Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

ALAND ISLANDS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 469 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

ALAND ISLANDS , an See also:

archipelago at the entrance to the Gulf of See also:Bothnia, about 25 M. from the See also:coast of See also:Sweden; and 15 from that of See also:Finland. The See also:group, which forms See also:part of the Finnish See also:province of See also:Abo-See also:Bjorneborg, consists of nearly three See also:hundred islands, of which'about eighty are inhabited, the See also:remainder being desolate rocks. These islands See also:form a continuation of a dangerous 'See also:granite See also:reef extending along the See also:south coast of Finland. They formerly belonged to Sweden, and in the neighbourhood the first victory of the See also:Russian See also:fleet over the Swedes was gained by See also:Peter the See also:Great in 1714. They, were ceded to See also:Russia in 1809. They occupy a See also:total See also:area of 1426 sq. km., and their See also:present See also:population is estimated at about 19,000. The See also:majority of these occupy the See also:island of Aland, upon which is Situated the See also:town of Mariehamn with a population of 1171. The inhabitants are mostly of See also:Swedish descent, and are See also:hardy See also:seamen and fishermen., The See also:surface of the islands is generally sandy, the See also:soil thin and the See also:climate keen; yet Scotch See also:fir, spruce and See also:birch are grown; and See also:rye, See also:barley, See also:flax and vegetables ,are produced in sufficient quantity for the wants of the See also:people. Great See also:numbers of See also:cattle are reared; and See also:cheese, See also:butter and hides, as well as salted See also:meat and See also:fish, are exhorted. There are several excellent harbours (notably that of Ytternas), which were at one See also:time of great importance to Russia from the fact that they are frozen up for a much briefer See also:period than those on the coast of Finland. The Aland Islands occupy a position of the greatest strategic importance, commanding as they do both the entrance to the See also:port of See also:Stockholm and the approaches to the Gulf of Bothnia, through which the greater part of the See also:trade of Sweden is carried on. When, by the 4th See also:article of the treaty of Fredrikshavn (Friedrichshamn), 5/17 See also:September 18o9, the islands were ceded to Russia, together with the territories forming the See also:grand-duchy of Finland on the mainland, the Swedes were unable to secure a See also:provision that the islands should not be fortified.

The question was, however, a vital one not only for Sweden but for Great See also:

Britain, whose trade in the Baltic was threatened. In 1854, accordingly, during the See also:Crimean See also:War, an Anglo-See also:French force attacked and destroyed the fortress of Bomersund, against the erection of which See also:Palmerston had protested without effect some twenty years previously. By the " Aland See also:Convention," concluded between Great Britain, See also:France and Russia on the 3oth of See also:March 1856, it was stipulated that " the Aland Islands shall not be fortified, and that no military or See also:naval establishments shall be maintained or created on them." By the 33rd article of the treaty of See also:Paris (1856) this convention, annexed to the final See also:act, was given " the same force and validity as if it formed part thereof," Palmerston declaring in the See also:House of See also:Commons (May 6) that it had " placed a barrier between Russia and the See also:north of See also:Europe." Some See also:attention was attracted to this arrangement when in 1906 it was asserted that Russia, under pretext of stopping the See also:smuggling of arms into Finland, was massingconsiderable naval and military forces at the islands. The question of the Aland Islands created some discussion in 1907 and 1908 in connexion with the new North See also:Sea agreements, and undoubtedly Russia considered the convention of 1856 as rather humiliating. But it was plainly shown by other See also:powers that they did not propose to regard it as modified or open to question, and the point was not definitely and officially raised. See the article by Dr Verner Soderberg in the See also:National See also:Review, No. 392, for See also:April 1908.

End of Article: ALAND ISLANDS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ALAMOS DE BARRIENTOS, BALTASAR (1555-1640) 		[next]
ALANI (Gr. 'AXavoi, 'AAavvoi ; Chinese 'O-lan-na; s...

Site © 2006 - Net Industries