Eastern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east.
History
On September 1, 1997, the Mikkeli Province, the Kuopio Province and Northern Karelia Province were joined to form the new Eastern Finland Province.
All the provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010.
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. Eastern Finland State Provincial Office had branch offices in Mikkeli, Joensuu, and Kuopio.
Subdivisions At the time of its abolition, the Province of Eastern Finland was composed of three regions: North Karelia (Pohjois-Karjala / Norra Karelen) North Savo (Pohjois-Savo / Norra Savolax) South Savo (Etelä-Savo / Södra Savolax) These regions were further divided into a total of 11 subregions and 54 municipalities. In the list below, the municipalities that designate themselves as cities or towns (, ) are shown in bold.
North Karelia
Joensuu sub-region
Ilomantsi (Ilomants) Joensuu Juuka (Juga) Kontiolahti (Kontiolax) Liperi (Libelits) Outokumpu Polvijärvi Heinävesi
Central Karelia
Kesälahti Kitee (Kides) Rääkkylä Tohmajärvi
Pielinen Karelia
Lieksa Nurmes Valtimo
North Savo Upper Savo
Iisalmi (Idensalmi) Keitele Kiuruvesi Lapinlahti Pielavesi Sonkajärvi Varpaisjärvi Vieremä
Kuopio sub-region
Karttula Kuopio Maaninka Siilinjärvi
Northeast Savo
Juankoski Kaavi Nilsiä Rautavaara Tuusniemi
Varkaus sub-region
Kangaslampi Leppävirta Varkaus Joroinen (Jorois)
Inner Savo
Rautalampi Suonenjoki Tervo Vesanto
South Savo Mikkeli sub-region
Hirvensalmi Kangasniemi Mikkeli (S:t Michel) Mäntyharju Pertunmaa Ristiina (Kristina) Puumala
Pieksämäki sub-region
Pieksämäki Juva
Savonlinna sub-region
Enonkoski Kerimäki Punkaharju Rantasalmi Savonlinna (Nyslott) Sulkava
Former municipalities (disestablished before 2009)
Anttola Eno Haukivuori Jäppilä Kangaslampi Kiihtelysvaara Mikkelin mlk Pieksämäen mlk Pieksänmaa Pyhäselkä Savonranta Tuupovaara Vehmersalmi Virtasalmi Värtsilä
Governors Pirjo Ala-Kapee 1997–2009
Heraldry
The coat of arms of Eastern Finland was composed of the arms of Savo and Karelia.
References
External links Eastern Finland State Provincial Office - Official site