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OLAND

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 63 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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OLAND , an See also:

island in the Baltic See also:Sea, next to See also:Gotland the largest belonging to See also:Sweden, stretching for 85 m. along the See also:east See also:coast of the See also:southern extremity of that See also:country, from which it is separated by See also:Kalmar See also:Sound which is from 5 to 15 M. broad. The greatest breadth of the island is 10 m., and its See also:area 519 sq. m. Pop. (xgoo) 30,408. Consisting for the most See also:part of See also:Silurian See also:limestone, and thus forming a striking contrast to the mainland with its See also:granite and See also:gneiss, Oland is further remarkable on See also:account of the peculiarities of its structure. Down the See also:west See also:side for a considerable distance runs a limestone See also:ridge, rising usually in terraces, but at times in steep cliffs, to an extreme height of 200 ft.; and along the. east side there is a parallel ridge of See also:sand, resting on limestone, never exceeding 90 ft. These ridges, known as the Western and Eastern Landborgar, are connected towards the See also:north and the See also:south by belts of sand and See also:heath; and the hollow between them is occupied by a desolate and almost barren See also:tract: the southern portion, or Alfvar (forming fully See also:half of the southern part of the island), presents a See also:surface of See also:bare red See also:lime-See also:stone scored by superficial cracks and unfathomed fissures, and calcined by the See also:heat refracted from the surrounding heights. The See also:northern portion is covered at best with a copse of See also:hazel bushes. Outside the ridges, however, Oland has quite a different aspect, the hillsides being not infrequently clothed with clumps of trees, while the narrow See also:strip of alluvial coast-See also:land, with its cornfields, windmills, villages and See also:church towers, appears fruitful and prosperous. There are a few small streams in the island; and one See also:lake, Hornsjo, about 3 M. See also:long, deserves mention. Of the See also:fir See also:woods which once clothed a considerable area in the north the Boda See also:crown-See also:park is the only remnant. See also:Grain, especially See also:barley, and See also:sandstone, are exported from the island, and there are See also:cement See also:works.

A number of monuments of unknown See also:

age exist, including stones (stensattningar) arranged in See also:groups to represent See also:ships. The only See also:town is Borgholm, a watering-See also:place on the west coast, with one of the finest See also:castle ruins in Sweden. The town was founded in 1817, but the castle, dating at least from the 13th See also:century, was one of the strongest fortresses, and afterwards, as erected by the architect Nicodemus See also:Tessin the See also:elder (1615-1681), one of the most stately palaces in the country. The island was joined in 1824 to the administrative See also:district (lan) of Kalmar. Its inhabitants were formerly styled Oningar, and show considerable diversity of origin in the See also:matter of speech, See also:local customs and See also:physical See also:appearance. From the See also:raid of Ragnar Lodbrok's sons in 775 Oland is frequently mentioned in Scandinavian See also:history, and especially as a battleground in the See also:wars between See also:Denmark and the northern kingdoms. In the See also:middle ages it formed a See also:separate legislative and administrative unity.

End of Article: OLAND

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