Development of Aland Islands: major trends and challenges

Abstract

This article considers key conditions and factors of the development of Aland Islands, describes main international legal regulations determining current status of the islands, identifies the trends in volume and structure of economic activities, ana lyzes processes of population change by regions and communes, as well as migration flows. The article also characterizes legal framework for socioeconomic development of the Finnish region. It is argued that the key factor behind modern welfare of the islands is not their political status or institutional makeup, but rather their economic and geographical position, the "concentration effect", and the population influx. It is stressed that wide regional disparities observed within such small territory are indicative of the spatial structure of society development - primarily under the influence of natural features, which are nearly impossible to disregard.