Sund, Åland

Sund
Sund
Municipality
	Sunds kommun
	Kastelholm Castle in 2004
	Coat of arms
	Location of Sund inFinland
	Sund Location in Åland
	Coordinates:60°15′N020°07′E/ 60.250°N 20.117°E
Country	Finland
Region	Åland
Sub-region	Countryside sub-region
Government
• Municipal manager	Andreas Johansson
Area (2018-01-01)
• Total	184.32 km2(71.17 sq mi)
• Land	108.21 km2(41.78 sq mi)
• Water	76.06 km2(29.37 sq mi)
• Rank	295th largestin Finland
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	995
• Rank	294th largestin Finland
• Density	9.2/km2(24/sq mi)
Population by native language
•Swedish	88% (official)
•Finnish	4.4%
• Others	7.5%
Population by age
• 0 to 14	15.5%
• 15 to 64	58.3%
• 65 or older	26.2%
Time zone	UTC+02:00(EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00(EEST)
Website	www.sund.ax

Sundis amunicipalityofÅland.It is anautonomous territoryofFinland,and one of the official 27national landscapes of Finland.

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]Thepopulation densityis 9.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (24/sq mi).

The municipality isunilingually Swedish-speakingwith around 88.41% of the residents of Sund speaking theSwedish languageas theirmother tongue.Only 4.40% of the residents of Sund speak theFinnish languageas their mother tongue.^[6]Sund is the third most Swedish-speaking municipality within Finland.

The old Medieval post route fromStockholm,SwedentoTurku,Finland passes through Sund.

History[edit]

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

TheSund churchwas built by the end of the 13th century^[7]and theKastelholm Castlewas also built at the end of the 14th century on a small island and it became theadministrative centreof theÅlandregion until losing importance in 1634 and later on in 1745 following country reforms and fire damage.^[8]KingJohn III of Swedenkept his deposed brotherEric XIVin 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 theFinnish War of 1808-1809,the Russians began to build theBomarsund Fortressin Sund in 1832 in accordance with the orders ofTsar Nicholas Ito strengthen the western border, however when theCrimean Warbegan the Fortress was only half-finished, the Bommarsund Fortresssurrendered to British forces,who demolished it. In theTreaty 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 nourban 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]