 eastern finland was a province of finland from 1997 to 2009. it bordered the provinces of oulu, western finland and southern finland. it also bordered russia to the east. == history ==  on september 1, 1997, the mikkeli province, the kuopio province and northern karelia province were joined to form the new eastern finland province. all the provinces of finland were abolished on january 1, 2010. == administration == the state provincial office was a joint regional authority of seven different ministries. it promoted national and regional objectives of the state central administration. eastern finland state provincial office had branch offices in mikkeli, joensuu, and kuopio. == regions ==  eastern finland was divided into three regions: *north karelia (pohjois-karjala / norra karelen) *northern savonia (pohjois-savo / norra savolax) *southern savonia (etelÃ¤-savo / sÃ¶dra savolax) == municipalities in 2009 (cities in bold) == eastern finland was divided into 54 municipalities in 2009.   * enonkoski * heinÃ¤vesi * hirvensalmi * iisalmi * ilomantsi * joensuu * joroinen * [[
Eastern_Finland Provinces_of_Finland_(1997a2009)