Åland – the autonomous island kingdom in the Baltic Sea
Åland is an archipelago on the border of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia above Stockholm, about at the level of Turku in Finland.
Since 1921, Åland has been a self-governing Swedish-speaking area in Finland with its own parliament, which can legislate in the fields of education, health care, the economy, transport and local government. The archipelago comprises around 20,000 islands and skerries, 6,700 of which have names and only around 60 are inhabited.
| Name in Swedish | Åla |
| Term in Finnish | Ahvenanmaa |
| Form of government | autonomous Swedish-speaking region in Finla |
| Geographical location | located approximately on a northern longitude of 60 ° between Sweden and Finla |
| National anthem | länningens sång |
| Population | around 29,000 (Credit: Countryaah: Åland Islands Population) |
| Ethnicities | Over 30% of the population were born outside of Åland. Those who were born here or have lived here for more than 5 years can receive the Ålandic “Hembygdsrätt” – a kind of citizenship |
| Religions | the majority belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, about 12%; about 0.6% are non-denominational, 0.18% Jehovah’s Witnesses, 0.14% Roman Catholic |
| Languages | The official language is Swedish, and Finnish is also spoken |
| Capital | Mariehamn with around 11,000 residents |
| Surface | Total area 13,517 km² – with a land portion of 1,527 km² |
| National currency | Euros and not the Swedish krona |
| Time difference to CET | + 1 h |
| International phone code | 00358 |
| Mains voltage, frequency | 230 volts, 50 hertz |
| International license plate | AX |
| Top Level Domain (TLD) | .ax |
Åland: history
According to Abbreviationfinder website, the first residents to live on the Åland Islands around 5,500 years ago were seal hunters and fishermen. Traces of settlements from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages were found here. The Stone Age extends from the beginning of mankind to around the year 2200 BC. The Bronze Age followed and lasted from approx. 2200 to 800 BC. Then came the Iron Age, which in principle lasts until today. It should be mentioned that the period between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age is often referred to as the Copper Age or Copper Age. The best-known representative from this epoch is the “Ötzi” found in a glacier in Austria, dating from around 3300 BC. Had lived.
There are also numerous Viking graves on the islands. After the Åland Islands had been so well depopulated for around 200 years for unknown reasons, immigrants from the west came in the 7th century, who are among the ancestors of today’s population. The first Christian king of Sweden was Olof Skötkonung (Olaf Schatzkönig) who was born around 980 and died around 1022
Around 1323 parts of Finland and Åland came under Swedish rule and remained so until 1809. In that year, as a result of the “Finnish War”, the Treaty of Frederikshamn came about, in which parts of Finland and Åland came under Russian rule. A Grand Duchy of Finland was founded, which belonged to Russia but enjoyed relatively great political freedom. During the First World War, the Finnish Parliament declared its independence on December 6, 1917. And Åland has been an autonomous Swedish-speaking region in Finland since 1921.
