Gotland

the land of the Goths, the largest island in the Baltic Sea. It lies sixty miles from the Swedish mainland. It is a limestone plateau about seventy miles long by fifteen wide. The surface is well watered. The soil is rich. Many huge boulders left by ancient glaciers lie about. The climate is mild. Orchards flourish. The farmers are thrifty and pride themselves on dairy products, ponies, sheep, and wool. They have drained the peat swamps that once abounded and call them in jest "the gold mines of Gotland." Gotland, with its capital, Wisby, was at one time a commercial center. Before the rise of the Hanseatic League, Wisby dominated the Asiatic trade. Warehouses were maintained at Nijni-Novgorod on the upper Volga. The profits of the trade soon drew the attention of the Germans. In 1280 Wisby, Riga, and Lubeck formed an alliance against the Baltic pirates. In 1293 the league transferred its deliberations to Lubeck, and the Goths lost their supremacy. Wisby lost its position as mistress of the Baltic. Extensive ivy-clad ruins attest the former wealth of the city. The old city walls and towers still stand. Since 1640 Gotland has been a part of Sweden. Gotland now has a population of about 52,000; Wisby, of about 8,000. See Baltic; Hanseatic League; Nijni-Novgorod; Sweden; Goths