Vårdö Explained

Vårdö
Official Name:Swedish: Vårdö kommun
Settlement Type:Municipality
Flag Size:120x80px
Pushpin Map:Finland Åland
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Åland
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Coordinates:60.2417°N 42.5°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Finland
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Åland
Subdivision Type2:Sub-region
Subdivision Name2:Åland Archipelago sub-region
Leader Title:Municipal manager
Leader Name:Magnus Sandberg
Timezone:EET
Utc Offset:+02:00
Timezone Dst:EEST
Utc Offset Dst:+03:00
Website:www.vardo.ax

Vårdö is an island municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland.

The municipality has a population of [1] and covers an area of NaNVårdö}} of which NaNVårdö}} is water. The population density is NaNVårdö of land.

The municipality is unilingually Swedish.

Two notable Finnish authors, Sally Salminen and Anni Blomqvist, were born in Vårdö. Blomqvist lived her whole life on the Vårdö island of Simskäla.

The word "vårdö" means "the guardian island". On the highest mountain of Vårdö people used to light bonfires to warn the other islands of danger.

The old post route from Stockholm to Turku went through Vårdö, by road from Båthusviken to Hullvik on the main island, otherwise by water. The local citizens took care of the mail transport in any type of weather. The dangerous mail transport lasted for over 300 years (1638–1910). Many people drowned on these journeys and in the memory of them the municipality of Vårdö has erected a memorial on the seashore of Hullvik. Today the post route road is marked with milestones.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ennakkoväkiluku sukupuolen mukaan alueittain, maaliskuu.2016. Statistics Finland. fi. 31 March 2016.