Sund is a municipality of Åland. It is an autonomous territory of Finland, and one of the official 27 national landscapes of Finland.

Sund
Municipality
Sunds kommun
Kastelholm Castle in 2004
Kastelholm Castle in 2004
Coat of arms of Sund
Location of Sund in Finland
Location of Sund in Finland
Sund is located in Åland
Sund
Sund
Location in Åland
Coordinates: 60°15′N 020°07′E / 60.250°N 20.117°E / 60.250; 20.117
Country Finland
RegionÅland
Sub-regionCountryside sub-region
Government
 • Municipal managerAndreas Johansson
Area
 (2018-01-01)[1]
 • Total184.32 km2 (71.17 sq mi)
 • Land108.21 km2 (41.78 sq mi)
 • Water76.06 km2 (29.37 sq mi)
 • Rank295th largest in Finland
Population
 (2023-12-31)[2]
 • Total995
 • Rank294th largest in Finland
 • Density9.2/km2 (24/sq mi)
Population by age
 • 0 to 1415.5%
 • 15 to 6458.3%
 • 65 or older26.2%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Websitewww.sund.ax

The municipality has a population of 995 (31 December 2023)[2] and covers an area of 184.32 square kilometres (71.17 sq mi) of which 76.06 km2 (29.37 sq mi) is water.[1] The population density is 9.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (24/sq mi).

The municipality is unilingually Swedish-speaking with around 88.41% of the residents of Sund speaking the Swedish language as their mother tongue. Only 4.40% of the residents of Sund speak the Finnish language as their mother tongue.[6] Sund is the third most Swedish-speaking municipality within Finland.

The old Medieval post route from Stockholm, Sweden to Turku, Finland passes through Sund.

History edit

Sund was not populated by humans until the Bronze Age, however a permanent settlement was only first established in the 5th century by the Swedes. It is suspected that there may have been a partial Finnish settlement due to the existence of a village called Finby.

The Sund church was built by the end of the 13th century[7] and the Kastelholm Castle was also built at the end of the 14th century on a small island and it became the administrative centre of the Åland region until losing importance in 1634 and later on in 1745 following country reforms and fire damage.[8] King John III of Sweden kept his deposed brother Eric XIV in captivity in the Kastelholm castle in Autumn 1571. Sund is estimated to have had around 900 inhabitants in 1571 in accordance to the Silver Tax List of that same year.

Following the Russian victory in the Finnish War of 1808-1809, the Russians began to build the Bomarsund Fortress in Sund in 1832 in accordance with the orders of Tsar Nicholas I to strengthen the western border, however when the Crimean War began the Fortress was only half-finished, the Bommarsund Fortress surrendered to and was destroyed by the British. In the Treaty of Paris, it was concluded that the Åland islands is not to be fortified.

Economy edit

Tourism is one of the biggest lines of business in Sund. Agriculture is also popular, especially keeping livestock.[citation needed] Small businesses are also abundant and the biggest employers are the municipality and the local golf course.[citation needed]

Demographics edit

Population edit

Sund had a small population of around 1020 in 2020, however it lowered to 995 in 2023. Sund is a municipality with no urban areas. At the end of 2017, there were 1,031 inhabitants in Sund, of which 1,019 lived in sparsely populated areas and the residences of 12 were unknown.[9] Sund has 28 villages within its municipality: Berg, Björby, Bomarsund , Brändbolstad, Domarböle, Finby, Gesterby, Gunnarsby, Hulta, Högbolstad, Jussböle, Kastelholm; Kulla, Lappböle, Lövvik, Mångstekta, Persby, Prästgården, Rosenberg, Sibby, Smedsböle, Strömbolstad, Sundby, Svensböle, Tosarby, Tranvik, Träsk and Vivasteby.[10]

Population size 1980–2020
Year Population
1980
939
1985
920
1990
948
1995
968
2000
1,013
2005
1,031
2010
1,019
2015
1,031
2020
1,020
2023
995

Politics edit

In the 2023 legislative elections, Sund voted as such:[11]

Notable people edit

Image gallery edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Immigration record high in Finland in 2023". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Demographic Structure by area as of 31 December 2022". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Population according to age (1-year) and sex by area and the regional division of each statistical reference year, 2003–2020". StatFin. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Luettelo kuntien ja seurakuntien tuloveroprosenteista vuonna 2023". Tax Administration of Finland. 14 November 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Population 31.12. by Area, Language, Sex, Year and Information". PxWeb. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  7. ^ Hiekkanen, Markus; Jokela, Salla (2007). Suomen keskiajan kivikirkot. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran toimituksia. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. ISBN 978-951-746-861-9.
  8. ^ "Kastelholms slott | Ålands Museum". www.museum.ax. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  9. ^ "Taajama- ja haja-asutusalueväestö iän ja sukupuolen mukaan kunnittain 31.12.2017". Tilastokeskus. 28 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Invånarantalet i byar och stadsdelar 1990–2012" (in Swedish). Ålands statistik- och utredningsbyrå (ÅSUB). Archived from the original (XLS) on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Resultat | Lagtingsval 2023 | Sund | valresultat.ax". Valrapport (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-03-11.

External links edit

  Media related to Sund, Åland at Wikimedia Commons