On the other side, Sweden aimed to take over the Åland islands from Finland by sending a naval military expedition there on 15 February 1918.

Åland is a collection of around 6, 500 islands midway between Sweden and Finland.

The islands are almost exclusively Swedish-speaking, but in 1809, Sweden had lost both Finland and the Åland Islands to Imperial Russia.

However, the Finnish government considered the islands to be a part of their new nation, as the Russians had included Åland in the Grand Duchy of Finland, formed in 1809.

* the Baltic Sea ( including the Gulf of Bothnia ) to the east, with the autonomous Åland islands between Sweden and Finland, and Gotland.

* Åland islands: Thanks to a law revision by the Government of Åland concerning " small electrically powered vehicles ", the Segway and all other, mainly aimed to be one person electrical vehicles, are in Åland classified as bicycles since 14 March 2012.

* November 8 – Finnair flight OH-LCA crashes before landing at Mariehamn airport on the Åland islands.

In July 2010, 168 bottles were found on board a shipwreck near the Åland islands in the Baltic Sea by Finnish diver Christian Ekström.

Although Swedish-speaking culture had been expanding eastwards through the Åland islands and along what are now the coastal regions of Finland for several centuries, the Second Swedish Crusade, undertaken by Birger Jarl in the later 1240s, is generally taken as the moment when the region now called Finland was incorporated into the Swedish state.

But the defeats of at the Battle of Sävar and Battle of Ratan August 19 and August 20, 1809 broke the spirit of the Swedish Army ; and peace was obtained by the surrender of the entire Finland, the Åland islands, " the fore-posts of Stockholm ," as Napoleon described them, and Västerbotten and Lappland as far as the rivers of Torneå and Muonio at the Treaty of Fredrikshamn, on September 17, 1809.

During the negotiations, Swedish representatives had namely endeavoured to escape the loss of the Åland islands, " the fore-posts of Stockholm ," as Napoleon rightly described them.

The Åland islands were culturally, ethnically and linguistically purely Swedish, but such facts were of no significance at that time.

In the course of the 19th century it would also turn out that the Åland islands were a British interest, which after the Crimean War led to the demilitarization of the islands according to the Åland Convention included in the Treaty of Paris ( 1856 ).

European Union law also applies in territories where a member state is responsible for external relations, for example Gibraltar and the Åland islands.

He successfully led the Swedish retreat from the Åland islands over the frozen Baltic sea.

In Ostrobothnia and the Åland islands there is an extra multiplex available which provides encrypted channels from Sweden, along with respective local stations, and of course due to overlapping signals, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian and Estonian stations are able to be seen near the border areas and vice versa.

When Finland declared its independence in 1917, the newly established state inherited the Åland islands.

The council decided unanimously, that the islands would remain under Finland's sovereignty, but stated that the native population's rights to their own language had to be preserved, that the area had to stay demilitarized and that Åland was granted autonomy during peace time.

Åland, a group of islands belonging to Finland, but with partial autonomy, located between Sweden and Finland, with a Swedish-speaking population, joined the EU along with Finland in 1995.

The island province of Åland is located near the 60th parallel between Sweden and Finland.

Prior to 1809, the Åland Islands were located within the boundaries of the Swedish realm.

Långsjön, the largest lake in Åland, is located in the municipality, as is the Almskogen nature reserve.

This is not so strange, considering the church is located in the middle of the biggest grave field from Iron Age in Åland.

Tjudö is a village located on the Åland Islands.

It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County and is served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, operated by Viking Line, with 3 services per day and direction during peak season.

Another example is Åland where the residents enjoy a special provincial citizenship within Finland, hembygdsrätt.

On the Danish flag, the cross design, which represents Christianity, was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries ; Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Åland Islands and the Faroe Islands, as well as the Scottish archipelagos of Shetland and Orkney.

For strategic reasons, however, the League of Nations awarded the Åland Islands to Finland in 1921.

This flag, called the Dannebrog, inspired the cross design of the other Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and regional Scandinavian flags for the Faroe Islands, Åland, Scania and Bornholm, as well as flags for the non-Scandinavian Shetland and Orkney.

On 5 March a German naval squadron landed in the southwestern archipelago of Finland, on the Åland Islands, which the Swedish military expedition had taken over in mid-February.

The Nordic countries all have the same design ( Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, in addition to the autonomous regions of the Faroe Islands and Åland ), a horizontal cross on a single-colored background.

* In Finland, the market leader in potato chips business is Taffel ( known in Denmark and Norway as KiMs and marketed in Sweden under the name OLW ), an Åland company, with salt flavored ordinary chips " Sips ", popular tube-shaped cheese flavored " Juusto Snacks ", sour cream and onion flavored " Broadway ", and barbecue flavored " Grill Chips ".

File: Aland coat of arms. svg | Arms of the province of Åland, Finland

The crown jewels and other royal regalia of Denmark are kept in Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen. The never used crown of the King of Finland and Karelia, Duke of Åland, Grand Prince of Lapland, Lord of Kaleva and the North

In 1918 a unique crown was designed in Finland for the proposed " King of Finland and Karelia, Duke of Åland, Grand Prince of Lapland, Lord of Kaleva and the North " ( Suomen ja Karjalan kuningas, Ahvenanmaan herttua, Lapinmaan suuriruhtinas, Kalevan ja Pohjolan isäntä ).

* Åland Islands, Finland

During the Finnish Campaign of 1808, by a daring march across the frozen Gulf of Finland, Bagration captured the Åland Islands, and in 1809 he led the Russian army against the Turks at the battles of Rassowa and Tataritza.

It is a matter of definition whether the Swedish dialects spoken on Åland are to be considered a kind of Finland Swedish or not.

* Sund, Åland, a municipality in Finland

* Åland Islands, Finland

* Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland

* Åland ( Ahvenanmaa in Finnish ) is an autonomous island region on the coast of Finland ( in the Gulf of Bothnia ).