Kökar

Kökar

Kökar kommun
Kökar Kökar kommun
Municipality
	Church of Saint Anne on Hamnö
	Coat of arms
	Kökar Location in Åland
	Coordinates: 59°55.2′N 20°54.5′E / 59.9200°N 20.9083°E
Country	Finland
Region	Åland
Sub-region	Archipelago
Government
• Municipal manager	Kurt Forsman
Area
• Total	2,165 km2 (836 sq mi)
• Land	63.6 km2 (24.6 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2023)
• Total	225
• Density	3.5/km2 (9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Website	www.kokar.ax

Kökar^ⓘ is an island municipality in the south-eastern part of the Åland archipelago, an autonomous region of Finland.

It is accessible by ferry from Långnäs on Åland's main island and from Galtby on the Finnish mainland.

Kökar has a population of 225 (as of 31 December 2023) and covers a total area of 2,165 km², of which 63.6 km² is land. The population density is 3.5 inhabitants per km².

The municipality is unilingually Swedish (with about 10% Finnish-speaking residents).

The Östra Långskär nature reserve is located within Kökar. 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. The monastery is now in ruins. The present-day Church of St. Anne was built in 1784 on the site of the old monastery church.

Sights

The Church of St. Anne, built during the reign of King Gustav III, stands on the island of Hamnö. It is located next to the ruins of the Franciscan monastery. The belltower, constructed in the 19th century, was restored after being damaged by a storm in 1978. Inside the church hangs a model of a sailing ship with 64 cannons, donated by a local sailor who had been captured by North African pirates but later escaped.

The local museum, opened in 1988, displays everyday life in Kökar from the 19th century to the 1940s. The museum is housed in a former school building dating from 1913.^{[citation needed]}

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