The Provincial Archives

The National Archives Service consists of the Provincial Archives and the National Archives, which directs them.

The Provincial Archives are located in:

• Hämeenlinna
• Joensuu
• Jyväskylä
• Mikkeli
• Oulu
• Turku
• Vaasa

The Provincial Archives are district administrative authorities and regional central archives. They are repositories for the records to be permanently preserved of state regional, district and local authorities operating in their respective archives district. The Provincial Archives also store private archives that are important to the region and function as research and development centres.

The Provincial Archives receive and store records and promote their use as a source for research. Archives are transferred to the Provincial Archives in accordance with the confirmed regional division. The current division into districts dates from 1997.

The Provincial Archives provide guidance on records and archives management, one of the National Archives Service’s tasks, with respect to the state district and local authorities as well as state regional authorities operating in their archives district.

The Provincial Archives store records of government agencies and civil service departments below the level of central government and outside the current capital city region. The Provincial Archives also store church and municipal archives, private archives and copies of records.

The total number of employees in the Provincial Archives is around 130.