Designer: Pertti Mäkinen
Gn, 35mm, 18.7g
Mintage BU 55,000
Obverse: A pine tree common to the Åland Islands
Reverse: A peace dove steering a boat, to be a guide for others.
Edge: "AHVENANMAAN DEMILITARISOINTI 150 VUOTTA"
Commemorates 150 years of the demilitarized status of the Åland Islands. A couple of decades after Finland was ceeded to Russia in 1809, the Russians began to build fortifications on the islands. However, they never saw completion as the Crimean War brought English and French navel fleets to the islands and soon forced the destruction of the fortifications. At the Treaty of Paris the Åland Islands were demilitarized. When Finland declared independence in 1917, the inhabitants of the islands wished to be annexed to Sweden. However Finland did not want to give up the islands and eventually the League of Nations determined that the islands would remain a part of Finland. In doing so the islands were given autonomous status and received international recognition as a neutral and demilitarized territory.
The text is primarily in Swedish as most of the inhabitants speak Swedish as their native language.