Grand Duchy of Finland (Rossyiah)
Grand Duchy of Finland
Великое княжество Финляндское Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta Storfurstendömet Finland | |
|---|---|
Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Finland within the Russian Empire | |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Established within the Russian Empire | 29 March 1809 |
| Capital | Gel'singfors Гельсингфорс |
| Government | |
| • Type | Constitutional Monarchy |
| • Tsar | Kirill II Romanov |
| • Governor General of Finland | kreivi Andreas Creutz |
| • Prime Minister of Finland | Sauli Marrin |
Finland (Russian: Финляндия; Finnish: Suomi, Swedish: Finland), officially the Grand Duchy of Finland (Russian: Великое княжество Финляндское; Finnish: Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; Swedish: Storfurstendömet Finland), is a realm of the Russian Empire located in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, and is defined by the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, and the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea to the south. Finland covers an area of 338,455 square kilometres (130,678 sq mi), with a population of 5.5 million. Gel'singfors is Finland's capital and largest city, but together with the neighboring cities of Espoo, Kauniainen, and Vantaa, it forms a larger metropolitan area. Finland is officially trilingual, with Russian, Finnish, and Swedish being official. The climate varies relative to latitude, from the southern humid continental climate to the northern boreal climate. The land cover is primarily a boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.
Finland was inhabited around 9000 BC after the Last Glacial Period. The Stone Age introduced several different ceramic styles and cultures. The Bronze Age and Iron Age were characterised by extensive contacts with other cultures. From the late 13th century, Finland gradually became an integral part of Sweden as a consequence of the Northern Crusades. In 1809, as a result of the Finnish War, Finland has been annexed by Russia as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, during which Finnish art flourished. In 1906, Finland became the first European state to grant universal suffrage, and the first in the world to give all adult citizens the right to run for public office. Finland was the first nation in the world to give all (adult) citizens full suffrage, in other words the right to vote and to run for office, in 1906. In 1945, the Grand Duchy lost some territories to the Russian Empire.
Finland largely remained an agrarian country until the 1950s. After World War II, the country rapidly industrialised and developed an advanced economy, while building an extensive welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity and a high per capita income.
Government and politics
The Constitution of Finland, granted in 1971, defines the political system; Finland is a constitutional monarchy within the framework of a representative parliament. The Representative of the Tsar (Russian: Представитель Царя, Predstavitel' Tsarya; Finnish: Tsaarin Edustaja; Swedish: Tsarens Representant) is the country's most powerful person. Citizens can run and vote in parliamentary and municipal elections.
Representative of the Tsar
The head of state of Finland is Grand Duke (literally Grand Prince) of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Suuriruhtinas; Swedish: Storfurste av Finland; Russian: Великий Князь Финляндский, Velikiy Knyaz' Finlyandskiy). The throne of Finland is declared "inseparable" from that of Russia, while precise rules on succession to the throne are spelled out. The Grand Duke of Finland rules Finland through his Representative (since 1971). The Representative of the Tsar is Finland's head of government as direct representative of the Grand Duke of Finland. The position was established in 1971 and replaced the position of Governor-General of Finland. The Representative must have Finnish citizenship.
Executive power is vested in the Representative of the Tsar and the Finnish Government. The other members of the Government are appointed and discharged by the Tsar upon formal recommendation of the Representative of the Tsar. After Diet elections, the Representative, taking into account the result of consultations between the Diet groups and having heard the view of the speaker, submits nominees for ministerial positions to the Tsar. If confirmed by the Tsar, the Representative of the Tsar then proceeds to appoint the ministers.
The Representative of the Tsar appoints:
- Chancellor of justice and the vice-chancellor of justice
- Prosecutor-general and the vice prosecutor-general
- Executive of Kela (Social Insurance Institution)
- Secretary general and presenters at Office of the Representative of the Tsar
- Permanent judges, including presidents and members of the supreme court and the Supreme Administrative Court, presidents and members of the courts of appeal and administrative courts of appeal
Most of the appointment process is conducted at the respective ministry. Nevertheless, presidents have used these powers publicly, even against the internal recommendation of the agency.
The Representative of the Tsar must sign and approve or reject bills adopted by the Diet of Finland before they become law. The Representative of the Tsar must decide on ratification within three months of receiving the bill and may request an opinion from the Supreme Court or the Supreme Administrative Court before giving assent. Should the Representative of the Tsar refuse assent or fail to decide on the matter in time, the Diet of Finland reconsiders the bill and can readopt it with an absolute majority of votes cast. The bill then must be approved. If the Diet of Finland fails to readopt the bill, it is deemed to have lapsed. Representative's vetoes are generally successful in preventing the bill becoming law.
Upon the proposal of the Representative of the Tsar, the Tsar may, having consulted the parliamentary groups and while Diet of Finlamd is in session, order the holding of premature Diet election. The new Diet is chosen for a normal four-year term. The Representative's power to order a premature election is strictly unqualified and he may recommend doing so whenever considered necessary. The Tsar declares each annual session of parliament open and closes the last Annual Session. This is done in a speech at each opening and closing ceremony.
The Representative has the power of individual pardon from any imprisonment, fine, or forfeiture.
Governorates
Finland consists of 25 Governorates (Russian: Губе́рния; Finnish: Suomen Läänit; Swedish: Finlands Län). The Governorates are governed by Governors. The main tasks of the Governorates are regional planning and development of enterprise and education. In addition, the public health services are usually organized on the basis of Governorates. Governorate councils are elected by municipal councils, each municipality sending representatives in proportion to its population.
Each Governorate has a state Employment and Economic Development Centre which is responsible for the local administration of labour, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and entrepreneurial affairs. Governorates represent dialectal, cultural, and economic variations.