MARIEHAMN

Mariehamns stad
Maarianhaminakommun.jpg ''Coat of Arms'' ''Location''
Founded	1861
Province	Åland
Region	Åland
Sub-region	Mariehamn
Area - Of which land - Rank	11.60 km² 11.60 km² ranked 444th
Population - Density - Change - Rank	10,822 (2006) 932.9 inh./km² + 0.8% ranked 94th
Urbanisation	99.4%
Unemployment	2.8%
Official languages	Swedish
City Manager	Ritva Sarin Grufberg
Home page	http://www.mariehamn.ax/

'Mariehamn' () is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and more than half of the population of Åland live in the city. Like all of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 89,5% of the inhabitants speak it as their native language.
The town was named after Maria Alexandrovna, the Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. Mariehamn was founded in 1861, around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of Jomala. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. The city is located on a peninsula, and has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore. The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden and mainland Finland.

Åland and Mariehamn have a reputable heritage in shipping. The Flying P-Liner Pommern museum ship is anchored in the Western Harbour. The Eastern Harbour features one of the largest marinas in Scandinavia. The famous Dutch steamer Jan Nieveen (now called F.P. von Knorring, after Åland teacher and vicar Frans Peter von Knorring) can also be found here.
The city is an important centre for Åland media; both of the local newspapers (Ålandstidningen and Nya Åland), several radio stations and the local TV channel (TV Åland) operate out of the city.
Mariehamn features several buildings drawn by Finnish architect Lars Sonck, who moved to Åland as a child. Buildings drawn by him include the church of Mariehamn (1927), the main building of the Åland Maritime College (1927) and the town hall (1939). Hilda Hongell have also designed several buildings, although only a few are still standing.

Contents

Demographics

Sister cities

External links

Demographics

A chart on population growth.

'Year'	'Population'
1987	9,966
1990	10,263
1997	10,408
2000	10,488
2002	10,632
2004	10,712
2006	10,822

Sister cities

★ Visby (Sweden)

★ Kópavogur (Iceland)

★ Kragerø (Norway)

★ Slagelse (Denmark)

★ Tórshavn (Faroe Islands)

★ Kuressaare (Estonia)

★ Valkeakoski (Finland)

★ Lomonosov (Russia)

External links

★ Official website

★ Map of Mariehamn