In spite of the small size due to its narrow width, the driving distance between the furthermost points of the populated islands is about 170 kilometres (110 mi).

The archipelago is a very popular domestic tourist destination for mainland Swedes, with the population rising to very high numbers during summers.

[14] The island's main sources of income are agriculture, food processing, tourism, information technology services, design, and some heavy industry such as concrete production from locally mined limestone.

[15] From a military standpoint, it occupies a strategic location at the center of the Baltic Sea and is home to the Gotland Regiment which was re-established in 2018.

[20] It gives Awair Strabain as the name of the man who arranged the mutually beneficial agreement with the king of Sweden; the event would have taken place before the end of the ninth century, when Wulfstan of Hedeby reported that the island was subject to the Swedes: Then, after the land of the Burgundians, we had on our left the lands that have been called from the earliest times Blekingey, and Meore, and Eowland, and Gotland, all which territory is subject to the Sweons; and Weonodland was all the way on our right, as far as Weissel-mouth.

[23] The Berezan' Runestone, discovered in 1905 in Ukraine, was made by a Varangian (Viking) trader named Grani in memory of his business partner Karl.

The treasure was found by using a metal detector, and the finders fee, given to the farmer who owned the land, was over 2 million kronor (about US$308,000).

[31] In late medieval times, the island had twenty district courts (tings), each represented by its elected judge at the island-ting, called landsting.

At last, Gotland became a fief of the Teutonic Knights, awarded to them on the condition that they expel the piratical Victual Brothers from their fortified sanctuary.

[32] An invading army of Teutonic Knights conquered the island in 1398, destroying Visby and driving the Victual Brothers from Gotland.

In 1409, Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen of the Teutonic Knights guaranteed peace with the Kalmar Union of Scandinavia by selling the island of Gotland to Queen Margaret of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

[32] The authority of the landsting was successively eroded after the island was occupied by the Teutonic Order, then sold to Eric of Pomerania and after 1449 ruled by Danish governors.

A Swedish naval force rescue expedition was sent from Karlskrona under the command of admiral Rudolf Cederström with 2,000 men; the island was liberated and the Russians capitulated.

Blazon: "Azure a ram statant Argent armed Or holding on a cross-staff of the same a banner Gules bordered and with five tails of the third."

Residents are depending on an around the clock, free of charge, car ferry for transportation over a strait roughly 1.3 km (0.81 mi) wide, taking about eight minutes.

The eastern coast of Gotland, including the adjacent marine waters and islets, has been designated an 150,000 ha Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a suite of waterfowl, waders and terns.

This results in larger seasonal differences than typical of marine climates in spite of it being surrounded by the Baltic Sea for large distances in all directions.

Seasonal temperature variation is smaller in more isolated places on the island such as Hoburgen or Östergarnsholm, having warmer autumn and winter, but are cooler during spring and summer days.

[62] The water depth never exceeded 175 to 200 m (574 to 656 ft),[63] and became shallower over time as bioherm detritus and terrestrial sediments filled the basin.

[65] The island's main sources of income are agriculture along with food processing, tourism, IT solutions, design and some heavy industry such as concrete production from locally mined limestone.

[74] After the standing down of the original garrison, a battalion of the Swedish Home Guard is based on Gotland for emergencies as part of the Eastern Military Region (MR E).

However, from the second half of 2014 onwards, there has been a marked increase in the use of the range, especially by armored units (mostly company sized),[78] as tensions in Northeastern Europe have escalated.

[79] When not used by the military, a number of cultural and sports events have been held at the range, one of the most notable being the Gotland Grand National [sv], the world's largest enduro race, from 1984 to 2023.

[86][87] When a new law ensuring two weeks vacation for all employees in Sweden was passed in 1938, camping became a popular pastime among the Swedes, and in 1955, Gotland was visited by 80,000 people.

[98] In January 2014, a letter of intent for building a new cruise pier in Visby harbor was signed by Region Gotland and Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP).

They are part of what has become called "Gutniska Lekar", and are performed preferably on the Midsummer's Eve celebration on the island, but also throughout the summer months.

[114] Gotland also has a rich heritage of folklore, including myths about the bysen, Di sma undar jordi, Hoburgsgubben and the Martebo lights.

A section of the book is devoted to a Viking ship setting out to Russia, stopping on its way at Gotland and engaging a pilot from the island who plays an important part in their voyage.

Gotlanders of the Viking era are depicted as city people, more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than other Scandinavians of their time, and proud of their knowledge and skills.

For the 1989 Studio Ghibli film, Kiki's Delivery Service, by Hayao Miyazaki, he and other illustrators spent time in Gotland in preparation for animation.