Åland - a self-governing island nation
We are 30,500 people from Åland who welcome you to our autonomous islands. Feel free to visit all our 16 municipalities, where the city of Mariehamn with 11,800 inhabitants is the largest. If you go out to the islands with one of the small ferries, you will see a unique archipelago with many unspoiled islands. The smooth rocks made of red granites are special for Åland.
Åland is a self-governing province within Finland, is monolingual Swedish and has strong ties to Sweden both historically and culturally. Prior to 1809 we belonged to Sweden, but after Finland’s independence in 1917 from Russia Åland belonged to Finland by a decision of the League of Nations, former UN. As early as 1856, Åland was demilitarized.
Self-government means that the Ålanders have the right to make laws about their internal affairs and have budget power. Our legislative assembly, the Legislative Assembly, appoints the executive body, the provincial government. We have our own flag, our own stamps, our own top-level domain (.ax) and our own representation in the Nordic Council. Since 1995, we belong to the EU, but are outside the EU's tax union. Finland's NATO membership does not affect Åland's demilitarized status.
The Ålanders have always been sailors, right from the first canoe-borne natives, who landed here 5000 years ago, to today's modern shipping. In the Middle Ages, Åland was situated in ’the heart of the great power Sweden’, located in the waterway between Sweden and Russia. Even then, the Ålanders traded both in Stockholm in the West and Reval in the East. In the 19th century, peasant segregation arose and then the shipping industry began to flourish. Shipping is now dominated by passenger and freighter traffic, located at our ports.
More information is available at www.aland.ax
We wish you a pleasant stay on our islands.
