The Grand Duchy of Finland (Finnish: Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta, Swedish: Storfurstendömet Finland, Latin: Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ, Russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, Velikoye knyazhestvo Finlyandskoye; for the English translation; see also Grand Duke and Grand Prince) was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed between 1809 and 1917 as an autonomous part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian Emperor as Grand Duke.