Kökar

Kökar
Kökar
Municipality
	Kökar kommun
	Church of Saint Anne
	Coat of arms
	Location of Kökar in Finland
	Kökar Location in Åland
	Coordinates: 59°55.2′N 020°54.5′E / 59.9200°N 20.9083°E
Country	Finland
Region	Åland
Sub-region	Archipelago sub-region
Government
• Municipal manager	Kurt Forsman
Area (2018-01-01)
• Total	2,165.02 km2 (835.92 sq mi)
• Land	63.58 km2 (24.55 sq mi)
• Water	2,101.46 km2 (811.38 sq mi)
• Rank	305th largest in Finland
Population (2024-10-31)
• Total	226
• Rank	308th largest in Finland
• Density	3.55/km2 (9.2/sq mi)
Population by native language
• Swedish	87.1% (official)
• Finnish	9.3%
• Others	3.6%
Population by age
• 0 to 14	3.1%
• 15 to 64	58.7%
• 65 or older	38.2%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Website	www.kokar.ax

Kökar (pronunciation^ⓘ) is an island municipality to the south-east of the Åland archipelago, Finland.

It is also one of the municipalities of Åland. It is reachable by boat from Långnäs on Åland or from Galtby with access to mainland Finland.

The municipality has a population of 226 (31 October 2024)^[2] and covers an area of 2,165.02 square kilometres (835.92 sq mi) of which 2,101.46 km² (811.38 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 3.55 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.2/sq mi).

The municipality is unilingually Swedish (with about %10 Finnish-speaking). The natural reserve of Östra Långskär is located there. Other notable islands include Kyrkogårdsö.

Ulla-Lena Lundberg, a Finnish author, was born in Kökar in 1947.

History

Kökar was first inhabited over 3,000 years ago by seal hunters. A Franciscan monastery was founded in Hamnö in the 15th century. Today the monastery is in ruins. The church dedicated to St. Anne was built in 1784 in the place of the old monastery church.

Sights

The church of St. Anne was built in the site of the old monastery church during the reign of king Gustav III and is located on the island of Hamnö. It is next to the ruins of the monastery. The belltower was built in the 19th century. The belltower had to be restored after an Autumn storm damaged it in 1978. A model of a sailing ship hangs in the church. It was given by a local sailor who had been captured by North African pirates but who later managed to escape. The model has 64 cannons.

The local museum was opened in 1988 and its purpose is to show how the people of Kökar lived in the 19th century and onwards to the 1940s. The now museum building, built in 1913, used to be an old school.^{[citation needed]}

There is also a Bronze Age site dating back to 1150–1050 BC. It was found in 1918.^{[citation needed]}