Åland Islands

Статья посвящена Або-Аландской укрепленной позиции во время Первой мировой войны с точки зрения присутствия на Аландских островах русского гарнизона. Кратко описывается укрепленная позиция, приводится численность солдат, офицеров и вспомогательных чинов в период 1915-1918 годов. Опираясь на источники, в указанный период рассматриваются служба и быт русских солдат, а также их взаимоотношения с местными жителями. Особое внимание уделено восприятию гарнизона жителями Аландского архипелага и взаимодействию властей (как русских военных, так и местных гражданских) в случае контактов аландцев и солдат.
The article deals with the Abo-Aland Archipelago Position during World War 1 from the point of the Russian garrison dislocation on the Aland Islands. It gives a short description of the fortified position, and the number of officers, soldiers and auxiliary ranks in years from 1915 to 1918. Basing on sources, we survey the service and daily life of Russian soldiers and their relations with the locals. The article puts special attention on how Alanders perceived the garrison and on the interaction of authorities (both Russian militaries and local civil bodies) in cases of contacts between Alanders and soldiers.

Åland und Südtirol im rechtlichen Vergleich – Vor und Nachteile der europäischen Integration - Entwicklung des EU-Rechtes zugunsten der Regionen. Die Europäische Union gewinnt immer größeren Einfluss, bestimmt einen zunehmenden Teil der Gesetzgebung und beschneidet damit auch Kompetenzen der Autonomien, die ethnischen Minderheiten zum Schutz ihrer Eigenart verliehen worden waren. Am Beispiel der Autonomien Südtirols und Åland sollen die Eingriffe in die Autonomien analysiert und Vor- und Nachteile abgewogen werden.

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AUTONOMIES ON THE TOUCHSTONE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION, ÅLAND AND SOUTH TYROL IN LEGAL COMPARISON.
Åland and South Tyrol in legal comparison - Advantages and disadvantages of European integration - Development of EU law in favour of the regions. -
The European Union is gaining more and more influence, determines an increasing part of the legislation and thus also reduces competences of the autonomies that had been granted to ethnic minorities to protect their individuality. Using the example of the autonomies of South Tyrol and Åland, the interventions in the autonomies will be analysed and advantages and disadvantages weighed up.

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AUTONOMIE IN TENSIONE CON L'INTEGRAZIONE EUROPEA, L'ÅLAND E L'ALTO ADIGE NEL RAFFRONTO GIURIDICO.
Vantaggi e svantaggi dell'integrazione europea - Sviluppo del diritto comunitario a favore delle regioni. L'Unione Europea sta acquisendo sempre più influenza, determina una parte crescente della legislazione e quindi riduce anche le competenze delle autonomie che erano state concesse alle minoranze etniche per proteggere la loro individualità. Prendendo come esempio le autonomie dell'Alto Adige e dell'Åland, si analizzano gli interventi nelle autonomie e si valutano vantaggi e svantaggi.

Åland is located in the far north, is a small group of islands between Sweden and Finland with only 30,000 inhabitants. South Tyrol lies on the southern slope of the Alps, with over 500,000 inhabitants. Both areas seem to have little in common. In reality, however, they are united by the peculiarity of autonomy and a common destiny. Åland is populated by a Swedish population but became part of Finland after the First World War. South Tyrol was detached from its motherland Tyrol and Austria in the same period and became part of Italy. For both minorities, autonomy was supposed to be a substitute for self-determination. After difficult years, they acquired autonomy, which is often praised as a model for the solution of minority issues. This comparative study will analyse the extent of these autonomies and their strengths and weaknesses.
The comparison is also well suited because both autonomous provinces, South Tyrol and Åland, not only belong to EU member states, but their kin states, Sweden and Austria, are also EU members.---------

DEUTSCH
Åland liegt im hohen Norden, ist eine kleine Inselgruppe zwischen Schweden und Finnland mit nur 30.000 Einwohnern. Südtirol liegt am Südhang der Alpen, mit über 500.000 Einwohnern. Beide Gebiete scheinen wenig gemeinsam zu haben. In Wirklichkeit verbindet sie aber die Besonderheit einer Autonomie und ein gemeinsames Schicksal. Åland ist von einer schwedischen Bevölkerung besiedelt, wurde aber nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg zu Finnland geschlagen. Südtirol wurde in der gleichen Zeit von seinem Mutterland Tirol und Österreich losgetrennt und zu Italien geschlagen. Für beide Minderheiten sollte die Autonomie einen Ersatz für die Selbstbestimmung darstellen. Nach teils schwierigen Jahren erkämpften sie sich eine Autonomie, die vielfach als Vorbild für die Lösung von Minderheitenfragen gepriesen wird. In dieser Vergleichsstudie soll analysiert werden, wie weit diese Autonomien reichen, und welche Stärken und Schwächen sie aufweisen.
Der Vergleich eignet sich auch deshalb gut, weil beide autonomen Provinzen, Südtirol und Åland, nicht nur zu EU-Mitgliedsstaaten gehören, sondern auch deren Beziehungsstaaten, Schweden und Österreich, EU-Mitglieder sind.

Jomala church is a rural church dating to the thirteenth century. It is the only church in Finland representing the Romanesque period. An archaeological excavation of the medieval nave and the choir was carried out in 1961. It yielded a total of 594 coins of which at least 134 are medieval. The impact of the Lutheran Reformation on church doctrine and practice, and the effects on liturgy and the church interior in relation to the use of money, form the central questions of the chapter. After the Lutheran Reformation in 1527, individual communion through the mediation of the saints was gradually superseded by the celebration of the Eucharist. However, it is evident that coin offerings around the altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary continued in Jomala after the Reformation. A second issue that is addressed in the study is the continuation of offerings into the Early Modern period. The post-Reformation offering practices described in Finnish written sources reflect the Catholic faith in the miracle of transsubstantio, when the entire substance of the bread and wine are changed into the substance of the body and blood of Christ. This was seen as the most sacred moment during the divine service, and also the most suitable moment to give coin offerings. A post-Reformation coin offering put on the altar cloth during the Eucharist can be described as a kind of a ceremonial payment. This habit lasted at least until the period of the Great Wrath in Finland. It has been emphasised that 'altar cloth offerings' clearly continued after the period of the Great Wrath (1713-1721) in Jomala.

Книга об истории Аландских островов – особого региона, расположенного между финским и шведским берегами. Его принадлежность несколько раз менялась: он являлся частью Шведского королевства, затем – Российской империи, чтобы после Первой мировой войны стать автономным регионом Финляндской республики. Прошлое архипелага описывается на фоне широкого балтийского исторического полотна и основывается на российских, финских и шведских источниках. Множество мелких деталей дополняют повествование – без них картина не являлась бы полной и потеряла бы яркие краски. Пристальное внимание уделено связям архипелага с русским берегом, в фокусе повествования также быт, традиции, язык аландцев. Детально рассматривается культурная история архипелага и наиболее яркие ее представители.
Впервые на русском языке выходит столь подробное описание истории и культуры Аландских островов. Книгу можно использовать как исторический путеводитель по архипелагу благодаря детальному описанию его прошлого.
This book is about the history of the Aland Islands, a specific region situated between Finnish and Swedish coasts. They changed their rulers several times: they were a part of the Swedish Kingdom, then a part of the Russian Empire to become an independent region of the Republic of Finland after World War 1. A broad historical canvas of the Baltic Sea region makes a background of the archipelago past based on a wide range of Russian, Finnish and Swedish sources. Many small details (like events in the life of people connected with the archipelago) add the description; the narrative would lack the fullness and lose its bright colours without them.
Connections of the archipelago with the Russian coast also receive close attention. They are military developments and the fortification constructions, voyages of the tsar family, stories of the Empire subjects who got on Aland by chance, remaining symbols of the Russian presence. The narrative focuses on everyday life, traditions, and language of
Alanders – difficult natural conditions, war devastations, and heavy duties did not hinder them from crystallizing the local identity and obtaining a broad autonomy (primarily due to controversies of the great powers). The cultural history of the archipelago – literature, painting, and architecture – and its brightest figures such as Victor Westerholm, Lars Sonck, Sally Salminen, Johannes Salminen, receive detailed coverage. Symbols of Alands, which history is demonstrative and contradictory, are mentioned in particular.
This book is a first extensive work on the history and culture of the Aland Islands made in the Russian language. It can be used as the archipelago historical guidebook thanks to a detailed description of its past and present.

This seminar-workshop provided the basis for a book, which has now appeared: The Viking Age in Åland: Insights into Identity and Remnants of Culture, ed. Joonas Ahola, Frog & Jenni Lucenius (Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Humaniora 372), Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica 2014 (427 pages).
http://www.academia.edu/11484572/The_Viking_Age_in_%C3%85land_Insights_into_Identity_and_Remnants_of_Culture_ed._Joonas_Ahola_Frog_and_Jenni_Lucenius_

Viikinkiaika Suomessa – The Viking Age in Finland is a collaborative interdisciplinary research project which undertakes to explore and assess the significance of the Viking Age for Finno-Karelian cultures and Finno-Karelian cultural areas.
The third seminar-workshop of the VAF project was organized in cooperation with the Åland Museum and focused on Åland as a neglected area of understanding and especially on identities and identity-construction in the Viking Age.
An volume on the Viking Age in Åland developed around selected papers from the this event is in preparation.

This text is not by me but by Samuel Edquist. It is a good read for those who want to study Gotland's history.

It's a chapter from the book 'Islands of identity' published by Södertörns högskola, 2015. 418 pages. Serie: Södertörn Academic Studies, 1650-433X ; 59. ISBN 978-91-86069-98-8.
"Gotland, Åland, Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and Bornholm are five island regions in the Baltic Sea which constitute, or have until recently constituted, provinces or counties of their own."
Read about it and download: here:https://bibl.sh.se/skriftserier/hogskolans_skriftserier/Islands_of_Identity/diva2_784146.aspx

The article deals with the small inns that was located along the coastline in Sweden, Finland and the Åland Islands during the middle ages and way into the 1800.

One particular inn is in focus and that is the inn on Rödhamn located at the outer archipelago of the Åland Island.

The article is part of a larger research project lead by the main author of the paper and the article is in Swedish.

Demilitarization and neutralization are among the specific restrictions that apply to the exercise of territorial sovereignty. Although frequently employed in international practice, no generally accepted definitions are available for either of these concepts. The void has given rise to a host of interpretations , which vary particularly widely in the case of demilitarization. The Åland Islands are a classic example of an area that has been both militarized and neutralized. Owing to its strategic location, it has repeatedly become the focal point of political clashes between European powers over the last two centuries. The Islands were seen as a key to pursuing Baltic Sea policies and balancing the strengths of European powers. The conflicts that swept through the region in the 19 th century led to the gradual improvement of methods to demilitarize and subsequently neutralize the archipelago. Its status was ultimately settled in 1921 by an international convention and recognized after the end of World War II. The international legal status granted to the archipelago at that time has persisted to this day and continues to serve as a model of effective demilitarization and neutralization.

Статья посвящена «участию» Аландского архипелага в четырех русско-шведских войнах на протяжении XVIII-начала XIX века. В рамках заявленной темы подробно рассматриваются события Ве-ликой Северной войны 1700-1721 годов, а также Финляндской вой-ны 1808-1809 годов, во время которых архипелаг являлся одним их ключевых стретегических пунктов для угрозы/защиты шведской сто-лицы. В конце статьи анализируются предпосылки возникновения «Аландского вопроса», впервые поднятого на мирных переговорах в Фридрихсгаме в 1809 году.
The paper deals with the “participation” of Aland Islands in four Rus-so-Swedish wars during the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. It reviews in detail events of the Great Northern War and the Finnish War of 1808-1809 within the given theme. During this period Aland Islands were one of the key strategical points for threat/ defense of the Swedish cap-ital. The paper analyses preconditions for a so-called “Aland question” raised for the first time during the peace talks in Frederikshamn in 1809.

Статья рассматривает трансформацию «Аландского вопроса» в период вхождения Великого княжества Финляндского в состав Российской империи в 1809-1917 годы. Выделяются три этапа истории Аландского архипелага в указанный временной отре-зок в зависимости от наличия или отсутствия российских военных частей, а также де-милитаризованного статуса, полученного Аландами по итогам Крымской войны 1854- 1856 гг. Рассматриваются основные внешнеполитические изменения, оказавшие влияние на развитие Аландского вопроса, - в первую очередь, Крымская война, ре-волюционные события и Первая мировая война. В конце статьи анализируются по-следствия трансформации Аландского вопроса в указанный период, ставшие предпо-сылками так называемого «Аландского кризиса».
The article deals with the transformation of the Aland question between 1809 and 1917 when the Great Duchy of Finland was a part of the Russian Empire. The history of Aland of that period is divided into three stages depending on presence or absence of Russian military units here as well as the demilitarized status given to Aland after the Crimean War. It reviews main external changes that inuenced the development of the Aland question - primarily, the Crimean War, revolutionary events and the World War 1. Finally, it analyses consequences of the Aland question transformation in the given period that turned out to be the pre-requisites of a so-called "Aland crises".

The doctoral dissertation, accepted to be defended on 11 September 2018, contains five papers published on different forums. Some of the main findings, notably those concerning umlaut and the history of preserved contrast in the vowel system, have implications for Germanic historical phonology beyond the study of Scandinavian. In this respect the scrutiny has, during the research process, grown beyond the original scope of the research plan. The topics of the five papers are diverse, but they all relate to preliterary eastern Scandinavian sound systems during the millennium between the third and the thirteenth century CE. They all critically examine methodological issues involved in using diverse and imperfect evidence to verify etymologies or to pursue improved phonological reconstruction and analysis. The papers also all address, albeit to a quite varying degree and in different ways, sound substitutions in borrowings between Finnic and eastern Scandinavian vernacular.

In this article, a border between Finland-Åland and Sweden on a small island in the Baltic Sea is intimately explored through ethnographic observations and archive material. Through the winding biography of the small but important piece of border, the article demonstrates how it is literally formed by, and at the same time informing, activities and movements of people living with and around it.

In this article, the “Russification of Finland” processes and the crisis of the Åland Islands were analyzed and an indirect connection was established between the two variables. Russification policies of Tsarist Russia caused a national identity in Finland in the context of ethnicity, language, and territorial integrity. The Finnish society, which established an independent and sovereign state on the basis of this national identity in 1917, strongly opposed the demands of the people of Åland islands, mostly ethnic Swedes, to leave Finland. Both variables of the article are considered within the scope of the constructivist theory. Both the characteristic structure of the policies of Tsarist Russia and the formation process of the Åland crisis have been explored within the framework of various concepts such as norm-creation, nation-building, and state-building. With the method of comparing the case studies, whether there is a relationship between the results of the “Russification of Finland” processes and the factors causing the Åland crisis has been investigated and correlations have been made on appropriate topics. In the first part, it has been determined that the harmonious russification policies that Tsarist Russia carried out during the 19th century and the radical ones of the 1890s did not reach its goal, on the contrary, it resulted in the emergence of the Fennomania movement, which pioneered the nation-building, state-building goals in the Finnish society. It also could not prevent the political and social advances of that movement, and finally faced with the independent and sovereign Finland. In the second part, it is concluded that Finland has adopted the protection of the principles of territorial integrity and social unity created by the independence it gained as national interests. Thus, during the Åland crisis, it determined its position in line with these interests in the negotiations to solve the problem, and when the final agreement was signed.

Moilanen, Ulla 2020. Missä ovat Suomen rautakautiset kissat? Muinaistutkija 3/2020: 11-17.

(Text in Finnish, abstract in Swedish. The abstract and its translation have two big mistakes that do not appear in the text. The abstract in Finnish claims that the oldest cat bones in Sweden and Åland are from the Early Iron Age (the translation says Sweden and Finland). In fact, the oldest cat bones from Sweden are from the Early Iron Age, in Åland cats are quite common in the Late Iron Age burial mounds, but in mainland Finland, only one Late Iron Age (in the text it's speculated that it could even be Early Medieval) cat bone has been found.

INLEDNING På ett infrarött flygfoto som visar området runt den medeltida St:a Mariakyr-kan i Kvarnbo, Saltviks socken på Åland, syns ett antal intressanta anomalier på fältet norr om kyrkan, i ett område där såväl öst-västliga som nord-sydliga sund har förenat sig under järnåldern då vattennivån var högre än den är idag. Av särskilt intresse är ett ca 45 x 15 m stort avtryck, konvext till for-men, som bär mycket starka likheter med konturerna av stora hallbyggnader kända från Skandinavien (Fig. 1). År 2014 genomfördes de första arkeolo-giska undersökningarna där på författarens initiativ och utgående från det infraröda fotografiet. Marken norr om Mariakyrkan i Kvarnbo har odlats i hundratals år – den tidigaste bevarade historiska kartan över området visar att platsen varit od-lingsmark från och med slutet av 1700-talet. Ca 100 m sydöst om detta om-råde finns enligt fornminnesregistret även ett av Ålands största gravfält från yngre järnåldern. Eftersom odlingsprocessen förstör, förändrar och t.o.m. gömmer fornlämningar har det inom den skandinaviska arkeologin från mitten av 1980-talet praktiserats en undersökningsmetod som inte priori-terar den plöjda och omrörda matjorden i det överodlade kulturlandskapet. Metoden går ut på att man schaktar bort matjorden för att sedan komma åt de orörda arkeologiska spåren. Men matjorden kan givetvis vara en del av fornlämningen 1 och den kan innehålla stor kunskapspotential i form av, bland annat, metallfynd. Metalldetektorkartering på jordbruksmark är en icke destruktiv metod för matjordsundersökning och har inom arkeologin visat sig att vara mycket användbar för att lokalisera och avgränsa boplatser och andra fornlämningar, samt för att via sina metallföremålsfynd datera ar-keologiska lokaler och indikera platsers funktion. 2 Därför var metalldetekte-ringen av de ytor som flygfotot utpekat som arkeologiskt intressant den första undersökningen som gjordes i Kvarnbo, inom ett område som vid senare geofysiska undersökningarna och arkeologiska provgrävningar visade sig de

This dissertation applies an ethnological and long-temporal view of borders. The region of Åland, being an autonomous and demilitarised island territory under Finnish sovereignty, serves as an illuminative case of the work that goes into keeping borders fixed for two reasons. The region being maritime is the first one, and it being in a betwixt position between a state and a province is the second. The study seeks to explore the borders as cultural entities composed by layers – legal, geographical, political and social – and the processes through which the borders have been anchored. As important are the ways in which the borders extend into everyday life by creating a local order that activities relate to. Borders are hence seen as both objects and sources of actions. Seeing borders as objects of action function as an entry into an exploration of how the borders have been objects of continuous work since their establishment in 1921. The idea of them being sources of actions serves as a window into how the borders in numerous ways have influenced everyday life for inhabitants. In order to analyse the work that goes into borders as well as the actions borders cause, the study explores both the authoritative borderwork and how the borders or their effects have been encountered and handled by individuals who live within. The multifaceted view is achieved through a broad material consisting of archived documents, archived ethnological interviews, participant observations and contemporary interviews, in combination with studies of law and publications. Through the use of the phenomenological concept of practico-inert, the study reveals both how borders are outcomes of incessant human actions, and how they create an undisputable structure for individuals to observe and relate to, but not necessarily obey.
In summary, the study contributes with a detailed description of how bordered places are created, and how individuals navigate the structures that they live within.

Boris Krivokapic: ALAND ISLANDS - EIGHTH CENTURIES OF WIDE AUTONOMY
The paper covers various aspects of unique autonomy of Aland Islands. The author covers: basic data, historical background of the Aland autonomy, relevant legal sources (domestic and international), major elements characterizing Aland autonomy, such as  legislative competence of Aland; the competent authorities of the Aland (Aland parliament, executive and administrative powers); the authorities of the Republic on Aland; Aland delegation; the relation between the Republic and the Åland government; regional citizenship; the language used in Aland, international relations, etc.

Kontaktgruppen mellan utrikesministeriet och Ålands landskapsregering grundades 1998 och firar därmed 20-årsjubileum 2018. Gruppen bildades efter att Åland länge efterfrågat en sådan grupp och utrikesministeriet med utrikesminister Tarja Halonen i spetsen omfattat idén.
Kontaktgruppens syfte är att ”utveckla och öka Ålandsexemplets användning i internationella sammanhang samt … att också på annat sätt öka informationen om samt kontakterna till Åland”.
Gruppen har genom åren fört fram Ålandsexemplet genom seminarier, genom att samarbeta om besök och genom att försöka se till att utrikesministeriets anställda och beskickningarna får kunskap och tillgång till uppdaterad information. En viktig uppgift har varit att se till att korrekt information om Åland ska finnas på olika hemsidor. Gruppen har varit ett forum för kontakt mellan Åland och utrikesministeriet och har också haft kontakt med andra ministerier och organisationer i Finland.
Gruppen har i alla år hållit fast vid sina syften och de flesta av de mål som fanns redan i den första verksamhetsplanen (2002-2003). Över tid har dock agendan vidgats betydligt, och intervjuer har visat att senare medlemmar i gruppen har en bredare syn på gruppens funktioner och mandat än vad som var fallet under de tidiga åren. Från att i början ha varit fokuserad på att använda och informera om Ålandsexemplet i världen, har med tiden frågor som rör Ålands, svenskans och demilitariseringens status fått allt större utrymme på agendan. Från 2012 fördjupades agendan vidare genom att traktatsrättsliga frågor började diskuteras i detalj. Samtidigt som agendan vidgats och fördjupats har de områden som dominerade vid starten proportionellt sett fått mindre utrymme.
Gruppens medlemmar anser fortfarande att det är en viktig uppgift att informera om Ålandsexemplet, men utifrån de intervjuer som gjorts är frågan om inte själva kontaktytan mellan Åland och utrikesministeriet och i viss mån också dess möjliga påverkan på kontakterna mellan Mariehamn och Helsingfors mer allmänt, betraktas som viktigare. Gruppen har med åren blivit en plattform för regelbundna och förtroendefulla kontakter, och har kunnat förebygga att problem uppstår, eller underlätta när problem uppstått som behövt lösas, främst mellan utrikesministeriet och Åland, men i viss mån också bredare än så. Att gruppens möten också ger tjänstemän tillfälle att på detaljnivå diskutera aktuella internationella avtal som Åland berörs av, lyfts också fram som en viktig funktion som tillkommit på senare år.
I denna utredning kartläggs, på basen av protokoll, verksamhetsplaner, verksamhetsberättelser och intervjuer, kontaktgruppens mål och hur dessa förverkligats, vilka som deltagit i arbetet och hur samarbetet förlöpt, vilken betydelse gruppens arbete har haft för kunskapsspridningen om Ålandsexemplet samt vilka som varit höjdpunkterna och svårigheterna i kontaktgruppens arbete – under 20 år.

The Contact Group between the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Government of Åland was founded in 1998. It is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2018. The group was formed after Åland's long-standing request for such a group, The Ministry for Foreign Affairs endorsed the idea with then Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen at the forefront. The purpose of the Contact Group is to "develop and increase the use of the Åland Example in international contexts as well as to further enhance information about and contacts with Åland".
Throughout the years, the group has presented the Åland Example through seminars and collaborating on visits, and by trying to ensure that the employees and missions of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs have access to knowledge and updated information. An important task has been ensuring that sufficient information about Åland is available on different websites. The group has been a forum for contact between Åland and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and has also had contact with other ministries and organisations in Finland.
The group has maintained its aims and most of the goals that were originally laid out in the first activity plan of the group (2002–2003). Over time, however, the agenda has widened significantly. Interviews have shown that later members of the group have a broader view of the group's functions and mandate than was the case in the early years. In the beginning, the group focused on disseminating information about the Åland Example around the world. Over time, the agenda has started to include issues concerning the status of Åland, the Swedish language, and demilitarisation. Since 2012, the agenda has been further deepened by treaty issues starting to be discussed in detail. Alongside the widening and deepening of the agenda, the topics that dominated at the start are assigned proportionally less space in the work of the group.
The members of the group still consider the importance of the dissemination of information about the Åland Example. How­ever, based on interviews, the issue of contact between Åland and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and, to a certain extent, the possible impact on contacts between Mariehamn and Helsinki more generally is considered to be even more important. According to interviews,  the group has become a platform for regular and trustworthy contacts over the years, and has been able to prevent problems from occurring. It has also been able to facilitate the resolution of problems, mainly between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Åland, but to some degree, also broader than that. The group's meetings also give officials the opportunity to discuss in detail the current international agreements by which Åland is affected. This is also highlighted as an important feature that has been added in recent years.
On the basis of protocols, activity plans and reports, as well as interviews; this report identifies the objectives of the contact group and how they were implemented; who participated in the work and how the cooperation was conducted; what significance the group's work has had on the dissemination of knowledge about the Åland Example; and the highlights and difficulties in the contact group's work over the last 20 years.

Abstract de/eng:
Die Haltung der Bevölkerung zur Immigration, die Bereitschaft zur Integration auf der einen Seite, und die Grenzschließungen auf der anderen Seite, erhitzen die politische Debatte und werden zur Feuerprobe eines durch diese Frage erschütterten Europas. Von welchen Faktoren hängt die größere oder geringere Bereitschaft zur Aufnahme von Flüchtlingen ab? Die Autoren vergleichen zwei autonome Regionen, Südtirol und Åland, die auf den ersten Blick, keine besonderen Gemeinsamkeiten aufzuweisen scheinen, nämlich Südtirol in Italien und die Ålandinseln, die zu Finnland gehören. Aber beide verbindet, dass sie innerhalb ihres Staatsverbandes über eine weitreichende Autonomie verfügen. In beiden Gebieten spricht die Mehrheit der Bewohner eine andere Sprache als jene, die im restlichen Staatsgebiet gesprochen wird. Eigene Autonomiestatute schützen diese sprachlichen Minderheiten in diesen Gebieten.
Der Vergleich zielt darauf ab, das Verhalten der beiden Gemeinschaften gegenüber der Einwanderung zu untersuchen, Unterschiede festzustellen und die Gründe hierfür heraus zu kristallisieren. Zu diesem Zweck untersuchen sie das Phänomen der kollektiven Identität, das sie zusammenfassend als „Wir-Gefühl“ einer Gemeinschaft bezeichnen. Die kollektive Identität bildet sich auf der Grundlage kultureller/ethnischer und institutioneller/politischer Verbindungen. Die geschichtliche Entwicklung, die Sprache und die Kultur bilden somit wesentliche Elemente der kollektiven Identität, genauso wie die politischen und institutionellen Einrichtungen. Daraus leiten die  Autoren die zentrale Forschungsfrage ab: Wie reagieren diese Gemeinschaften auf die Immigration und die Bildung neuer Minderheiten? Gibt es darin Unterschiede und worauf sind solche zurückzuführen? ---------------------
English:
The authors compare two autonomous regions, South Tyrol and Åland, which at first glance do not seem to have much in common, namely South Tyrol in Italy and the Åland Islands, which belong to Finland. What both have in common, however, is that they have an extensive autonomy within their State. In both areas, the majority of the inhabitants speak a language other than that spoken in the rest of the country. A Statute of Autonomy protects the linguistic minorities in these areas.
The purpose of the comparison is to examine the behaviour of the two communities towards immigration, to identify differences and to crystallize the reasons for these differences. To this end, the author examines the phenomenon of collective identity, which he summarizes as the "we feeling" of a community. Collective identity is formed on the basis of cultural/ethnic and institutional/political connections. Historical development, language and culture are thus essential elements of collective identity, as are political and institutional institutions. From this, the author derives the central research question: How do these communities react to immigration and the formation of new minorities? Are there any differences and to what can they be attributed?

... Regional Citizenships and EU law: The Case of the Aland Islands and New Caledonia. Autores:Dimitry Kochenov; Localización: European law review, ISSN 0307-5400, Nº 3, 2010 , págs. 307-325. Fundación Dialnet. Acceso de usuarios registrados. ...

This article is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration that works to develop a geopolitical perspective on the society or societies of the Åland Islands during the Viking Age. It seeks to situate Åland in relation to evidence of maritime networks and other polities associated with those networks. It places the question of identities in Åland in relation to social identities and the identities of polities. The article considers the possibility that thinking about the Åland Islands as a coherent geopolitical space in the Iron Age could be anachronistic, and that the Åland Islands could also have at least initially been a divided space of two polities. Finally, the probable depopulation of Åland during the Viking Age is considered as a potential factor in the absence of references to the Åland Islands in Old Norse sagas and other early literature written centuries later, by which time this already minor cultural area would, in social memory, have dropped off of the geopolitical map.

В  статье  анализируется  шведское  влияние  Почтовой  дороги Великого  княжества  Финляндского  Российской  империи,  которое особенно  заметно  проявлялось  в  первой  половине  XIX  столетия.  Кратко  рассматривается  история  Почтовой дороги, напрямую связанная с историей Аландского архипелага; ее статус во время русского периода истории Финляндии. Выделяются основные факторы западной  ориентации  Великого  княжества, подчеркивается  основополагающая  роль Або (Турку) как бывшего шведского административного центра и конечной точки Почтовой дороги, связывавшей его со Стокгольмом. Изменения социально-экономической ориентации Великого княжества в сторону Санкт-Петербурга связаны,  в  первую  очередь,  с  резким  развитием  транспортной  инфраструктуры  во второй половине XIX столетия. В конце статьи рассматривается влияние Почтовой дороги на Аландский архипелаг и на развитие особой идентичности мест-ных жителей.
Th  e  article  analyses  the  Swedish  infl  uence  of  the  Mail  road  of  the  Great  Duchy  of  Finland  during  the  Russian  rule.  It  revealed  itself  distinctly  especially  in  the  fi rst half of the 19th century. Th  e article briefl y outlines the history of the road which was directly  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Aland  Islands.  It  also  states  the  road  status  in  the  Russian  period  of  Finland’s  history.  It  highlights  main  factors  of  the  Western  orientation  of  the  Great  Duchy  and  stresses  the  underlying  role  of  Abo  (Turku)  as  a  former Swedish administrative center and a terminal point of the Mail road that bound it with Stockholm. Changes in the social and economic orientation of the Grand Duchy towards  Saint  Petersburg  are  connected  primarily  with  the  rapid  development  of  the  transport  infrastructure  in  the  second  half  of  the  19th  century.  Finally,  the  article  considers the infl uence of the Mail road on the Aland Islands and the development of specifi c local identity.

This article analyses the phenomenon of regional citizenships in the Member States of the European Union by focusing on the citizenships of the Member State territories lying (at least partially) outside the territorial scope of the acquis. It has been demonstrated that the influence of such legal status on the rights of individuals is more significant compared with citizenships of the regions lying entirely within the territorial scope of EU law. Two examples of regional citizenships are considered: the citizenship of the Åland Islands and that of New Caledonia. It is submitted that the rules on access to regional citizenships cannot discriminate on the basis of nationality, which is currently the case in both regions analysed. The analysis of regional citizenships enables the viewing of EU citizenship from a new, intriguing angle.

The Åland Islands spent years preparing an internet voting system, to be implemented for the first time in October 2019 for Parliamentary Elections. Despite this, the project was canceled the evening before the expected release date. In this paper, we explore the causes of this failure using a two-pronged approach including Information System failure perspectives and the approach to e-voting Mirabilis, focusing on organizational elements which provoked the decision not to use the system.

In this article, a border between Finland-Åland and Sweden on a small island in the Baltic Sea is intimately explored through ethnographic observations and archive material. Through the winding biography of the small but important piece of border, the article demonstrates how it is literally formed by, and at the same time informing, activities and movements of people living with and around it.

Boris Krivokapic ALAND ISLANDS - EIGHTH CENTURIES OF WIDE AUTHONOMY Summary This is a chapter from a book dedicated to Aland islands and their unique autonomy. The author covers all important aspects of the issue: historical background of Aland autonomy, relevant legal sources, basic solutions, etc.