The Åland Islands or Åland (Swedish: Åland, Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːland]; Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) is a region of Finland that consists of an archipelago lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. It is autonomous, demilitarised and is the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in Finland. Collectively, the islands in the archipelago form the smallest region of Finland, constituting 0.49% of its land area and 0.50% of its population.
Åland comprises Fasta Åland on which 90% of the population resides and a further 6,500 skerries and islands to its east. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Sweden by 38 kilometres (24 mi) of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden.
Åland's autonomous status means that those provincial powers normally exercised by representatives of the central Finnish government are largely exercised by its own government.
The Province of Åland (Finnish: Ahvenanmaan lääni, Swedish: Ålands län) was a province of Finland from 1918 to 2009.
The State Provincial Office on the Åland Islands (Länsstyrelsen på Åland) represented the Finnish central government on the Åland Islands between 1918 and 2009. Due to its autonomy, it had somewhat different functions than similar offices in other Provinces of Finland. Generally a State Provincial Office was a joint regional authority of seven different ministries of the Government of Finland. In Åland the State Provincial Office also represented a set of other authorities of the central government, which in mainland-Finland has separate bureaucracies. On the other hand duties, which on mainland-Finland were handled by the provincial offices, were transferred to the autonomous government of Åland.
Along with the abolition of all provinces of Finland, the Åland State Provincial Office was replaced by the State Department of Åland in 2009.
The Aland was an advanced (for the day) four cylinder 2.5liter 16-valve, single ohc automobile with diagonally-connected four-wheel internal expanding brakes and aluminum pistons. It was made in Detroit, Michigan, by the Aland Motor Car Company between 1916 and 1917. Two and five seater bodied versions were available for $1500.
Me involvunt tenebrae cum lux paulatim evanescat.
Obrigescunt formae et nox regnum suum celebrat.
Anima mae signum cerae occultorum sinu totae claritatis secre-
torum scindit...
Incipit lectio tenebrarum.