Sottunga

Sottunga has around a hundred inhabitants and is the smallest municipality in Finland, an archipelago island on the southern ferry route with a village, a wooden church rebuilt around 1730 on a site that has held one since 1661, a school and very little else. Everyone knows everyone. The island keeps its own council and services despite the size, which is a point of some pride and periodically of political argument in Åland. Proposals to merge it with neighbouring municipalities come up periodically and are resisted each time.

What you actually see

• The scale - around a hundred people running a full municipality.
• The church - the wooden building at the centre of the village, on a site used since 1661.
• The village - the single settlement holding almost all the population.
• The ferry route - the southern archipelago line the island sits on.

When to go

June to August is the season with the fullest ferry schedule. Winter reduces services to a minimum. Ice affects crossings in hard winters.

Honest expectations

There is almost nothing there beyond the village and the walk around it. Accommodation is a guesthouse or two and books up. Ferry times govern the whole visit.

Nearby

Föglö is west, and Kökar is southeast.