The State Provincial Office on the Åland Islands (Länsstyrelsen på Åland) represented the Finnish central government in Åland between 1918 and 2009. Due to its autonomy, it had somewhat different functions than similar offices in other Provinces of Finland. Generally a State Provincial Office was a joint regional authority of seven different ministries of the Government of Finland. In Åland, the State Provincial Office also represented a set of other authorities of the central government, which in mainland-Finland has separate bureaucracies. On the other hand, duties, which on mainland-Finland were handled by the provincial offices, were transferred to the autonomous government of Åland.