Öland

Öland, island of Sweden, located in the Baltic Sea and separated from the mainland of Sweden by a narrow (6 to 23 km/4 to 14 mi) body of water, Kalmarsund Strait. Öland, with an area of 1,344 sq km (519 sq mi) is 140 km (90 mi) long and from 3 to 16 km (2 to 10 mi) wide. The western coast of the island is formed by a cliff with a maximum height of 55 m (180 ft) from which the surface slopes gently to a low shoreline on the east. The main region of settlement, at the foot of the cliff, consists of terraces formed by seas of the Pleistocene period. Winters average –1 °C (30 °F); summers, 17 °C (62 °F). Because the annual rainfall averages only 380 mm (15 in), vegetation is scanty and of the steppe type. The principal occupations on Öland are agriculture, fishing, and the production of cement and building stone. Öland was settled in the Stone Age and was often a battleground in Scandinavian wars of the Middle Ages. Prehistoric monuments made from groups of rocks (skeppssättningar) arranged to form the outline of ships when viewed from above, and Roman coins are among the items that have been found here. Borgholm (population, 1994, 11,641), on the west coast and the only sizable town, was founded in 1816. Öland is connected by a 6-km (4-mi) long highway bridge over Kalmarsund Strait, between Färjestaden and the mainland at Kalmar. Population (1992) 25,382.