French Regions Codexery

Åland

Autonomous, demilitarised Swedish-speaking region of Finland.

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Åland is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland, situated in an archipelago at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea.[1][2] Fasta Åland is home to approximately 90% of the archipelago's residents, while the remaining population lives across roughly 60 to 80 inhabited islands among a total of about 6,500 skerries and islands.[2] With an area of 1,580 km² and a population of 30,654, Åland became an autonomous region in 1920 and is Finland's smallest region in both measures.[3]

Geography and history

Åland's Regional Assembly held its first session in Mariehamn on 9 June 1922, now celebrated as Self-Government Day.[4] Of the nearly 300 habitable islands in the Åland archipelago, only about 60 to 80 are inhabited; the remaining more than 6,000 are small skerries and bare rocks.[5] Approximately 7,000 years ago, following post-glacial land uplift, settlers of the Comb Ceramic culture arrived on the Åland Islands.[6] Kastelholm Castle, whose construction started in the 1380s, is one of only five surviving medieval fortresses in Finland.[7][8]

Under the 1809 Treaty of Fredrikshamn, Sweden transferred both Åland and Finland to the Russian Empire.[9] The fortress of Bomarsund was seized and demolished by British and French troops during the 1854 Crimean War.[10][11] Following 1917, Ålanders sought union with Sweden; a 1919 petition saw 96.4% of voters favour secession from Finland.[12]

What the cited sources add

According to the same source, the demilitarisation means Åland may not be fortified, no military forces may be stationed there, and the import of weapons is forbidden.[11] The Kastelholm castle travel page records that the castle was the centre of witch trials in the 1660s, resulting in the execution of several women.[8] That same source states that the amount transferred is adjusted based on changes in Åland's share of Finland's total population.[13] The travel page also notes that during the 1930s the best preserved part of Kastelholm Castle was renovated to house the Ålandic cultural-historical museum until the 1960s.[8]

According to the Government of Åland's 2022 frequently asked questions document, the demilitarisation established in 1856 was reaffirmed by a 1921 international convention that also declared Åland neutral.[11] The Åland Museum reports that over 380 Viking Age burial sites have been recorded across the islands.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "ÅLAND ISLANDS Meaning & Definition for UK English Lexico.com", 5 November 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Aland Islands", Osterholm.info, 9 May 2012; "Natural Wonders of the World", Reader's Digest Association, Inc, 1980, p. 3 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hannum, "Basic Documents on Autonomy and Minority Rights", Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1993, p. 141; "Population by year, age, municipality and sex-PxWeb 2021 v1", PxWeb 2021 v1. Ålands statistik- och utredningsbyrå, ÅSUB (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ahvenanmaa pähkinänkuoressa", 2007, p. 3; "Ahvenanmaan historiaa lyhyesti", Pohjola Norden (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Natural Wonders of the World", Reader's Digest Association, Inc, 1980, p. 3 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Åland, the history", Åland Museum (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Kastelholm castle - ÅLAND.travel", www.aland.travel (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "The Kastelholm castle - ÅLAND.travel", www.aland.travel. facts only, no text reused. aland.travel
  9. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Solemn Assurance of the Sovereign given by the Emperor Alexander I 1809" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Uneasy Sweden and the Menace of Prussianism; An Analysis of the Scandinavian Situation in View of Kaiser's Reported Ambition to Make the Baltic a German Lake", Query.nytimes.com; Eriksson, "Åland Kort och gott", Ålands landskapsstyrelse och Ålands lagting, 1993 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. "Frågor och svar om Ålands demilitarisering", Government of Åland, 5 May 2022. facts only, no text reused. regeringen.ax
  12. Wikipedia, "Åland" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Müller, "Åland-Inseln (Finnland), ??. Juni 1919 : Anschluss an Schweden", Sudd.ch, June 1919; "The Birth of Finnish Nationalism", Finland Divided, 21 September 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. "Lagtingets uppgifter", Lagtinget.ax, 22 October 2015. facts only, no text reused. lagtinget.ax

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Åland (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Finnish languageCrimean War

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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