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Aland Islands

Åland Islands
Flag of Åland Islands
Coat of arms of Åland Islands
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Islands of Peace"
Location of Åland within Finland and Europe. Åland in dark green, rest of Finland in light green.
Location of Åland within Finland and Europe. Åland in dark green, rest of Finland in light green.
Capital
and largest city
Mariehamn
60°07′N 019°54′E / 60.117°N 19.900°E / 60.117; 19.900
Official languages Swedish
Demonym
    • Ålandic
    • Ålandish
    • Ålänning
    • Åländare
  • Ahvenanmaalainen
Government Autonomous region of Finland
• Governora
Peter Lindbäck
• Premier
Katrin Sjögren
Legislature Lagting
Autonomy
• Act on the Autonomy of Åland
7 May 1920
• Recognized
1921b
1 January 1995c
Area
• Total
1,580 km2 (610 sq mi) (unranked)
Population
• 2016 estimate
29,013
• Density
18.36/km2 (47.6/sq mi)
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
• Total
$1.563 billion
• Per capita
$55,829
HDI (2007) 0.967
very high
Currency Euro (€)d (EUR)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)
EEST (UTC+3)
Calling code +358e
ISO 3166 code AX
Internet TLD .axf
  1. The governorship is an administrative post appointed by the Government of Finland and does not have any authority over the autonomous Government of Åland.
  2. Settled by the League of Nations following the Åland crisis.
  3. Åland held a separate referendum and then joined at the same time as the rest of Finland.
  4. Until 1999, the Finnish markka. The Swedish krona (SEK) is also widely used.
  5. Area code 18.
  6. Replacing .aland.fi from August 2006. The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with Finland and the rest of European Union member states.

The Åland Islands or Åland (Swedish: Åland, IPA: [ˈoːland]; Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) is a region of Finland that consists of an archipelago at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. It is autonomous, demilitarised and is the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in Finland. Collectively, the islands in the archipelago form the smallest region of Finland, constituting 0.49% of its land area and 0.50% of its population.

Åland comprises Fasta Åland on which 90% of the population resides and a further 6,500 skerries and islands to its east. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Sweden by 38 kilometres (24 mi) of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden.

Åland's autonomous status means that those provincial powers normally exercised by representatives of the central Finnish government are largely exercised by its own government.

The autonomous status of the islands was affirmed by a decision made by the League of Nations in 1921 following the Åland crisis. It was reaffirmed within the treaty admitting Finland to the European Union. By law, Åland is politically neutral and entirely demilitarised, and residents are exempt from conscription to the Finnish Defence Forces. The islands were granted extensive autonomy by the Parliament of Finland in the Act on the Autonomy of Åland of 1920, which was later replaced by new legislation by the same name in 1951 and 1991. Åland remains exclusively Swedish-speaking by this act.


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