Lapland (Finland)
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| Lapland Lapin lääni/maakunta Lapplands län/landskap |
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| — Region — | |||
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| Country | Finland | ||
| Capital | Rovaniemi | ||
| Government | |||
| - Governor | Timo E. Korva | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 98,984 km2 (38,217.9 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| - Total | 184,000 | ||
| - Density | 1.9/km2 (4.8/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | LL | ||
| NUTS | |||
The Province of Lapland (Finnish: Lappi; Northern Sami: Lappi; Swedish: Lappland) is one of the Provinces of Finland. The municipalities in the province cooperate in a Regional Council, which also makes it the Region of Lapland. It borders the Province of Oulu and the Region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders to the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Finnmark County and Troms County in Norway and to Murmansk Oblast in Russia. In some parts of the world, particularly Britain, Ireland and Finland itself, it is considered the traditional home of Santa Claus (Joulupukki).
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[edit] Historical provinces
- For history, geography and culture see: Laponia, Österbotten and Västerbotten
Lapland was separated from the province of Oulu in 1936. After the Second World War, the Petsamo and Salla areas were ceded to the Soviet Union. Under the royalist constitution of Finland during the first half of 1918, Lapland was to become a Grand Principality and part of the inheritance of the proposed king of Finland.
[edit] Population
Lapland is the home of about 3.6% of Finland's population, and is by far the least densely populated area in the country. The biggest towns in Lapland Province are Rovaniemi (the provincial capital), Kemi, and Tornio. Of the more than 185 000 inhabitants, less than 5% are Sami people.
[edit] Administration
The State Provincial Office is a joint regional authority of seven different ministries. It promotes national and regional objectives of the State central administration.
[edit] Regional Council
The 21 municipalities of Lapland are organised into a single Region, where they cooperate in the Lapland Regional Council, Lapin liitto or Lapplands förbund.
[edit] Sami Domicile Area
The northermost municipalities of Lapland where the Sami people are the most numerous, form the Sami Domicile Area. Sami organization exists in parallel with the provincial one.
[edit] Municipalities
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[edit] Heraldry
The coat of arms for the Province of Lapland is composed out of the coats of arms of Laponia and Ostrobothnia. The Regional Council of Lapland uses the Finnish variation of the coat of arms for Laponia.
[edit] Lapland impact on Finnish numismatics
Most of the gold used to mint Finnish gold coins comes from Lapland. Lapland itself has been the main motif for a recent commemorative coin, the Finish First Finnish gold euro commemorative coin, minted in 2002. On the reverse side, the midnight sun above a lake in Lapland can be observed.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lapland Province |
- Lapland State Provincial Office - Official site
- Lapland Regional Council - Official site
- Lapland Finland Portal - The Official Travel Guide of Finnish Lapland
- Lapland Club
- Finnish Lapland on Wikitravel
- Lapland Travel Guide - Information about holidays in Lapland
- Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences - video portal- Videos about Lapland experiences and lifestyle.
- Levi-Lapland- Information on Lapland, the ski resorts and the Lapland Super Pass.
- Travel 2 Lapland- Huge list of travel information: map, blogs, forums, tourist attractions, tourism services etc.
| Regional flower - Finnish - Latin |
Globe-flower - Kullero - Trollius europaeus |
| Regional bird | Bluethroat |
| Regional fish | Salmon |
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