Mariehamn

Mariehamn (Finnish: Maarianhamina) is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city. Like all of Åland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 7,001,880,000,000,000,000♠88% of the inhabitants speak it as their native language.

History

The town was named after the Russian empress Maria Alexandrovna. Mariehamn was founded in 1861, around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of Jomala. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. Mariehamn was built according to a very regular scheme which is well-preserved. One of the oldest streets is Södragatan where many wooden houses dating from the 19th century can be seen.

Harbours

The city is located on a peninsula. It has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore, which are ice-free for nearly the whole year, and have no tides. The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden, Estonia and mainland Finland. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the EU customs zone and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Mariehamn Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Jomala, some 3 kilometres (2 mi) north-west of Mariehamn city centre. Åland and Mariehamn have a reputable heritage in shipping. The Flying P-Liner Pommern museum ship is anchored in the Western Harbour. The Eastern Harbour features one of the largest marinas in Scandinavia. The famous Dutch steamer Jan Nieveen (now called F.P. von Knorring, after Åland teacher and vicar Frans Peter von Knorring) can also be found here.

IFK Mariehamn

IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club, based in Mariehamn, capital of the Åland Islands. It currently plays in the Finnish Premier Division (Veikkausliiga). The club's manager is Pekka Lyyski, and it plays its home matches at Wiklöf Holding Arena.

History

While IFK Mariehamn was formed in 1919, the sports club did not have a football section until the mid-1930s. Initially the team participated primarily in local tournaments on Åland, only sporadically playing other Finnish or Swedish teams. The team has participated in the Finnish football leagues since 1945.

Until the 1970s, IFK Mariehamn played primarily in the Finnish football divisions 3 and 4. The club reached a peak in 1975 and 1976, when the club first advanced to division 2 and then reached division 1 (Ykkönen) the following year. After two seasons in division 1, IFK Mariehamn was relegated to division 2, where it would remain up until the 2000s, except for a few seasons in division 3 during the early 1990s.

In 2003, IFK Mariehamn returned to division 1. After only one season in division 1, the club advanced, for the first time in its history to the premier division of Finnish football, the Veikkausliiga, for the 2005 season. In its first season in the Veikkausliiga, IFK Mariehamn finished 12th out of 14 teams. In 2006, the club finished in 5th place and the year after 6th after an impressive run of unbeaten matches during the autumn of 2007.

Åland Islands

The Åland Islands or Åland (Swedish: Åland, Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːland]; Finnish: Ahvenanmaa) is a region of Finland that consists of an archipelago lying at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. It is autonomous, demilitarised and is the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in Finland. Collectively, the islands in the archipelago form the smallest region of Finland, constituting 0.49% of its land area and 0.50% of its population.

Åland comprises Fasta Åland on which 90% of the population resides and a further 6,500 skerries and islands to its east. Fasta Åland is separated from the coast of 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.

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.

Warsaw

Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa [varˈʂava]; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres (160 mi) from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.740 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 2.666 million residents, which makes Warsaw the 9th most-populous capital city in the European Union. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres (199.6 sq mi), while the metropolitan area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres (2,355.39 sq mi).

In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central Europe. Today Warsaw is considered an "Alpha–" global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. Warsaw's economy, by a wide variety of industries, is characterised by FMCG manufacturing, metal processing, steel and electronic manufacturing and food processing. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, as well as of the Polish media industry. The Warsaw Stock Exchange is one of the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe.Frontex, the European Union agency for external border security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. It has been said that Warsaw, together with Frankfurt, London, Paris and Barcelona is one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in Europe. Warsaw has also been called "Eastern Europe’s chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and serious restaurants".

Geaca

Geaca (Hungarian: Gyeke; German: Jeckel) is a commune in Cluj County, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Chiriş (Kőristanya), Geaca, Lacu (Feketelak), Legii (Légen), Puini (Kispulyon) and Sucutard (Vasasszentgothárd).

Demographics

According to the census from 2002 there was a total population of 1,744 people living in this town. Of this population, 81.07% are ethnic Romanians, 17.31% are ethnic Hungarians and 1.43% ethnic Romani.

References