Mariehamn: Finnish city founded by Russians, in which only Swedes live

Finland includes one very unusual territory - the Åland Islands, which are located in the Baltic Sea. Despite the fact that it is part of Finland, only Swedish is the official language, and even the flag of the islands has its own. Moreover, the capital of this autonomous province, the city of Mariehamn, was founded by decree of the Russian emperor and bears the name of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

The Åland Islands are located at the outlet of the Gulf of Bothnia, between Finland and Sweden, at approximately the same distance from these two countries. This intermediate and at the same time strategically important position caused the islands to become the subject of disputes between the Baltic Sea countries and ultimately gained the status of an autonomous demilitarized zone with its own flag, coat of arms and independent parliament.

Over the centuries, the Åland Islands changed their "citizenship" more than once, but the Swedes were the main population of the islands. By the beginning of the XIX century, after the defeat of Sweden in the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809, the territory of the Aland Islands, like the rest of the Principality of Finland, became part of the Russian Empire.

In 1832, to strengthen the western borders of the empire, a Russian fortress called Bomarsund was built on the island of Aland, the largest in the entire archipelago. Despite the fact that the plan of the fortress was thought out very carefully, they did not manage to finish it by the beginning of the Crimean War and the combined Anglo-French fleet destroyed it in 1854. Today, the ruins of the fortress remind of the turbulent military past of the Åland Islands and are a popular attraction visited by tourists.

The capital of the autonomous province is the city of Maarianhamina, which in Swedish sounds like Mariehamn. The city was founded in 1861 by decree of the Russian emperor Alexander II. The capital received a name in honor of the Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II, and the name of the city is translated as "Mary's Harbor". In Mariehamn, we will call it in the Swedish manner, since this is Swedish autonomy, there is even a beautiful monument to Maria Alexandrovna, which was opened in 2011.

But back to the difficult history of the Åland Islands. After the collapse of the Russian Empire and the independence of Finland, the Swedish population of the Åland Islands made several attempts to secede and become part of Sweden. But neither the landing of the Swedish armed forces on the islands, nor the proclamation of their own flag, nor the political crisis that dragged on for years, brought the desired result. The international community did not support the Swedish initiative, and the Åland Islands remained part of Finland, albeit with a very wide range of rights and privileges.

As far back as 1856, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed, according to which the Aland Islands were given the status of a defected zone, and after the signing of the Aland Convention in 1921, the islands received the status of a demilitarized zone, which remains to this day.

Today, the population of the islands is just over 29 thousand people, while about 11 thousand inhabitants live in the capital. The ethnic composition of the province is quite homogeneous - more than 91% of the population are the so-called Finnish Swedes. The only official language on the islands is Swedish. Although Finnish is studied at the school, it is spoken by about 5% of the population of the islands. It has its own parliament independent of Finland - lagting, and the Finnish Swedes living in the Åland Islands are exempted from military service in the ranks of the Finnish armed forces.

If the population of the islands does not exceed 30,000 people, then there are much more tourists. According to experts, the Aland Islands are visited annually by more than 2 million travelers and their popularity is growing. This is due to the convenient transit location, developed services and the rich history of the island. In addition to tourism, the economy of the Åland Islands is based on agriculture, fisheries, as well as services related to the transit of cargo ships.

Watch the video: Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland (April 2024).