Finnish Lääni

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The first counties formed in Finland were Castle Counties (Linnalääni, Slottslän) established in 1595. They continued until an administrative reform in 1634. During the years Finland was associated with Russia the number of counties grew from six to eight.

1595 Counties
The nine Castle Counties were replaced with five counties (Finnish: lääni, Swedish: län).

Counties 1634-1809
The description below each map list the names of the counties in Finnish and Swedish.

Counties 1809-1917
Under Russian administration Finland was designated the Grand Duchy of Finland (Finnish: Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta, Russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, Swedish:Storfurstendömet Finland) there were initially no changes to Finland's borders or county structure. In 1812 the county of Viipuri / Viborg (also knows as Russian Finland, or Old Finland) was separated from the Russian Empire and incorporate with the Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1830 parts of Lapland and Västerbotten were incorporated into Oulu / Uleåborg county.

In 1831 the county of Uudenmaan ja Hämeen / Nylands och Tavastehus were divided into Häme and Uusimaa counties. The southern part of the former Kymenkartano / Kymmenegård County were also added to Uusimaa County. Mikkeli / St. Michels County was formed from the northern and central parts of Kymenkartano / Kymmenegård County, along with parts of the counties of Viipuri / Viborg and Savon ja Karjalan / Savolax och Karelen. The remaining parts of the counties of Savo and Karelia became the county of Kuopio.