Lapland is the largest and northernmost of the regions of Finland. The municipalities in the region cooperate in a Regional Council. Lapland borders the Region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Finnmark County and Troms County in Norway, and Murmansk Oblast in Russia.
The area of Lapland was split between two counties of the Swedish Realm from 1634 to 1809. The Northern and Western areas were part of Västerbotten County, while the Southern areas were part of Ostrobothnia County (after 1755 Oulu County). The Northern and Western areas were transferred in 1809 to Oulu County, which became Oulu Province. Under the royalist constitution of Finland during the first half of 1918, Lapland was to become a Grand Principality and part of the inheritance of the proposed king of Finland. Lapland Province was separated from Oulu Province in 1938.
During the Interim Peace and beginning of the Continuation War the government of Finland allowed the German Army to station itself in Lapland as a part of Operation Barbarossa. After Finland made a separate peace with Soviet Union in 1944, the Soviet Union demanded that Finland expel the German army from her soil. The result was the Lapland War, during which almost the whole civilian population of Lapland was evacuated. The Germans used scorched earth tactics in Lapland, before they withdraw to Norway. 40 to 47% of dwellings in Lapland were destroyed, 417 km of railroads were destroyed and 9,500 km of roadways were mined, destroyed or were unusable, 675 bridges and 3,700 km of telephone lines were destroyed. 90% of Rovaniemi, capital of Lapland, was burned to the ground, with only few a pre-war buildings surviving the destruction.
After the Second World War, Petsamo municipality and part of Salla municipality were ceded to the Soviet Union. The decades following the war were a period of rebuilding, industrialization and fast economic growth. Large hydroelectric plants and mines were established and cities, roads and bridges were rebuilt from the destruction of the war. In the late 20th century the economy of Lapland started to decline, mines and factories turned more unprofitable and the population started to decline rapidly across most of the region.
The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010, but Lapland was reorganised as one of the new regions that replaced them.
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