Mörbylånga Municipality
Mörbylånga Municipality is a
Municipality in
Kalmar County, in south-eastern
Sweden, located on the island of
Öland in the
Baltic Sea. The seat is located in the town of
Mörbylånga (pop. 1,800) while the largest town is
Färjestaden (pop. 4,500).
Färjestaden is located in the north-west part of the municipality and is named after the ferries that used to be the only connection to the mainland. Nowadays the impressive car-bridge
Ölandsbron connects the mainline with the island, and Färjestaden has had an impressive population increase, making it several times bigger than the town Mörbylånga.
Mörbylånga contains several ancient remains, just like the northern Oelandia municipality of
Borgholm. All in all, there are about 20
hillforts on Oelandia. The most notable in southern Öland is the fortress in Eketorp.
The entire southern part of the island has been listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, basically the whole municipality of Mörbylånga. The reason is that the climate and
bedrock has made the area populated and cultivated for several thousands of years. Unlike the geology on the eastern mainland province of
Smalandia there is scarsely any forests on Öland, so people could do agriculture there.
The southern parts of Öland also contain popular animal areas. Many
migratory birds halt here on their way north or south. Especially the southernmost outpost, the
lighthouse Långe Jan (Tall John) is visited by many birdwatchers every day as many birds flock here until setting away over the ocean.
One fourth of the municipality consists of the nature area
Alvaret, a unique
plain nature area containing by many plants not found anywhere else. One can see several kilometers of just plains and the sky.
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Mörbylånga - Official site
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Sothern Oland - Tourism page, in Swedish, English & German
