The
Province of Oulu is a
province of
Finland. It borders the provinces of
Lapland,
Western Finland and
Eastern Finland. It also borders the
Gulf of Bothnia and
Russia.
The province of Oulu was first introduced in 1775 in Sweden–Finland.
As a consequence of the tumultous conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden had allied itself with the Russian Empire, United Kingdom and the other parties of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleonic France. However, following the treaty of Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Russia made peace with France and left the coalition. This enabled Russia in 1808 to challenge Sweden in the Finnish War, over the control of Finland. In the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809 Sweden was obliged to cede all its territory in Finland, to Russia.
The ceded territories became a part of the Russian Empire and was reconstituted into the Grand Duchy of Finland, with the Russian Tsar as Grand Duke. The Governorate of Uleåborg was established in 1809 from the Oulu County and the parts of the Västerbotten located east of the Torne River, which had been the administrative divisions as a part of Sweden.
