Åland är en ögrupp i mellersta Östersjön mellan det finländska fastlandet och Sverige. Åland är ett självstyrt län i Finland men är officielt enspråkigt svenskt och har en kultur snarlik den svenska. Ålands unika politiska status gör att Åland har en egen regering och ett eget parlament med rätt att stifta egna lagar. Landskapet är dessutom en demilitariserad zon och Ålands status skyddas av internationella garantier. Ålands folkmängd är ca. 27 000, och dess endast stad är Mariehamn.
Ahvenanmaa on keskisessä Itämeressä Suomen mantereen ja Ruotsin välissä sijaitseva saariryhmä. Se on myös maakunta, jolle on erillislailla myönnetty laaja itsehallinto. Ahvenanmaan ainoa virallinen kieli on ruotsi, ja sen se on kulttuurisesti suuntautunut Ruotsiin. Maakunta on demilitarisoitu kansainvälisillä sopimuksilla. Se on aluejaossa lähinnä rinnasteinen Suomen viiteen lääniin. Sen väkiluku on noin 27 000 ja sen ainoa kaupunki on Maarianhamina.
Åland (Fins: Ahvenanmaa) is een eilandengroep in het midden van de Oostzee, gelegen tussen het vasteland van Zweden en dat van Finland. Het is een autonome provincie van Finland: Het heeft een eigen politieke status met een grote mate van autonomie en een eigen parlement. Åland is officieel gedemilitariseerd door internationale verdragen. Åland is officieel ééntalig Zweeds en cultureel heeft het meer verwantschap met Zweden dan met Finland. Het aantal inwoners bedraagt ongeveer 27.000 en de enige stad van belang is de hoofdstad Mariehamn.
English
Åland - Province of Åland Åland, also called the Åland Islands (in Finnish, Ahvenanmaa), is an archipelago at the approximate midpoint of the Baltic Sea, between continental ► Finland and ► Sweden. It is an autonomous administrative province of Finland. Its only official language is Swedish, and culturally, it leans towards Sweden. It has a unique political status within Finland, with a wide degree of autonomy and its own parliament. The province has been demilitarised by international treaties. Åland's population is approximately 27,000, and its only city is Mariehamn (in Finnish, Maarianhamina).
Short name
Åland
Official name
Province of Åland
Status
Autonomous province of ► Finland under international treaty, Finnish since 1918
This section holds a short summary of the history of the area of present-day Åland, illustrated with maps, including historical maps of former countries and empires that included present-day Åland. From 1634 the Swedish archipelago of Åland was a part of the province of Turku and Pori. In 1809, when Finland became part of Russia, as the Grand Duchy of Finland, Åland followed. After the independence of Finland in 1917, disputes over the ownership of the arose between Sweden and Finland. Initially Sweden occupied the islands, followed by German forces at the request of the Finnish government. Though the residents of the islands favoured cession back to Sweden, the League of Nations decided in 1921 that Finland shall retain the sovereignty over the province, though the islands shall become an autonomous territory. A year later, Finland established the autonomous region of the Åland islands.
No maps are available, though relevant maps can be found at the Atlas of Finland and the Atlas of Sweden.
Old maps
This section holds copies of original general maps more than 70 years old.
Swedish-language map of Åland
Svenskspråkig karta över Åland
Map of Åland and Turku (1894)
Karta över Åland och Åbo (1894)
Notes and references
General remarks:
The WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Atlas of the World is an organized and commented collection of geographical, political and historical maps available at Wikimedia Commons. The main page is therefore the portal to maps and cartography on Wikimedia. That page contains links to entries by country, continent and by topic as well as general notes and references.
Every entry has an introduction section in English. If other languages are native and/or official in an entity, introductions in other languages are added in separate sections. The text of the introduction(s) is based on the content of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. For sources of the introduction see therefore the Wikipedia entries linked to. The same goes for the texts in the history sections.
Historical maps are included in the continent, country and dependency entries.
The status of various entities is disputed. See the content for the entities concerned.
The maps of former countries that are more or less continued by a present-day country or had a territory included in only one or two countries are included in the atlas of the present-day country. For example the Ottoman Empire can be found in the Atlas of Turkey.