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in this issue
FINLAND'S ÅLAND ISLANDS
THE ÅLAND ISLANDS![Ullalena_lundberg_presentat[1]11111](../../../files/legacy/ullalena_lundberg_presentat%5b1%5d111110106.jpg?1144879200 "</i>")
For information on Finnish literature, visit Finlit. And discover other writers from The Åland Islands.
Finland is a bilingual country. The total population of Finland numbers about five million, 94 percent of which are Finnish-speaking, the remaining 6 percent being Swedish-speaking.
Most Swedish-speakers live in the coastal parts of Osterbotten, Nyland and Aboland, and on the Aland Islands. They cover an area of 16.000 kms of clearly demarcated rural area. In the towns and villages, however, the languages exist side by side. Towns, villages and rural communities are, according to the Language Act, counted as Swedish-speaking districts if the majority of the population is Swedish-speaking.
Since 1921, the Åland province has been self-governing within the borders of Finland. It consists of the Åland archipelago, halfway between Sweden and Finland. Its autonomy is firmly established in the constitution of Finland, the language of the authorities in Åland is Swedish, and all education is carried out in that language.
Åland has a rich literary tradition represented in this issue of Transcript by Ulla-Lena Lundberg, one of Finland's foremost writers today.
Read about Åland's Ulla-Lena Lundberg in Transcript 4.
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