Uusimaa (historical province)

Historical province of Uusimaa
(borders of the modern provinces,
i.e. regions with pink colour)

Uusimaa (Swedish: Nyland), is a historical province in the south of Finland. It borders Finland Proper, Tavastia, Savonia, and Karelia. The English translation would be "new land". From the Middle Ages to 1809, most of the present-day Finland was a part of Sweden. Uusimaa (Nyland) was thus included also among the historical Swedish provinces.

History

Along with the rest of Southern and Western Finland, Uusimaa was ruled by the Kingdom of Sweden 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 Imperial Russia after the War of Finland in 1809. Uusimaa became Uudenmaan lääni in the old lääni (province) system until 1997, when it was merged into the new administrative province of Southern Finland. In 2010 the administrative provinces were abolished and Uusima was divided between two new regions of Finland, Uusimaa 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, 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 in 1560. The arms are crowned by a count's coronet, though by Finnish tradition this more resembles a Swedish baronal coronet. Blazon: "Azure, between two bars wavy argent, a boat with rudder, or."

Historical provinces of Finland

Finland Proper	Finland Proper (except Loimaa and Somero municipalities)

Karelia	North Karelia South Karelia southeastern Kymenlaakso easternmost Northern Savonia southernmost Southern Savonia

Laponia	northern Lapland

Ostrobothnia	Central Ostrobothnia Coastal Ostrobothnia Kainuu Northern Ostrobothnia predominantly Southern Ostrobothnia southern Lapland

Satakunta	Satakunta predominantly Pirkanmaa westernmost Central Finland northeastern Finland Proper southeastern Southern Ostrobothnia Loimaa municipality of Finland Proper

Savonia	predominantly Northern Savonia predominantly Southern Savonia

Tavastia	Päijänne Tavastia Tavastia Proper predominantly Central Finland northern Kymenlaakso westernmost Northern Savonia southern and southwestern Pirkanmaa southwesternmost Southern Savonia Somero municipality of Finland Proper

Uusimaa	Uusimaa southern Kymenlaakso

Åland	Åland

Coordinates: 60°13′00″N 24°57′00″E / 60.2167°N 24.9500°E / 60.2167; 24.9500

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