Constituencies in Finland
Since the first election to Parliament in 1907 still in the Grand Duchy of Finland is Finland in constituencies divided. The layout and the number of constituencies have been adjusted several times in accordance with the population development. According to the 2000 constitution , there must be 12 to 18 constituencies, and the Åland autonomous region also has its own constituency with one MP. The layout of the constituencies is independent of the other administrative structure, it corresponds more to the historical provincial division in Finland .
Until 1994, the electors for the election of the Finnish President in the constituencies were also elected. Since the president is directly elected by the people, the whole of Finland has formed a constituency for the presidential election. This also applies to the European elections. For statistical purposes, however, the votes of the parliamentary constituencies are also recorded in these elections.
Parliamentary elections
The number of MPs elected in each constituency except Åland is determined as follows: First, the number of residents of the constituency who are Finnish citizens six months before the election is divided by the total number of Finnish citizens, the result is with 199 multiplied. If not all seats are distributed due to the integer result of this calculation, the remaining ones are distributed to the constituencies in descending order of the fractional parts. According to the constitution, Åland has one member in the Finnish parliament, which corresponds roughly to the population of the autonomous region. Traditionally, the Åland electorate joins the parliamentary group of the Swedish People's Party (SFP-RKP). The constituencies are numbered consecutively from south to north.
Finland does not have a threshold clause like the German five percent or the Austrian four percent hurdle . Due to the limited number of mandates that are awarded in each constituency, however, there is still an indirect variable hurdle that a party must overcome in order to send members to parliament. In Uusimaa, where 35 MPs are elected, it is around 2.8%, in Lapland, where only 7 MPs are to be elected, it is around 12.5%. The exact percentage depends on the exact election result. In Åland, a party needs the most votes in order to be able to stand for one MP.
In each constituency, the parties may nominate as many candidates as there are MPs to be elected. In the constituencies where fewer MPs are to be elected, they may nominate up to 14 candidates. Parties can form electoral alliances, but are then still bound by the upper limit for individual parties. In the Åland constituency, each party can run up to four candidates.
Constituency name | Election 2011 | Election 2015 | ||||||
German | Finnish | Swedish | number | MPs | number | MPs | Eligible voters | W. per seat |
Helsinki | Helsinki | Helsingfors | 1 | 21st | 1 | 22nd | 521.875 | 23,722 |
Uusimaa | Uusimaa | Nyland | 2 | 35 | 2 | 35 | 747,900 | 21,369 |
Real Finland | Varsinais-Suomi | Egentliga Finland | 3 | 17th | 3 | 17th | 387,499 | 22,794 |
Satakunta | Satakunta | Satkunda | 4th | 9 | 4th | 8th | 185.799 | 23,225 |
Åland | Ahvenanmaa | Åland | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 27,017 | 27,017 |
Malice | Malice | Tavastland | 6th | 14th | 6th | 14th | 308.319 | 22,023 |
Pirkanmaa | Pirkanmaa | Birkaland | 7th | 18th | 7th | 19th | 409.815 | 21,569 |
Kymi | Kymi | Kymi | 8th | 12 | - | - | - | - |
South Savo | Etela-Savo | Södra Savolax | 9 | 6th | - | - | - | - |
Southeast Finland | Kaakkois-Suomi | Sydöstra Finland | - | - | 8th | 17th | 387,403 | 22,788 |
North Savo | Pohjois-Savo | Norra Savolax | 10 | 9 | - | - | - | - |
North Karelia | Pohjois-Karjala | Norra Karelen | 11 | 6th | - | - | - | - |
Savo Karelia | Savo-Karjalaa | Savolax-Karelen | - | - | 9 | 16 | 342,671 | 21,417 |
Vaasa | Vaasa | Vasa | 12 | 17th | 10 | 16 | 369.917 | 23,120 |
Central Finland | Keski-Suomi | Mellersta Finland | 13 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 226.176 | 22,618 |
Oulu | Oulu | Uleåborg | 14th | 18th | 12 | 18th | 386.036 | 21,446 |
Lapland | Lappi | Lapland | 15th | 7th | 13 | 7th | 162.906 | 23,272 |
Historical development of the constituency division
From 1962
For the 1962 election, the previous constituencies of North and South Vaasa were merged to form the constituency of Vaasa, so that from 1962 to 2011 there were 15 constituencies. For the 2015 election, Kymi and South Savo were merged to form the new constituency of Southeast Finland, and North Savo and North Karelia have since formed the constituency of Savo-Karelia. This puts the number of constituencies at 13 and the lower limit permitted by the constitution.
The distribution of mandates has changed little over the years. The biggest change occurred for Helsinki and the Uusimaa surrounding Helsinki. Both together grew from 37 seats in 1962 to 57 in the 2015 election. This was mainly at the expense of the Southeast Finnish constituencies, which were subsequently merged.
Constituency | Seats | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1962 | 1966 | 1970 | 1972 | 1975 | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | |||||||||||
Helsinki | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 22nd | 21st | 20th | 20th | 20th | 20th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 21st | 21st | 22nd | ||||||||||
Uusimaa | 17th | 18th | 20th | 21st | 24 | 26th | 27 | 29 | 30th | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 35 | ||||||||||
Varsinais-Suomi | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | ||||||||||
Satakunta | 14th | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8th | ||||||||||
Åland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
Malice | 14th | 14th | 14th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14th | 14th | 14th | 14th | ||||||||||
Pirkanmaa | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15th | 16 | 16 | 18th | 18th | 18th | 19th | ||||||||||
Kymi (1948-2011) | 15th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 15th | 14th | 14th | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | - | ||||||||||
South Savo (until 2011) | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 6th | 6th | 6th | - | ||||||||||
Southeast Finland (since 2015) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 17th | ||||||||||
North Savo (until 2011) | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | - | ||||||||||
North Karelia (until 2011) | 10 | 9 | 8th | 8th | 8th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 6th | 6th | - | ||||||||||
Savo-Karelia (since 2015) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16 | ||||||||||
Vaasa | 20th | 20th | 19th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 16 | ||||||||||
Central Finland | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
Oulu | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 17th | 17th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | 18th | ||||||||||
Lapland | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | ||||||||||
all in all | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 |
1907 to 1958
For the first election in 1907, the country was divided into 16 constituencies according to the provinces . These were in effect until the 1936 election, with the distribution of mandates across the constituencies being adjusted every ten years from 1917 onwards according to the population development. From 1936 onwards, this happened with every election. For the election in 1939, the constituency of Nordoulu was divided into Südoulu (afterwards only Oulu) and Lapland, so that there were only 15 constituencies, each of which had at least 7 mandates to assign.
Due to the Finnish-Soviet wars between 1939 and 1944 ( Winter War and Continuation War ), Finland had to cede large parts of Karelia to the Soviet Union. The residents of these areas were eligible to vote in their old constituencies in 1945. These were merged in 1948, the old residents continued to be eligible to vote in the new constituency of Kymi, and only from 1948 were they assigned to their new places of residence. At the same time, Åland became independent, so that the number of constituencies remained at 15. From 1954 Helsinki formed its own constituency, so that there were again 16.
In most constituencies, the number of seats changed little. An important exception is Uusimaa with Helsinki, which had grown from 23 mandates in 1907 to a total of 35 mandates in 1958, as well as the loss of Karelia.
Constituency | Seats | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
1907 (a) | 1917 (b) | 1927 (c) | 1936 | 1939 | 1945 | 1948 | 1951 | 1954 | 1958 | ||||||||||||||||
Helsinki | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19th | 19th | |||||||||||||||
Uusimaa | 23 | 25th | 26th | 29 | 30th | 31 | 31 | 33 | 15th | 16 | |||||||||||||||
Varsinais-Suomi | 17th | 16 | 16 | 15th | 15th | 14th | 17th | 16 | 16 | 16 | |||||||||||||||
Satakunta | 17th | 15th | 15th | 14th | 14th | 14th | 13 | 15th | 14th | 14th | |||||||||||||||
Åland | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Malice | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 14th | 14th | 14th | |||||||||||||||
Pirkanmaa | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | |||||||||||||||
West Viipuri , until 1939/45 (d) | 13 | 17th | 16 | 17th | 17th | 15th | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||||
Ostviipuri , until 1939/45 (d) | 17th | 17th | 17th | 17th | 18th | 17th | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||||
Kymi , since 1948 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 32 | 15th | 15th | 15th | |||||||||||||||
South Savo | 14th | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | |||||||||||||||
North Savo | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 12 | |||||||||||||||
North Karelia | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | |||||||||||||||
South Vasa | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |||||||||||||||
North Vaasa | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | |||||||||||||||
Central Finland | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | |||||||||||||||
Südoulu , until 1936, from 1939 Oulu (e) | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 17th | 17th | 18th | 18th | 18th | |||||||||||||||
Nordoulu , until 1936 (e) | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||||
Lapland (s) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||||||
all in all | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 |
(a) also applies to the 1908 , 1909 , 1910 , 1911 , 1913 and 1916
elections (b) also applies to the 1919 , 1922 and 1924 elections
(c) also applies to the 1929 , 1930 and 1933
(d) 1945 elections the constituencies of East and West Kymi, before they were united to form the constituency of Kymi
(e) In 1939, the constituency of Nordoulu was divided into Südoulu (thereafter only Oulu) and Lapland
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vaalikelpoisuus ja ehdokasasettelu ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Election and nomination of candidates, Finnish), Election page of the Finnish Ministry of Justice, last update February 9, 2015, accessed December 6, 2017
- ↑ People entitled to vote (English), Election page of the Finnish Ministry of Justice on the 2015 election, last update April 20, 2015, accessed December 5, 2017
- ↑ a b Vaalipiirien paikkamäärät eduskuntavaaleissa ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Number of constituencies in parliamentary elections), Ministry of Justice election page, accessed November 5, 2017