Vårdö

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

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
Country	Finland
Region	Åland
Sub-region	Archipelago
Government
• Municipal manager	Erik Brunström
Area  (2018-01-01)[1]
• 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  (2025-06-30)[2]
• Total	471
• Rank	303rd largest in Finland
• Density	4.63/km2 (12.0/sq mi)
Population by native language [3]
• Swedish	85.6% (official)
• Finnish	4.1%
• Others	10.2%
Population by age [4]
• 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

The municipality has a population of 471 (30 June 2025)^[5] 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 4.63 inhabitants per square kilometre (12.0/sq mi) of land.

The municipality is unilingually Swedish.

Håkan Skogsjö has documented the permanently residing population of Vårdö from the 17th century to the present, covering the history of the municipality as a whole, its individual hamlets, down to each original farmstead and the families who lived there.^[6]

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

Vårdö church and cemetery

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.