Öland

Oland island in southern Sweden has many wooden windmills constructed in a style typical to the region. This example has been rebuilt at the Skansen Museum in Stockholm.

Swedish island in the Baltic, separated from southern Sweden by Kalmar Sound, though connected by a bridge; area 1,344 sq km/519 sq mi. The island is 136 km/85 mi long but only 16 km/10 mi at its broadest. It is wooded in parts, and has good pasture for cattle. There are fisheries all round the coast, but tourism is becoming the most important source of income. Borgholm, on the west coast, is the capital and only town; population (1995) 11,900.

Öland is Sweden's smallest province. Three Iron Age forts have been excavated on the island, and there are many windmills. The tourist resorts are along the west coast. At 6 km/3.7 mi long, the bridge to the mainland was the longest in Europe when it opened in 1972.