Northern Finland is the northernmost part of Finland. Administratively it comprises Finnish Lapland and the provinces of Kainuu and Northern Ostrobothnia. This region is very sparsely populated even for Finland – while it covers almost half of the country it has a population slightly larger than the city of Helsinki.
Finnish Lakeland (Järvi-Suomi) comprises the eastern and central parts of the country. Finland is known as the country of a thousand lakes (actually more than a hundred thousand), and this is the region where most of them are located.
The West Coast of Finland is a geographically flat region bordering the Gulf of Bothnia. Being the westernmost part of Finland, this is where western influences such as Christianity first arrived in Finland. As a result of this, here you can find some of Finland's oldest cities and towns as well as half of the country's Swedish-speaking minority. This article comprises the pre-1997 Turku and Pori and Vaasa provinces.
Southern Finland (Etelä-Suomi, Södra Finland) lies by the coast of the Gulf of Finland, stretching into the lakeland of interior
Troms is a former county in
Nordland is a county in
Finnmark (Sami: Finnmárkku fylka) is Norway's northernmost county, well within the Arctic circle.
Vestfold is a county in