Vårdö

Vårdö
Vårdö
Municipality
	Vårdö kommun
	Boathouses in Simskäla, island in the north of Vårdö
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Vårdö in Finland
	Vårdö Location in Åland
	Coordinates: 60°14.5′N 020°22.5′E / 60.2417°N 20.3750°E
Country	Finland
Region	Åland
Sub-region	Åland Archipelago sub-region
Government
• Municipal manager	Magnus Sandberg
Area (2018-01-01)
• Total	572.56 km2 (221.07 sq mi)
• Land	101.75 km2 (39.29 sq mi)
• Water	471.16 km2 (181.92 sq mi)
• Rank	298th largest in Finland
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	472
• Rank	304th largest in Finland
• Density	4.64/km2 (12.0/sq mi)
Population by native language
• Swedish	84.5% (official)
• Finnish	4%
• Others	11.5%
Population by age
• 0 to 14	16.7%
• 15 to 64	53.3%
• 65 or older	30%
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Website	www.vardo.ax

Vårdö is an island municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland.

The municipality has a population of 472 (31 December 2023)^[6] and covers an area of 572.56 square kilometres (221.07 sq mi) of which 471.16 km² (181.92 sq mi) is water.^[1] The population density is 4.64 inhabitants per square kilometre (12.0/sq mi) of land.

The municipality is unilingually Swedish.

Two notable Finnish authors, Sally Salminen and Anni Blomqvist, were born in Vårdö. Blomqvist lived her whole life on the Vårdö island of Simskäla.

The word "vårdö" means "the guardian island". On the highest mountain of Vårdö people used to light bonfires to warn the other islands of danger.

The old post route from Stockholm to Turku went through Vårdö, by road from Båthusviken to Hullvik on the main island, otherwise by water. The local citizens took care of the mail transport in any type of weather. The dangerous mail transport lasted for over 300 years (1638–1910). Many people drowned on these journeys and in the memory of them the municipality of Vårdö has erected a memorial on the seashore of Hullvik. Today the post route road is marked with milestones.