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| | Swedish neutrality Information |
 | | Lying at the base of the Gulf of Bothnia, the Åland Islands are situated alongside all the sea traffic lanes that come in and out of the Gulf, and are within range of Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states to the east. |
 | | Prior to 1809, Sweden controlled the Åland Islands, but was forced to give up all control of them, along with Finland, in the Treaty of Fredrikshamn on September 17, 1809, to Russia, despite the fact that 90 percent of the island's inhabitants were Swedish. |
 | | In the Treaty of Paris of April 18, 1856, Russia was required to stop the construction of any new fortifications on the islands, which Russia obeyed, despite unsuccessfully attempting to change the status of the islands in 1908. |
| www.bookrags.com /wiki/Swedish_neutrality (1977 words) |
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