Obverse. Photo © Suomen Moneta
  • 20 Euro 2021, KM# 301, Finland, Republic, 100th Anniversary of Autonomy of Åland Islands
  • 20 Euro 2021, KM# 301, Finland, Republic, 100th Anniversary of Autonomy of Åland Islands
Description

Åland (Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) is an archipelago at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea belonging to Finland. It is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations, and its only official language is Swedish. It is the smallest region of Finland, constituting 0.51% of its land area and 0.54% of its population. Mariehamn is the capital city of Åland.

Åland comprises Fasta Åland on which 90% of the population resides and a further 6,500 skerries and islands to its east. Of Åland's thousands of islands, 60 are inhabited. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of Roslagen in Sweden by 38 kilometres (24 mi) of open water to the west. In the east, the Åland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Åland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Märket, which it shares with Sweden. From Mariehamn, there is a ferry distance of about 160 kilometres (99 mi) to Turku, a coastal city of mainland Finland, and also to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.

Åland's autonomous status means that those provincial powers normally exercised by representatives of the central Finnish government are largely exercised by its own government. The current demilitarised, neutral position of Åland dates back to the days of the Paris Peace Treaty after the Åland War in the 1850s.

Design: Ulrika Kjeldsen, an artist from Åland

Obverse

Depicts the summery archipelago landscape of the Åland Islands, a shipping route with nautical signs, the bow of a boat and a hand holding a compass, and clouds above. Surrounded by the inscription '100th Anniversary of Autonomy of Åland Islands' above in Swedish and below in Finnish separated by two diamond-shaped sea buoys.

ÅLANDS SJÄLVSTYRELSE 100 ÅR
AHVENANMAAN ITSEHALLINTO 100 VUOTTA

Reverse

Depicts a human head in profile. The head is filled with important symbols of the cultural identity of Åland: a cowslip, a sailing ship, a roe deer, fishes, birds and a midsummer crown. The field along the upper edge features the country name in Finnish and Swedish separated by the issue year. The denomination, mint mark of the Lithuanian Mint (LMK) and the initial of the designer (K) on the right.

SUOMI 2021 FINLAND
20€
LMK
K

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Silver
Fineness 0.925
Weight 25.5 g
Diameter 38.6 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Lithuanian Mint (LMK)

Related coins

100th Anniversary of Autonomy of Åland Islands

Bi-Metallic, 8.5 g, ⌀ 25.75 mm