Viipuri County, Finland Genealogy

Guide to Viipuri ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Viipuri is one of the original castle counties (fiefs) of Finland. In 1721, Viipuri and Savonlinna counties were given to Russia under the terms of the Treaty of Nystad (Uudenkaupungin rauha; Swedish: Freden i Nystad) which ended the Great Northern War. This area was known as Old Finland (Vanha Suomi, Swedish: Gamla Finland). In 1812 Old Finland was annexed to the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1940 and 1944, most of Viipuri County (Swedish: Vyborgs län) was ceded to the Soviet Union as part of the Moscow Peace Treaty. In 1945 the remaining portion of the county was reorganized as Kymi County (Swedish: Kymmene län).

Districts
There are ten districts in Viipuri County, Jääski, Kurkijoki, Kymi, Käkisalmi, Lappee, Rajajoki, Ranna, Salmi, Sortavala, and Viipuri. As is true of all municipalities in Finland, the municipalities of Hamina, Kotka, Käkisalmi, Lappeenranta, Sortavala, and Viipuri have their own administration and are not part of any districts.

Archives
Mikkelin Kansallisarkisto
 * Visiting address: Pirttiniemenkatu 8 A
 * Postal address: PL 2, FI-50101 Mikkeli
 * Telephone (during the opening hours of the reading room): +358 29 533 7200