Uusimaa (; ) is a historical province in the south of Finland. It borders Finland Proper, Tavastia, Savonia, and

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

. From the Middle Ages to 1809, most of the present-day Finland was a part of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Uusimaa was thus also included among the historical Swedish provinces. The modern province of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

is included within the borders of the historical province.

History

Along with the rest of southern and western Finland, Uusimaa was ruled by the

Kingdom of Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic country by both area ...

from the 12th or 13th century onwards. Coastal Uusimaa had earlier been semi-deserted, but was soon populated by Swedish settlers. All the provinces of Finland were ceded to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in September 1809, after the 1808-1809

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

. Uusimaa became Uudenmaan lääni in the old lääni (province) system until 1997, when it was merged into the new administrative province of

Southern Finland Southern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History On September 1, 1997 the Uusimaa Province, the Ky ...

. In 2010 the administrative provinces were abolished and Uusimaa was divided between two new

regions of Finland Finland is divided into 19 regions (; ) which are governed by regional councils that serve as forums of cooperation for the Municipalities of Finland, municipalities of each region. The councils are composed of delegates from the municipal c ...

and Eastern Uusimaa. However, this arrangement lasted for only one year, and in 2011 Eastern Uusimaa was merged into Uusimaa, which now forms a single administrative unit once again.

Culture

Historically, coastal Uusimaa was a Swedish-speaking area. However, the capital of Finland,

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and most of the other towns in Uusimaa now have Finnish-speaking majorities.

Heraldry

The arms of Uusimaa were granted at the burial of

Gustav I of Sweden Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföreståndare'') from 1521, during the on ...

in 1560. The arms are crowned by a count's coronet, though by Finnish tradition this more resembles a Swedish baronial coronet. Blazon: "Azure, between two bars wavy Argent, a boat Or with rudder."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uusimaa (Historical Province) Historical provinces of Finland