It was only a few weeks ago that the tiny Swedish-speaking archipelago of the Åland Islands held its 2011 legislative election. A handful of political parties contested the 30 seats of the Lagting, the local Parliament vested with a wide degree of autonomy within Finland. The party that got most of the seats (7 out of 30) was Centre of Åland, a party advocating a status of semi-independence for the islands. Another party, Future of Åland, got 3 seats and wants full independence from Finland. Anyway, although being a part of Finland, the only official language in the archipelago is Swedish and, according to its demilitarized status, its population has traditionally been free from conscription. Continue reading →