 18410, fol. 27 a, 1562 |
Arms on the monument of Gustav Vasa, 1581 |
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Arms of Karelia designed for
the funeral of Gustavus II Adolphus, 1633. |
Arms of Karelia by Dahlberg, 1699 |
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After 1744 the arms for the russian part of Karelia, then called Vyborg
Governorate the arms of Karelia were augmented with another crown, being the
Imperial Crown of Russia. These arms symbolize “Karelia under the Imperial
crown” as the western part of the
duchy had become a part of Savolax and
Karelia in 1775. As the arms were of the Russian part, formerly symbolized by
the sinister arm in coat of mail, both opposing arms were dressed in coat of
mail now. These arms with the Imperial
crown occurred at the end of the 18th century when Vyborg Governorate had
been made the Viceroyalty of Vyborg in 1783. |
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Arms of Vyborg Viceroyalty In
the Atlas of Vyborg Governorate, 1797 |
Arms of Vyborg Viceroyalty,
1800 ca on a leaf with the note: Герб карелской опредљленной для Висборгской Губернїи (Arms of Karelia appointed for Vyborg Governorate) |
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Arms of
Karelia In: The Manifesto on the
Complete Arms of the All-Russian Empire, 1800 These arms were also in the 10th quarter of
the larger imperial arms of Paul I. [2] After Vyborg Governorate/Finland Governorate had been transferred to the Grand
Duchy of Finland as Vyborg Province in 1812, the arms of the city of Vyborg
were made the arms of the province. These arms go
back to the seal of the city dated 1403. In the course of history it came to
be supported by two angels. |
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Seal of Viborg, 1403 |
Arms of Vyborg Province by H.G. Ströhl, 1903 |
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The arms are: Arms: Per fess Gules
and Azure in chief three crowns 1&2 Or. In bade the capital W, Or. Crown: Of three
leaves and two pearls. The crowns are from the the arms of Sweden, the ‘W’ is the initial of
‘Wiborg’. The Finnish Democratic Republic of 1939, established on the territory
of Vyborg Province flew the flag of the Republic of Finland. No information
is available about the arms it probably used. After the
recapture of Vyborg by Finnish troops in 1941, the arms of Karelia reappeared
on stamps issued 1942. |
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Arms of Vyborg Rayon after 1944 - present |
Arms of Kymi province 1945-1997 |
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Viborg and Nyslott /
Viipurin ja Savonlinnan lääni /Viborgs och Nyslotts län |
1634-1721 |
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Capital: Vyborg one of the original provinces formed in 1634 The county was established
in 1634 as Karelia County (Karjalan lääni,
Karelens län), but in
1641 Nyslott County (Savonlinnan
lääni, Nyslotts län) was made a separate entity. The
remainder of Karelia County was called Viborg County. In 1650 the counties
were joined again as the Viborg and Nyslott County |
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Western Finland /
Länsi-Suomen lääni / Västra Finlands län |
1997-2009 |
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Capital: Turku Merged from Provinces of Turku and Pori, Vaasa, Central Finland and Häme (part) Arms: Per pale of Southern
Finland and Northern Finland and a base of Osterbotten |
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í The illustration
in the head of this article is from Blaeu’s Grand Atlas, 1651-’57. |
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© Hubert de Vries 2014-12-09