The Province of Western Finland is a province of Finland. It borders the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland.

Historical Provinces

In the 1997 redesign that reduced their number of provinces from 12 to 6 the Turku ja Pori province, Vaasa province, Central-Finland province and the northern parts of Häme province formed the new province of Western Finland.

Administration

The Western Finland State Provincial Office is a joint regional administrative authority of seven ministries. The State Provincial Office serves at five localities; the main office is in Turku, regional service offices are located in Jyväskylä, Tampere and Vaasa, and finally there is an office in Pori. The State Provincial Office is led by Governor Rauno Saari. Approximately 350 persons work at the State Provincial Office. The agency is divided into eight departments.

Regions

Western Finland is divided into seven regions:

• Southern Ostrobothnia (Etelä-Pohjanmaa/ Södra Österbotten)
• Ostrobothnia (Pohjanmaa/ Österbotten)
• Pirkanmaa (Pirkanmaa/ Birkaland)
• Satakunta (Satakunta/ Satakunda)
• Central Ostrobothnia (Keski-Pohjanmaa/ Mellersta Österbotten)
• Central Finland (Keski-Suomi/ Mellersta Finland)
• Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi/ Egentliga Finland)

The regions in Western Finland are divided into 204 municipalities.

Heraldry

The coat of arms of Western Finland is composed of the arms of Finland Proper, Satakunta and Ostrobothnia.

External links

• Western Finland State Provincial Office - Official site

Provinces of Finland

Finlàndia Occidental | Westfinnland | Lääne-Soome lään | Finlandia Occidental | Finlande occidentale | Nyugat-Finnország | 서핀란드 주 | Finlandia occidentale | West-Finland | Västra Finlands län | Finlanda de Vest | Oarje-Suoma leatna | Länsi-Suomen lääni | Västra Finlands län