Actually it was given to Finland by the League of Nations. There was no referendum but prominent Alanders were of the opinion that Aland should be given to Sweden and of course Sweden had nothing against it. Now it is a demilitarised area with quite extensive autonomy. Last time there was a poll about the matter the majority preferred to stay with Finland - no doubt because it is financially beneficial.
The idea of an independent state with a population of a major village - 25000 - is, well ... interesting. All the best! Raimo Personal photography homepage at http://www.uusikaupunki.fi/~raikorho -----Alkuperäinen viesti----- Lähettäjä: Anders Hultman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Vastaanottaja: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Päivä: 31. tammikuuta 2004 19:17 Aihe: Re: Using multiple cameras and formats (wasRe: * ist DigitalQuestion) >Stan Halpin: > >>Right. But If I say Aland, who but you and Anders would know what/where >>that is? If I just say Sweden, I am insulting Aland. > >I'd think that would be more insulting to Finland than to Åland, >actually, since Åland formally is part of Finland and not Sweden, >even though historically Åland has had closer ties to Sweden. > >Sometime in the early 1900's, a referendum was held on the island, >where the inhabitants voted to belong to Sweden, but Finland claimed >it anyway. > >Lasse, what is the current status on that? What do you ålänningar >think nowadays? > >anders >------------------------- >http://anders.hultman.nu/ >
