Kuopio Province

Kuopion lääni Kuopio län Kuopio Province Province of Finland 1775–1997 →   → Coat of arms Capital Kuopio History  - Independence December 6 1775  - Northern Karelia Province est. January 1, 1960  - Eastern Finland Province est. December 31 1997

The Kuopio Province (Finnish: Kuopion lääni, Swedish: Kuopio län) was a province of Finland from 1917 to 1997. The province was named after the city of Kuopio.

In 1960 the eastern part was separated as the Northern Karelia Province. In 1997 it was reunited with Northern Karelia and togeather they merged with the Mikkeli Province, to establish the new Eastern Finland Province.

History

The province was first established in 1775 in Sweden-Finland.

As a consequence of the tumultuous conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire, United Kingdom and the other parties of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleonic France. However, following the treaty of Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France and left the coalition. This enabled Russia in 1808 to challenge Sweden in the Finnish War, over the control of Finland. In the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809 Sweden was obliged to cede all its territory in Finland, east of the Torne River, to Russia.

The ceded territories became a part of the Russian Empire and was reconstituted into the Grand Duchy of Finland, with the Russian Tsar as the Grand Duke. It was established in 1809 from the Savolax and Karelia County, which had been the administrative division as a part of Sweden, as the Savolax-Karelia Governorate.