Country history · Europe

History of Finland

11 recorded states lay in what is now Finland, from the Karelians (800 CE) to the Republic of Finland. 2 of them have a full profile, and 3 outside powers ruled here.

ProfileState (capital or seat)1 without a known seat not shownOpen in the atlas →

Profiles

Empires that ruled here

Timeline

9th century

  1. Karelians800 CE – 1278 CE · tribal confederation
  2. Tavastia800 CE – 1249 CE · tribal confederation

10th century

  1. Kingdom of Sweden970 CE – present · profile

14th century

  1. Kalmar Union1397 CE – 1523 CE · kingdom

16th century

  1. Duchy of Finland1556 CE – 1563 CE · duchy

19th century

  1. Grand Duchy of Finland1809 CE – 1917 CE · duchy

20th century

  1. Republic of Finland1917 CE – present · profile
  2. Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic1918 CE – 1918 CE · republic
  3. Kingdom of Finland (1918)1918 CE – 1918 CE · kingdom
  4. Åland1921 CE – present · other
  5. Finnish Democratic Republic1939 CE – 1940 CE · republic

In the encyclopedia

Shared histories

States that also lay in other present-day countries:

States of Scandinavia and the Baltic → All country histories →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). History of Finland. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/finland
MLA
“History of Finland.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/finland. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “History of Finland.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/finland.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘History of Finland’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/countries/finland (Accessed: ).