Mariehamn

Mariehamn (/ˈmərɪɛhəmŋ/;[7] Swedish pronunciation; Finnish: Maarianhamina; Latin: Portus Mariae) is the capital of the Åland Islands, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. It is mostly surrounded by Jomala, the second largest municipality in Åland in terms of population; to the east it is bordered by Lemland. Like all of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 88% of the inhabitants speak it as their native language.[4]

Mariehamn
Capital city
Mariehamn
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
De tusen lindarnas stad[1]
Location of Mariehamn in Finland
Mariehamn
Location within Europe
Mariehamn
Location within Baltic Sea region
Mariehamn
Location within the Åland Islands
Coordinates: 60°06′N 019°56′E
Country Finland
RegionÅland
Sub-regionMariehamn
Charter1861
Named forMaria Alexandrovna
Government
 • MayorBarbara Heinonen
Area
 (2018-01-01)[2]
 • Total20.75 km2 (8.01 sq mi)
 • Land11.79 km2 (4.55 sq mi)
 • Water8.96 km2 (3.46 sq mi)
Area rank311th largest in Finland
Population
 (2020-07-31)[3]
 • Total11,761
 • Rank85th largest in Finland
 • Density997.54/km2 (2,583.6/sq mi)
Population by native language
 • Swedish87.7% (official)
 • Finnish5.8%
 • Others6.5%
Population by age
 • 0 to 1414.8%
 • 15 to 6467.8%
 • 65 or older17.4%
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Municipal tax rate[6]16.5%
Websitewww.mariehamn.ax

History
Södragatan, one of the oldest streets of Mariehamn.

The town was named after the Russian empress Maria Alexandrovna, literally meaning "Marie's Port". 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. Mariehamn was built according to a very regular scheme which is well-preserved. One of the oldest streets is Södragatan where many wooden houses dating from the 19th century can be seen. Following the First World War Mariehamn was home to the Mariehamn Grain Fleet.[8]

Transportation

Harbours
The museum ship Pommern is anchored in the western of Mariehamn's two harbours, Västerhamn.

The city is located on a peninsula. It has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore, which are ice-free for nearly the whole year, and have no tides.[9] The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden, Estonia and mainland Finland. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the EU customs zone and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Åland and Mariehamn have a reputable heritage in shipping. The Flying P-Liner Pommern museum ship (part of the Åland Maritime Museum) 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.

Airport

Mariehamn Airport serves the city; it has scheduled flights on two airlines including Finnair.

Roads

At only three of Åland's four highways, Mariehamn serves as a starting point for Main Road 1 to Eckerö, Main Road 2 to Sund and Main Road 3 to Lumparland.

Culture
Municipal library

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 channels (TV Åland and Åland24) operate out of the city. The islanders are traditionally fond of reading, and had public libraries before 1920. A printing works was established in the town in 1891.[9] The municipal library, which was built in 1989, is one of the most interesting modern buildings.

Architecture
Nordea bank office in Mariehamn
Saint George's church

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 also designed several buildings, although only a few are still standing.

One of Mariehamn's most significant tourist hotels is Hotel Arkipelag,[10] located east side of the city center.

Demographics

A chart on population increase.[11]

Year
Population
1987
9,966
1990
10,263
1997
10,408
2000
10,488
2002
10,632
2004
10,712
2006
10,824
2008
11,005
2009
11,123
2010
11,190
2011
11,262
2012
11,346
2013
11,393
2014
11,480
2015
11,461
2016
11,565
2017
11,677
2018
11,743
People with a foreign background[12][13]
Country of originPopulation (2017)
 Sweden1,093 (9.55%)
 Romania173 (1.51%)
 Latvia163 (1.42%)
 Iran95 (0.83%)
 Estonia92 (0.80%)
 Russia88 (0.77%)
 Yugoslavia86 (0.75%)
 Thailand73 (0.64%)
 Philippines55 (0.48%)
 United Kingdom45 (0.39%)

Geography

Climate

Mariehamn has a transitional climate between humid continental climate (Dfb) with certain maritime influence as a result of the strong maritime moderation from being an island in the Baltic Sea. This renders summers to be cooler than both the Swedish and Finnish mainlands, with winters being similar in cold to the adjacent coastal part of Sweden but milder than Finland's mainland. The lowest temperature at Mariehamn airport was -32.9 C (-27.2F) in February 1979, and the highest temperature on record was 31.3 C (88.3F) in July 1941.[14]

Climate data for Mariehamn Airport normals 1981-2010, extremes 1914 - present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 10.9
(51.6)		 10.5
(50.9)		 17.0
(62.6)		 21.1
(70.0)		 26.7
(80.1)		 29.4
(84.9)		 31.3
(88.3)		 30.7
(87.3)		 24.8
(76.6)		 19.0
(66.2)		 16.6
(61.9)		 10.4
(50.7)		 30.7
(87.3)
Average high °C (°F) 0.3
(32.5)		 −0.3
(31.5)		 2.4
(36.3)		 7.6
(45.7)		 13.6
(56.5)		 17.5
(63.5)		 20.7
(69.3)		 19.6
(67.3)		 14.8
(58.6)		 9.6
(49.3)		 4.6
(40.3)		 1.7
(35.1)		 9.3
(48.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.1
(28.2)		 −3.1
(26.4)		 −0.6
(30.9)		 3.7
(38.7)		 9.1
(48.4)		 13.3
(55.9)		 16.7
(62.1)		 15.8
(60.4)		 11.4
(52.5)		 6.9
(44.4)		 2.6
(36.7)		 −0.4
(31.3)		 6.1
(43.0)
Average low °C (°F) −5.0
(23.0)		 −6.3
(20.7)		 −3.7
(25.3)		 0.0
(32.0)		 4.3
(39.7)		 8.6
(47.5)		 12.2
(54.0)		 11.6
(52.9)		 7.7
(45.9)		 4.0
(39.2)		 0.2
(32.4)		 −3.1
(26.4)		 2.5
(36.5)
Record low °C (°F) −32.3
(−26.1)		 −32.9
(−27.2)		 −25.0
(−13.0)		 −18.9
(−2.0)		 −6.5
(20.3)		 −3.2
(26.2)		 0.1
(32.2)		 −0.5
(31.1)		 −6.7
(19.9)		 −11.8
(10.8)		 −20.0
(−4.0)		 −28.9
(−20.0)		 −32.9
(−27.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 53
(2.1)		 35
(1.4)		 38
(1.5)		 31
(1.2)		 35
(1.4)		 53
(2.1)		 52
(2.0)		 76
(3.0)		 61
(2.4)		 70
(2.8)		 71
(2.8)		 59
(2.3)		 634
(25)
Average precipitation days 17 13 12 9 10 10 9 13 12 16 17 17 155
Mean monthly sunshine hours 39 74 130 207 297 296 312 235 163 91 41 26 1,911
Source 1: FMI climatological normals for Finland 1981-2010[15]
Source 2: record highs and lows 1961- present[16]

FMI(record highs and lows 1914-1961)[17]

Twin towns and sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Finland

Mariehamn is twinned with:[18]

Notable persons

References
  1. "Turism - Mariehamns stad". Mariehamns stad. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  2. "Area of Finnish Municipalities 1.1.2018" (PDF). National Land Survey of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  3. "Suomen virallinen tilasto (SVT): Väestön ennakkotilasto [verkkojulkaisu]. Heinäkuu 2020" (in Finnish). Statistics Finland. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  4. "Population according to language and the number of foreigners and land area km2 by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
  5. "Population according to age and gender by area as of 31 December 2008". Statistics Finland's PX-Web databases. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  6. "List of municipal and parish tax rates in 2011". Tax Administration of Finland. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  7. "Mariehamn". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  8. Derby., W L A (1937). "Mariehamn's Grain Fleet - Shipping Wonders of the World". Shipping Wonders of the World (21 July 1937): 746–749.
  9. Prothero, G.W. (1920). The Åland Islands. Great Britain. Foreign Office. Historical Section. p. 5.
  10. Hotel Arkipelag
  11. "PX-Web - Select variable and values".
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2018-09-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/15734/2009nro8.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
  15. "FMI normals 1981-2010" (PDF). fmi.fi. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  16. "FMI open data". FMI. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  18. Mariehamns stads vänorter. Accessed July 14, 2015

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