The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1997/The_Epic_Interactive_Encyclopedia_97.iso/a/aland_islands/infotext

Text File | 1992-09-02 | 489b | 14 lines

(Finnish Ahvenanmaa `land of waters')
Group of some 6,000 islands in the Baltic
Sea, at the southern extremity of the Gulf of
Bothnia; area 1,481 sq km/572 sq mi;
population (1988) 23,900. Only 80 are
inhabited; the largest island has a small
town, Mariehamn. When Finland became
independent 1917, the Swedish-speaking
islanders claimed the right of
self-determination, and were granted
autonomous status 1920. The main sectors of
the island economy are tourism, agriculture
and shipping.