Grand Principality of Finland
| Grand Duchy of Finland | ||||||||||
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Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta (Finnish) Storfurstendömet Finland (Swedish) Великое княжество Финляндское (Russian) Velikoye knyazhestvo Finlyandskoye |
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| Governorate-General of the Russian Empire | ||||||||||
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Anthem Maamme / Vårt land "Our Land" |
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.svg) The Grand Duchy of Finland in 1914.
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| Capital |
Turku (1809–1812) Helsinki (1812–1917) |
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| Languages | Swedish, Finnish, Russian | |||||||||
| Religion | Finnish Orthodox, Evangelical Lutheran | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| Grand Duke | ||||||||||
| • | 1809–1825 | Alexander I | ||||||||
| • | 1825–1855 | Nicholas I | ||||||||
| • | 1855–1881 | Alexander II | ||||||||
| • | 1881–1894 | Alexander III | ||||||||
| • | 1894–1917 | Nicholas II | ||||||||
| Governor-General | ||||||||||
| • | 1809 | Georg Sprengtporten (first) | ||||||||
| • | 1917 | Nikolai Nekrasov (last) | ||||||||
| Vice Chairman | ||||||||||
| • | 1822–1826 | (first) | ||||||||
| • | 1917 | Anders Wirenius (last) | ||||||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| • | Diet of Porvoo | 29 March 1809 | ||||||||
| • | Treaty of Fredrikshamn | 17 September 1809 | ||||||||
| • | Independence declared | 6 December 1917 | ||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||
| • | 1910 | 360,000 km² (138,997 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||
| • | 1910 est. | 2,943,000 | ||||||||
| Density | 8.2 /km² (21.2 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Currency |
Swedish riksdaler (1809–1840) Russian ruble (1840–1865) Finnish markka (1865–1917) |
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| Today part of |
 Finland Russia
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The Grand Duchy of Finland (Finnish: Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta, Swedish: Storfurstendömet Finland, Latin: Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ, Russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Finlyandskoye; for the English translation; see also Grand Duke and Grand Prince) was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed between 1809 and 1917 as an autonomous part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian Emperor as Grand Duke.
An extended Southwest Finland was made a titular grand duchy in 1581, when King John III of Sweden, who as a prince had been the Duke of Finland (1556–1561/63), extended the list of subsidiary titles of the Kings of Sweden considerably. The new title Grand Duke of Finland did not result in any Finnish autonomy, as Finland was an integrated part of the Kingdom of Sweden with full parliamentary representation for its counties. During the next two centuries, the title was used by some of John's successors on the throne, but not all. Usually it was just a subsidiary title of the king, used only on very formal occasions. However in 1802, as an indication of his resolve to keep Finland within Sweden in the face of increased Russian pressure, King Gustav IV Adolf gave the title to his new-born son, Prince Carl Gustaf, who died three years later.
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