The southern part of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea is dominated by a vast limestone plateau. Human beings have lived here for some five thousand years and adapted their way of life to the physical constraints of the island. As a consequence, the landscape is unique, with abundant evidence of continuous human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day.
The agricultural landscape of southern Öland is an area of more than 56,000 hectares located on the island of Öland, Sweden. It includes Stora alvaret, a limestone plateau of around half that surface. Stora alvaret is a dagger-shaped area almost 40 km (25 mi) long and about 10 km (6.2 mi) at its widest north end. This limestone plain, around a quarter of the surface of the island, is the most extended of its kind in Europe. As a result of the thin layer of soil and high pH levels, it presents a wide range of plants, including many rare species.
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