The Counties of Finland was the administrative division of Finland from 1634 to 1997. The counties were introduced by Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna when Finland was a part of Sweden, to supercede an older division into the Provinces of Sweden. A major change occurred in 1808 when Sweden after being defeated in the Finnish War was forced to cede the Finnish counties to Russia under the Treaty of Fredrikshamn. The counties never the less continued to be the basic geographical and administrative subdivision of the country during the time as a Grand Duchy in the Russian Empire and after independence in 1917 and until 1997, when a reform introduced the Provinces of Finland.