Åland Islands

Autonomous region of Finland

Region:

Northern Europe

Area:

1,580 km²

Further names:

Landskapet Åland

Local name:

Ahvenanmaa

Capital:

Mariehamn

Geography

The Åland Islands are a group of islands on the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland. The small state has a total area of 1,580 km². This area is about 1.2 times the size of Los Angeles. The island group consists of 6,757 smaller and mostly uninhabited islands. The Åland Islands have no direct neighbours. The distance between New York City and the Capital Mariehamn is about 6,380 km.

On further pages:

Current time on the Åland Islands:

00:00

März 2021

The countrywide time on the Åland Islands is Eastern European Time (EET).
As in many countries far away from the equator, there is a daylight saving time in summer.
Related to GMT, the time difference is usually +2 hours in summer and +3 hours in winter.

Timezones and clock changes Sunrise and sunset

Population

Population:

29,013

Population per km²:18.36

Currency

The currency on the Åland Islands is Euro (EUR).
1 Euro is divided into 100 Cent.
Status: 03/04/2021

1 US Dollar = 0.83 Euro
1 Euro = 1.21 US Dollar

The climate on the Åland Islands

The country is much further away from the equator than Central Europe. This means that the winter days on the Åland Islands are much darker, colder and also shorter. The country is under cold polar climate. Depending on the season, the average daytime temperatures range between -4 and 16 degrees. In the colder months and depending in the region, the temperature lowers down to -9°C in a month's average.

Average daytime and nighttime temperatures

Detailed climate data for the Åland Islands and 2 geographic regions of the country

Languages

Official language:

Swedish

mother tongue	distribution
› Swedish	88.3 %
› Finnish	4.8 %
› Latvian	1.0 %
› Romanian	1.0 %
› Estonian	0.7 %
› Russian	0.5 %
other	3.7 %

Religions

Branch	distribution
Lutherans	78.3%
Greek Orthodoxes	0.3%
Roman Catholics	0.3%
Jehovah's Witnesses	0.2%
nondenominational	20.5%
other	0.4%

Land use

13% Agricultural areas:	202 km²
57% Forest:	900 km²
2% Water areas:	28 km²
28% Others:	450 km²

Transport

Roadways:	1,200 km
› Airports:	1

Country status Åland

Åland is an autonomous island province of Finland, between Finland and Sweden. As such, it is partly dependent on Finland, but is largely self-governing. Since the Middle Ages the Åland Islands were Swedish and became part of the Russian Tsarist Empire in 1809. In 1921 and the region was granted to Finland under a demilitarized status. In the course of the 20th century there were numerous conflicts over the assignment of Åland to Finland and Sweden respectively.

The country's own flag is based on the Swedish past. Politically, too, Åland is predominantly oriented towards Sweden. Due to the dependency relationship, the inhabitants of Åland also participate in the elections of the Finnish parliament and its president. They also have Finnish citizenship, which is supplemented by a "right of residence" in Åland. This right of citizenship does not have the status of a second citizenship, but it does have functions.

Åland has its own national flag, license plates that differ from those of Finland, but currently still uses the Finnish telephone area code. The only official language of the country is Swedish. The Åland parliament has been freely elected since 1922, and the national holiday on June 9 dates back to the country's first plenary session.

Most important cities

City	Region	Population
Mariehamn / Capital	Mariehamns stad	12,000
Jomala	Ålands landsbygd	3,660
Finström	Ålands landsbygd	2,410
Lemland	Ålands landsbygd	1,830
Saltvik	Ålands landsbygd	1,690
Hammarland	Ålands landsbygd	1,400
Sund	Ålands landsbygd	1,080
Eckerö	Ålands landsbygd	1,030
Föglö	Ålands skärgård	632
Brändö	Ålands skärgård	515
Geta	Ålands landsbygd	452
Vårdö	Ålands skärgård	411
Kumlinge	Ålands skärgård	384
Kökar	Ålands skärgård	355