maakunnilla

Maakunnilla is the Finnish adessive plural form of the word maakunta, meaning “in the regions” or “at the regions.” It is a grammatical form rather than a separate concept, used when speaking about more than one region. In Finnish, the adessive case marks location or relation, and the plural form maakunnilla is formed from the plural maakunnat plus the suffix -illa.

Maakunta refers to a regional administrative unit in Finland. Regions serve as a level of governance between the municipalities and the central government, and they are involved in regional development, planning, and coordination of various public tasks. Each region has its own regional council (maakuntaliitto) or equivalent structure that brings together municipalities within the region to address shared issues such as infrastructure, economic development, and regional services. The concept of maakunta has been used in Finland for decades to organize public administration and regional collaboration, with responsibilities defined in national legislation and regional agreements.

In usage, maakunnilla appears in political, administrative, and regional-planning texts to describe actions, responsibilities, or conditions that apply to multiple regions. For example, a sentence might state that “maakunnilla on mahdollisuus osallistua rahoitusohjelmiin” (the regions have the opportunity to participate in funding programs) or “maakunnilla on erilaisia kehittämishankkeita” (the regions have various development projects). The form thus functions as a grammatical tool for discussing regional-level affairs in a neutral, descriptive manner.

Overall, maakunnilla illustrates how Finnish grammar encodes plural regional reference, while the underlying concept—maakunta—describes the administrative regions that organize planning and cooperation across municipalities.