Lapland Province

Infobox_Lääni
name=Lapland
name_fin=Lapin lääni/maakunta
name_swe=Lapplands län/landskap
isocode=LL
capital=Rovaniemi
governor=Hannele Pokka
historical=Laponia
Österbotten
Västerbotten
regions=Lapland ()
arearank=1st/-
area=98,946
areapercent=Not ranked
population_as_of=2002
populationrank=5th/-
population=187,777
populationpercent=
populationdensity=2,0

"Lapland Province"	"Lapland Region"

"Lapland Province"	"Lapland Region"

The Province of Lapland ("Lappi" in Finnish and Sami, "Lappland" in Swedish) 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 and Finland itself, it is considered the traditional home of Santa Claus (Joulupukki).

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.

Population

Lapland is the home of about 3.6% of the Finnish population, and is by far the least densely populated area in the country. The biggest towns in the Finnish Lapland are Rovaniemi (the provincial capital), Kemi, and Tornio. Of the more than 185 000 inhabitants, less than 5% are Sami people.

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.

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".

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.

Municipalities

Heraldry

The coat of arms for the "Province of Lapland" is composed out of the coats of arms of Lapponia and Ostrobothnia. The "Regional Council of Lapland" uses the Finnish variation of the coat of arms for Lapponia.

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.

See also

*Lappmarken
*Lääni
*Sami people
*Sápmi (area)

External links

* [http://www.laaninhallitus.fi/lappi Lapland State Provincial Office] - Official site
* [http://www.lapinliitto.fi/ Lapland Regional Council] - Official site
* [http://www.laplandfinland.com Lapland Finland Portal] - from not-for-profit Lapland Tourism Organization (in 6 languages)
* on Wikitravel
* [http://www.iglulapland.com/ Holidays in Lapland] - visit Lapland
* [http://lapland-holidays.info/ Lapland Travel Guide] - Information about holidays in Lapland
*http://www.experiencelapland.tv/ Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences - video portal. Videos about Lapland experiences and lifestyle.
* http://www.santatelevision.com/lapland/index.html - Videos about Finnish Lapland

Infobox_Landskap_Symbols|name=Lapland|cat=Regional|lang=Finnish
type1=flower|data1=Globe-flower|data1x=Kullero|data1l=Trollius europaeus
type2=bird|data2=Bluethroat|type3=fish|data3=Salmon|type4=animal|data4=-|