Län and lääni are the Swedish and Finnish terms for the administrative divisions used in Sweden and Finland, and sometimes in other countries, especially as a translation of the Russian word oblast. Swedish (svenska) is a language spoken principally in Sweden, Finland (Finland-Swedish, Swedish: finlandssvenska), Åland and in the coastland of Estonia Swedish is classified as a member of the East section of the Scandinavian languages, a sub-group of the Germanic group of the Indo-European language family. ... Finnish is spoken by the majority in Finland and by Ethnic Finns outside of Finland. ... An oblast (Russian, Ukrainian: о́бласть) is a name for the subnational entity of Bulgaria, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union. ...

The word literally means fief. The usual English language terms used are separate for the two countries, where Sweden has chosen to translate the term to "county" while Finland has chosen "province". With a shared administrative tradition spanning centuries, ending only in 1809, this a separation by convention, rather than by distinction. Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud or fee, consisted of heritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord in return for a vassal knights service (usually fealty, military service, and security). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Originally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. ... Province is a name for a secondary, or subnational entity of government in most countries. ... 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

In both countries a län/lääni is considered an arm of the executive power of the national government, and has no autonomy nor legistlative power. Likewise, the lääni where one lives in has little importance in one's identity in Finland; instead, the nationality and the dialect is important. This was reinforced in 1997 when the national government combined smaller läänis to "greater läänis", so that a single lääni may contain several unrelated dialects and subnational cultures. For example, "Western Finland" has speakers of the Turku and Rauma, Satakunta, Pohjanmaa, and (in Ähtäri) Savo Finnish dialects and the Swedish language. Abo redirects here. ... Rauma is: A town in Finland, see Rauma, Finland. ... Satakunta (Satakunda) is the name of a geographical region in Finland which can refer to: Satakunta - a historical Province of Sweden (Historical provinces of Finland) Turun ja Porin lääni - a former Province of Finland (County of Sweden) Satakunnan maakunta - a current Region of Finland Western Finland - a current Province of... Pohjanmaa (Österbotten) is the name of a geographical region in Finland which can refer to: Pohjanmaa - a Historical province of Sweden Pohjanmaan lääni - a former County of Sweden (Counties in Finland) Pohjois-Pohjanmaan maakunta - a current Region of Finland Etelä-Pohjanmaan maakunta - a current Region of Finland Pohjanmaan maakunta - a... Savo (Savolax) is the name of a geographical region in Finland which can refer to: Savo - a historical Province of Sweden (Historical provinces of Finland) Pohjois-Savon maakunta - a current Region of Finland Etelä-Savon maakunta - a current Region of Finland Eastern Finland - a current Province of Finland A dialect... Swedish (svenska  listen?) is a Scandinavian language language spoken predominantly in Sweden, Finland and Åland by over 8 million native speakers. ...

• Counties of Sweden — (Sveriges län)
• Provinces of Finland — (Suomen läänit / Finlands län)

The governor has the title landshövding (Swedish), maaherra (Finnish) and he or she is the head of a länsstyrelse (Swedish), lääninhallitus (Finnish), which translates into either a County Administrative Board or a State Provincial Office depending on the country. The governor is an administrative position, and it's a common post for politicians to "retire" into from national politics. A County, or Län, is an administrative and political subdivision of Sweden. ... Finland consists of 6 provinces (Finnish: läänit, Swedish: län), following a 1997 redesign that reduced their number from 12. ... Finnish is spoken by the majority (92%) in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. ... A County Administrative Board is a Government appointed board of a County in Sweden. ...

See also: Letter Ä Ä - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...