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Gotland is the largest island in the Baltic Sea. The region also includes the small islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the North, and the tiny Karlsö Islands to the West. About 60,000 inhabitants live in Gotland, with a bit more than a third in the island’s main city Visby, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Gotland has been occupied since prehistory. It is the home of the Gutar (Gotlanders) and considered by some as the homeland of the Goths. Early on Gotland became a commercial center and Visby, Gotland’s main town, was the most important Hanseatic city in the Baltic Sea. In late medieval time, the island had twenty district courts (tings), each represented at the island-ting, called landsting, by its elected judge. The Gutasaga which contains legends of how the island was settled by Þieluar, populated by his descendants also tells that the Gotlanders voluntarily submitted to the king of Sweden based on mutual agreements and notes the duties and obligations of the Swedish King and Bishop in relationship to Gotland. The Gutasaga is thus not only an effort to write down the history of Gotland, but also an effort to assert Gotland's independence from Sweden.
You will find in this gallery pictures of Gotland! |
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Your photographic guide to the World - Pictures of Gotland
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