maakunta

maa (“land”) +‎ kunta

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːˌkuntɑ/, [ˈmɑ̝ːˌkun̪t̪ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -untɑ
• Syllabification^(key): maa‧kun‧ta
• Hyphenation^(key): maa‧kunta

maakunta

1. county, province, region (administrative or historical region widely varying in size and significance but always a subdivision of a state and consisting of a number of municipalities)

   Coordinate terms: departementti (Francophone countries), kreivikunta (the United Kingdom), piirikunta (Russia or the United States), rajoni (Eastern Europe), uluus (Yakutia and Sakha)

2. (informal, possibly derogatory) province(s) (area outside of capital region)

   maakuntayliopisto ― provincial university

In the current administrative model Finland is divided into 19 maakunta, which are translated as "region" in English. Legally they are not subdivisions of the state government but associations of the municipalities of the region, called maakunnan liitto (“regional council”). The tasks of regional councils deal with regional zoning and promotion of the regional economy. They are governed by the municipalities, which elect maakuntavaltuusto (“regional council”) to decide the strategic issues and to nominate maakuntahallitus (“regional board”). Note that same English term "regional council" is used of both the association and the council that governs it. The executive director of the office of the regional council is called maakuntajohtaja. The state government in regions is organized through seven aluehallintovirasto (“regional state administrative agency”) and fifteen ELY-keskus (“Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment”), each of them covering one or more regions.

• aluehallintovirasto
• ELY-keskus
• lääni
• seutukunta

• “maakunta”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023