Oulu (province)

Oulun läani

coat of arms	map
Basic data
Country:	Finland
Administrative headquarters:	Oulu
Surface:	61,602 km²
Inland waters:	4,863 km²
Residents:	469,304 (2009)
Population density:	8.3 inhabitants per km²

The province of Oulu ( Finnish. Oulun lääni, Swedish. Uleåborgs län) was a province of Finland from 1775 to 2009 . It included the landscapes ( maakunta ) Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu . The area was 61,602 square kilometers, the population was around 470,000 (2009). The administrative seat was the eponymous city of Oulu .

The province of Oulu was founded in 1775 while Finland was part of Sweden . After Finland became an autonomous grand duchy under Russian rule in 1809 , the Finnish part of Lapland was incorporated into the province of Oulu. The province of Oulu thus comprised well over half of the land area of ​​Finland. After Finnish independence , the Petsamo area was added in 1922 . In 1938 the province of Oulu shrank again when the northern part of the province of Oulu split off as the province of Lapland . Oulu remained unaffected by the 1997 administrative reform, in which the number of provinces was halved from twelve to six, but the provinces were finally abolished at the beginning of 2010. State administration of the area is now carried out by the Regional Administrative Authority ( aluehallintovirasto ) of Northern Finland.

The northern part of the historical Österbotten region belonged to the province of Oulu . The coat of arms of the province is composed of the coats of arms of Österbotten and the city of Oulu.

Web links

Commons : Oulu  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Oulu  travel guide

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Maanmittauslaitos ( memento of February 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Finnish land surveying office): Pinta-alat kunnittain January 1, 2009.
2. ↑ Tilastokeskus (Finnish Statistics Office): Väkiluku alueittain sekä väestömäärän muutos December 31, 2008.