As of 2017,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

is divided into: * 19 regions ( fi, maakunta, sv, landskap) * the regions are divided into 70 sub-regions ( fi, seutukunta, sv, ekonomisk region) * the sub-regions are divided into 311

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

( fi, kunta, sv, kommun).

Description

Municipalities (which may also call themselves towns or cities) account for half of public spending. Spending is financed by municipal income tax, state subsidies, and other revenue. As of 2017, there are 311 municipalities, and most were under 5,000 residents. In Finland, state has started the Municipality and Service Structure Reform Program to reform the complex and expensive municipal system, but initiatives have encountered much opposition from local bureaucrats and interest groups. People often identify with their municipality. Government's local administrative duties are performed by the

Regional State Administrative Agencies The Regional State Administrative Agencies ( fi, aluehallintovirasto, avi, sv, regionförvaltningsverk) are a set of top-level regional organs of the state of Finland, mainly in charge of basic public services and legal permits. Six agencies took ...

. In addition to municipalities, there are complex other arrangements. Municipalities co-operate in seventy-four sub-regions and twenty regions. These are governed by the member municipalities. The

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

region has a permanent, democratically elected regional council, as a part of the autonomy. In the

Kainuu Kainuu ( sv, Kajanaland) is one of the 19 regions of Finland (''maakunta'' / ''landskap''). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic of Karelia). Culturally Kai ...

region, there is a pilot project underway, with regional elections.

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

have a semi-autonomous

Sami Domicile Area Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

for issues on language and culture.

References

{{Finland topics

Description

See also

References