Today, Finland has 6 administrative provinces (lääni, pl. läänit) The province authority is part of the executive branch of the national government; a system that had not changed drastically since its creation in 1634 to the new division to “greater provinces” in 1997. Since then, the six provinces are:
Southern Finland
Western Finland
Eastern Finland
Oulu
Lapland
Ã…land

The Ã…land Islands enjoy a degree of autonomy. According to international treaties and Finnish laws, the regional government for Ã…land handles some matters which belong to the province authority in Mainland Finland.

Another kind of provinces are those echoing the pattern of colonisation of Finland. Dialects, folklore, customs and people’s feeling of affiliation are associated with these historical provinces of Finland, although the re-settlement of 420,000 Karelians during World War II and urbanization in the latter half of the 20th century have made differences less pronounced.

Local government is further organised in 432 (1.1.2005) municipalities of Finland. Since 1977, no legal or administrative distinction is made between towns, cities and other municipalities. The municipalities co-operate in 20 regions of Finland.