Oelandia (original) (raw)

Oelandia, or �land, is a historical Province or landskap, of Sweden. It is located in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Smalandia it consists of the island of �land, which is the largest island belonging to Sweden, after Gotland.

�land LandG�taland CountyKalmar Area1,342 km² Length- At widest point137 km16 km Population (1999)25,000Provincial flower_- in Swedish_ _- in LatinRock rose_�landssolv�nda HelianthemumOelandicum Provincial beastThrush nightingale

County

For current affairs see: Kalmar County

There was an �land County between 1819 and 1824, otherwise the island has belonged to Kalmar County since 1634. The island was connected to the mainland by a bridge that was constructed in 1973.

History

Main article: History of �land

Borgholm (1816), was the only chartered city of �land.

The island has a history of being a royal game park.

Geography

Main article: Geography of �land

�land is the second largest island in Sweden, and at the samme time its smallest province. The main towns are Borgholm, F�rjestaden and M�rbyl�nga.

Culture

Main article: Culture of �land

The Borgholm Castle built 1669-1681 for Queen Hedvig Eleonora, and designed by Nicodemus Tessin, senior. Located in the vincinity is also Solliden Palace, summer home to the royal family.

The Agricultural Landscape of southern �land has been entered as a site of the UNESCO World heritage program. Features of this are the many windmills left standing and the special geological landscape called Alvar.

Heraldry

Main article: Heraldry of Oelandia

Oelandia was granted its arms already in 1560, but it would last until the 1940s until the proper arms were assigned to the province. The arms granted to �land had been mixed up with the arms granted to �land and this was not discovered until the 20th century, by which time the misstake was unilaterally corrected for �land. �land, which was no longer a Swedish, but a Finnish (autonomous) province, kept its established but originally unintended coat of arms. The deer is ment to symbolise the status of Oleandia as a royal game park and the arms is represented with a dukal crown. Blazon: "Azure a Deer Or attired, hoofed and gorged Gules."