The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland. The islands collectively constitute the smallest region of Finland, with only 0.49% of its land area, and 0.50% of its population. Because of the autonomous status of the Åland Islands, the powers exercised at the provincial level by representatives of the central state administration in the rest of Finland are largely exercised by the Government of Åland in Åland.
The Volunteer Fire Brigade of Mariehamn (Åland) was founded in 1887. The province has 20 fire brigades, which comprise about 300 active firemen, 120 women and 150 juniors. These fire brigades possess 50 fire trucks, 40 pumps and about 20 km hose-pipes. This postcard celebrates the 100th Anniversary of this organisation, which was on 27.4.1987.