What is Gotland known for?
Gotland is a paradise island with characterful wilderness and a coastline punctuated with sandy beaches and sculptural sea stacks. Historically significant, its main town Visby is a Viking-era wonder and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gotland’s coastline, if counting Fårö, stretches across 800 kilometres.
What is modern day Gotland?
The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north, as well as the Karlsö Islands (Lilla and Stora) to the west. The population is 58,595, of which about 23,600 live in Visby, the main town….Gotland.
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Reference no. | 21 |
What is the meaning of Gotland?
/ (ˈɡɒtlənd, Swedish ˈɡɔtlant) / an island in the Baltic Sea, off the SE coast of Sweden: important trading centre since the Bronze Age; long disputed between Sweden and Denmark, finally becoming Swedish in 1645; tourism and agriculture now important. Capital: Visby.
How was Gotland formed?
Gotland is made up of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of a Silurian age, dipping to the south-east. Reef growth started in the Llandovery, when the sea was 50–100 m (160–330 ft) deep, and reefs continued to dominate the sedimentary record.
When did Gotland become a part of Sweden?
Gotland, initially an independent sovereign entity, fell under German rule in 1398, Danish rule in 1408, Swedish rule in 1645, Danish rule again in 1676, and ended up as part of Sweden in 1679, with a brief 23-day occupation by the Russians in 1808.
What was found on the Swedish island of Gotland?
Just a couple of years ago we found the biggest Viking silver hoard ever found in the world up here. And it weighed 75 kilos of pure silver and old Arabic coins and Byzantine coins.” NARRATOR: This find is said to exceed 40,000 coins. The hoard from Spillings can now be viewed in a museum in Visby on Gotland.