The traditional provinces of Sweden no longer serve administrative or political purposes but still exist as historical and cultural entities.

[citation needed] Archaeological evidence indicates the island of Öland was settled about 8000 BC, with excavations dating from the Paleolithic era showing the presence of hunter-gatherers.

Evidence of habitation of Öland occurred at least as early as 6000 BC, when there were Stone Age settlements at Alby and other locations on the island.

There is an even earlier mention of the tribe in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith: Oswin ruled the Eowans and Gefwulf the Jutes, Finn Folcwalding The Frisian clan.

Sigar longest ruled the sea-Danes Scholars such as Schütte[8] and Kendrick[9] have pointed out that there was probably an even earlier mention of the people of Öland in 98 AD, by Tacitus, who called them the "Aviones": After the Langobardi come the Reudigni, Auiones, Angli, Warini, Eudoses, Suarines and Nuithones all well guarded by rivers and forests.

The dominant environmental feature of the island is the Stora Alvaret, a limestone pavement which is the habitat of numerous rare and endangered species.

[16][17] The underlying bedrock layer is mainly Cambrian sandstone and alum chert, and Ordovician limestone that dates from an approximate range of 540 to 450 million years ago.

The approval has been met with criticism on the municipal and county administrative levels, citing that the many cracks in the limestone bedrock could cause the groundwater to become contaminated by the gas prospecting.

[19] The eastern coast of Öland, including its grazed meadows, marshes, chalk cliffs and sandbanks, has been designated an 30,000 ha Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a suite of waterfowl, waders and terns, as well as breeding white-tailed sea-eagles.

The limestone pavement habitat of southern Öland, known as Stora Alvaret, has been entered as a site of the UNESCO World Heritage program.

[21] Features of this are the many rare species found; prehistory sites such as Gettlinge and Eketorp; numerous old wooden windmills left standing, some of which date to the 17th century; and the special geological alvar landscape.

[citation needed] Skördefest is an annual harvest festival on Öland, held every September, which attracts thousands of visitors.