Provincial archives

Provincial archives ("maakunta-arkisto") in Finland are state's regional archives and research centers. They work under the supervision of the National Archive. Provincial archives mission is to receive and preserve documents and facilitate their use in research. There are seven provincial archives in Finland in the following cities: Hämeenlinna, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Mikkeli, Oulu, Vaasa and Turku.



Provincial archives preserve documents produced by regional state offices, in addition they preserve church archives, private archives and copies of various documents are available as microfilms.

Especially archives of the former Finnish Karelia which is now part of Russia are preserved in the provincial archive of Mikkeli. A visit to Mikkeli will most probably be ahead for those genealogists having ancestors in Karelia. It is also possible to order copies and statements from the archive. When going to the archive one must have the following information in order to be able to make a search: name, exact birthdate and place of birth.