Sottunga is an island

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

, an autonomous territory of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The municipality is the smallest when it comes to population in Åland and in Finland, with a population of only () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish, with of the inhabitants speaking Swedish as their native language. Sottunga comprises many islands, of which only three, Husö, Finnö and Storsottunga, are inhabited. Storsottunga is usually called Sottunga. There are five villages in the municipality: Finnö, Husö, Hästö, Mosshaga and Sottunga. The highest point of Sottunga is Kasberget (25 m). Sottunga can be reached by ferry from Långnäs in Lumparland and Galtby in Korpo and many ferries pass the island without making a stop.

History

Like the rest of Eastern Åland, Sottunga got its first permanent inhabitants sometime in the 11th century, although there is evidence that the island had had inhabitants long before that. The name ''Sottunga'' itself is thought to predate the 11th century. In the 17th century there were some ten households on the island and about 70 inhabitants. Sottunga has suffered during many wars, first during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

in 1714–22 when all of Åland fled to Sweden and again during the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

of 1808-09 when all the buildings on the island were set on fire in order to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. In 1800, before the Finnish War, the island had been visited by King

Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1792 until he Coup of 1809, was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Fin ...

. Later during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

of 1939–40 the island was bombed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The bombs were responsible for the sinking of the cargo ship SS ''Notung'' in 1940 just northeast of Sottunga. The population of Sottunga reached its peak in the 1920s with about 400 inhabitants from which it has gradually declined during the 20th century.

Economy

Sottunga does not have many inhabitants and so the island has only one

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

, one

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, one

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

and one healthcare center. Only is cultivated and commercial fishing is not practised anymore. The industry of the island is dominated by

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s and the cultivation of

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

Sights

The church of Sottunga was originally built in 1661. The modern church on the site was built in 1728 after a fire had destroyed the original one. It is the smallest wooden church in Finland. Its clock tower was built in 1770 and the building was renovated in 1802. The painting at the altar was made by P. Berggren in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, in 1845. Before the church was built Sottunga had a chapel which was built in 1544 and which was approximately one kilometer away from the contemporary church. On the island of Södö there are old mines dating back to the 19th century. Only 1,700 tons of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

ore were ever mined between the years 1839 and 1847 when the mines were operating.

References

External links

Official website of Sottunga

Map of Sottunga municipality
{{authority control Municipalities of Åland Populated places established in 1959