Mariehamn is the capital of Aland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Aland, and 40 percent of the population of Aland live in the city. Like all of Aland, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 89.5 percent of the inhabitants speak it as their native language. The town was named after Maria Alexandrovna, the Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia.
Mariehamn features several buildings drawn by Finnish architect Lars Sonck, who moved to Aland as a child. Buildings drawn by him include the church of Mariehamn (1927), the main building of the Aland Maritime College (1927) and the town hall (1939). Hilda Hongell has also designed several buildings, although only a few are still standing.