Archipelago Sea
Encyclopedia
Archipelago Sea is a part of the Baltic Sea
between the Gulf of Bothnia
, the Gulf of Finland
and the Sea of Åland
, within Finnish
territorial waters
. By some definitions it contains the largest archipelago
(island
group) in the world by the number of islands, although many of the islands are very small and tightly clustered.
The larger islands are inhabited and connected by ferries and bridges. The Åland Islands
, including the largest islands of the region, form an autonomous region within Finland. The rest of the islands are part of Finland Proper
. The Archipelago Sea is a significant tourist destination.
(60°5′52"N 19°56′23"E), Uusikaupunki
(60°48′4"N 21°24′50"E), and Hanko (59°50′0"N 22°58′15"E), at the corners. The archipelago can be divided into inner and outer archipelagos, with the outer archipelago consisting mainly of smaller, uninhabited islands. The total surface area is 8300 square kilometers, of which 2000 square kilometers is land.
The archipelago has a very large number of islands. The exact number depends on the definition of the term "island", as the size of the patches of dry land in the area varies from small rocks peeking out of the water to large islands with several villages or even small towns. The number of the larger islands of over 1 km2 within the Archipelago Sea is 257, whilst the number of smaller isles of over 0.5 ha is about 18,000. If the number of smallest uninhabitable rocks and skerries
is accounted, 50,000 is probably a good estimate. In comparison, the number of islands in Canadian Arctic Archipelago
is 36,563. Indonesia
has 17,508 islands, according to the Indonesian Naval Hydro-Oceanographic Office. The Philippines is generally attributed to have 7,107 islands.
The islands began emerging from the sea shortly after the last ice age
. Due to the post-glacial rebound
the process is still going on, with new skerries
and islands being slowly created and old ones enlarged or merged. The current rate of rebound is between 4 and 10 millimetres a year. Because the islands are made of mainly granite
and gneiss
, two very hard types of rock
, erosion
is significantly slower than rebound. The sea area is shallow, with a mean depth of 23 m. Most of the channels are not navigable for large ships.
There are three crater-like formations in the archipelago. One of them, Lumparn
in Åland, is a genuine impact crater
. (60°8′22"N 20°7′37"E) The two other formations are intrusion
s. The more prominent of these is the Åva Intrusion in the municipality of Brändö
, which is easily notable in satellite photos and high-resolution maps. (60°28′19"N 21°1′0"E) The other similar formation is in Fjälskär, between the main islands of Houtskär
and Iniö
. (60°18′25"N 21°22′18"E)
Post-glacial rebound
affects the islands, but due to their southern location, the effect is much smaller than in Kvarken
(Finnish: Merenkurkku).
and the autonomous province of Åland. The border between the provinces runs roughly along Skiftet (Kihti in Finnish), a relatively open sea area. Together with the islands near the coast of Sweden the area forms a Euroregion
. The main ports in the area are Turku
on the continent, and Mariehamn
on the Åland islands.
The Åland region is autonomous and demilitarized. It has its own regional parliament and has Swedish
as its sole official language. The regional parliament has power over wide-ranging matters, including health services, education, environment, and postal services. Monetary and foreign policy are handled by the Parliament of Finland
. The president of Finland
has, in theory, right to veto the laws passed by the Åland regional parliament.
The number of permanent residents on the islands is roughly 60,000, with 27,000 of them living in Åland. Also outside Åland most of the area has been more or less monolingually Swedish-speaking, now officially bilingual with a Swedish-speaking majority. The northern part of the area is monolingually Finnish.
Many Finns have summer residences on the islands in the area, known for its natural beauty. Due to this the population of many islands can double or more during the summer. Although having a summer cottage in the archipelago is more common among the Swedish-speaking, the Swedish-speaking are a small minority on the mainland, and so most summer residents are Finnish-speaking, in contrast to the permanent residents. Kultaranta, the official summer residence of the president of Finland
is on the island of Luonnonmaa
in Naantali
.
An interesting feature in the demographics
in the archipelago is the number of twins
. The tendency for non-identical twin births is partly hereditary, and the necessary gene
s are prevalent in the archipelago. In the 18th and 19th centuries the proportion of twin births was greater than anywhere in Europe
, and enormously higher than in continental Finland
. The reason for this was fishing
. Fish
is an excellent source of protein and unsaturated fat
. It was also available even when crops
failed. Hence having twins maximizes lifetime reproductive success.
The eastern part of the archipelago is defended by the Archipelago Sea Naval Command
, which has its main base in Turku
. The defence is based largely on naval mine
s and coastal artillery
. Both are effective in the archipelago, where the dense clusters of islands severely limit the manoeuvrability of invading vessels. The autonomous region of Åland is demilitarised. The Finnish Defence Forces
are not allowed to enter the area, and its residents are exempt from military service, although they can volunteer to serve in the army.
comparable to that of continental Finland. Fishing
and fish processing
are major industries. The archipelago is well-known for its Baltic herring
and rainbow trout
products. Agriculture
is limited by the small size and rocky nature of the islands. However, the climate
is more favourable than in continental Finland and some islands, particularly Rymättylä
, are famous in the nearby continental areas for producing the first new potato
es of the summer. The significance of tourism
to the economy of the islands is constantly increasing.
The islands are linked by bridges and ferries, and in case of Åland, a small airport
. The ferries are divided into two categories: "road ferries" (landsvägsfärja or simply färja in Swedish, lautta or lossi in Finnish) are free of charge and operate mostly on short routes between adjacent (large) islands. They are raft-like in construction and usually operated by the road administration. The small ones are cable ferries
(kabelfärja in Swedish, lossi in Finnish), bigger ones do not use cables (and are called lautta in Finnish). The other ferries (förbindelsefartyg in Swedish, yhteysalus in Finnish) are more ship-like in construction, are operated by the maritime administration and may charge a small fee. They operate on longer routes covering several smaller or more distant islands. There are also large commersially operated cruiseferries
connecting the Finnish cities of Turku
and Helsinki
to Åland and Sweden
.
During cold winters official ice road
s are established between some islands. Driving on the ice is common also to islands lacking official ice roads. This greatly eases transportation, as it makes it possible to simply drive a car
(or even a heavy van
if ice is very thick) from the continent to the islands. On the other hand, during spring and autumn there is a period of thaw (menföre in Swedish, kelirikko in Finnish) when the ice is too thin even for walking, but too thick for boating. This can leave some islands lacking a pier for large ships isolated for days or weeks. Access is only by hydrocopter
, hovercraft
or helicopter
.
Many important shipping lanes cross the Archipelago Sea. Navigation is made hazardous by the labyrinthine archipelago, varying depth and numerous skerries
. For this reason the islands are dotted with lighthouse
s of varying sizes and navigational marks. Maritime pilot
services are maintained by the state.
is usually considered the starting point of the road. The route goes through following municipalities, villages, islands and island groups:
There is also a shorter version of the route, the so-called "Small Ring Road", which utilizes a ferry connection between Rymättylä
(part of Naantali
) and Nagu
, skipping numbers 4-11 in the list above.
The ring road is usually traveled by car or by bicycle. Most of the ferries along the road are free, but ferries to and from Iniö
charge a small fee. It is possible to cover the Ring Road in one day by car, but usually travellers spend at least one night along the way. Approximately 20 000 tourist travel the Ring Road every year. The main tourist season is from June to August. The principal tourist attraction is scenery and nature along the way, but significant sights also include the Louhisaari manor and several medieval churches.
, have become ingrained in the culture of the islands. There are, however, several subtle differences. Maypole
s are an essential part of the Midsummer
festival in the archipelago but not in the continent. On the other hand, the continental Finnish Midsummer tradition of lighting bonfire
s has been introduced to the archipelago relatively recently.
Based on the languages spoken the archipelago can be divided into three parts. The Åland archipelago in the west is almost completely Swedish-speaking, the Åboland
archipelago in the south is mostly Swedish-speaking and the northern archipelago is Finnish-speaking.
Because Christianity spread to the islands before the mainland, the churches on the major islands tend to be old, dating from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, with the oldest ones in Åland. More than 80 % of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
, and this proportion is even higher in the archipelago, as the area doesn't have an orthodox
or catholic
parish.
The culinary culture of the archipelago resembles continental Finnish cuisine. Naturally, there is a greater emphasis on fish
, particularly baltic herring, salmon
and rainbow trout
. The island are also famous for traditional dark bread distinguished by the use of buttermilk
, syrup
, and malt
among the ingredients. The main dish of the Christmas
dinner is usually a northern pike
, in contrast to the ham which is eaten in mainland Finland. Every Christmas the fishermen of Korppoo deliver a pike for the president's
table.
s, but still harbour a rich plant
life. The environment is sunny, has a relatively long growing season
and is fertilised
by guano
. On the other hand, nearly constant wind
and thin or non-existent soil
limit plant growth. The very low salinity
of the Baltic Sea makes splashes of seawater more benign for plant life. While most of the islands are rocky, some are actually extensions of the Salpausselkä
ridge system, and thus composed of terminal morraine. Such islands include Örö
and Jurmo
. The flora
and fauna
in these islands is more diverse than in their rocky neighbours.
The conditions can vary radically even within one small island, due to the features of the rock on which the islands are based. There may be small patches of fresh-water bog
s, pond
s of fresh water, pond
s of brackish water
, bushes, meadow
s, barren rocks, wind-beaten shores and sheltered cove
s on an island only a few tens of meters in diameter. Many plants have altered phenotype
s due to the environment. For example, juniper
s on small islands grow only to a height less than 0.5 meters, but can cover several square meters.
In contrast to the terrestrial and coastal ecosystems of the islands, the sea itself has a relatively low biodiversity
. The reason for this is the brackish nature of the water. The salinity in only 0.6 % in the Archipelago. The salinity has also varied greatly during the past, making it difficult for species to adapt. However, the great number of individuals indicates a favourable environment. Typical fish species are the Baltic herring, pike, white-fish, perch and flounder.
The area is home to many species which are not found elsewhere in Finland. Harbour porpoise
is one example of such species. It is the only cetacean which is regularly sighted in the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The current population in the entire Baltic is estimated at 600 individuals, down from estimated 10 to 20 thousand a century ago. Another example is White-tailed Eagle
, which has a significant breeding population in the Archipelago Sea. Rare or endangered bird and mammal species found in the archipelago also include Caspian tern
, Greater scaup
, Grey seal
and Ringed seal
.
The islands are a haven for seabird
s. The species include mute swan
, black guillemot
, great crested grebe
and numerous species of sea gulls. Recently great cormorant
s have spread to the archipelago and their numbers are increasing. This not necessarily viewed as a good thing by nature lovers, since great cormorant
s live in dense colonies which will eventually poison
surrounding plant life by their excrement.
The greatest threat to the environment is eutrophication
caused mainly by agriculture
and fish farms. This is a particular threat to the Baltic Sea
, since it is very shallow and thus has much less potential to dilute effluent from human activities. Eutrophication has been partly brought under control in Finland, but the effects are masked by the general decline in the condition of the Baltic Sea.
Many areas of the archipelago are protected from human activity by their sheer inaccessibility. The southern part of the Archipelago Sea belong to the cooperation area of the Archipelago National Park and there are many small nature conservation areas, where landing is inhibited in spring and summer.
10,000 years ago. At that stage the Danish Straits
were closed and the current Baltic Sea was the fresh-water Lake Ancylus. The water around the islands turned from fresh to brackish around 7600 years ago as the saline water from the North Sea
penetrated further to the Baltic from the recently opened straits. The oldest archaeological
finds in Dragsfjärd
date back to ca. 4000 BC and represent the Pit-Comb Ware culture
. During that period the outer archipelago was formed by the highest points of the main islands of Houtskari, Korppoo and Nauvo. Due to post-glacial rebound
the entire archipelago has risen approximately 25 meters since, enlarging existing islands and creating many more.
established its control of the Archipelago Sea. At the same time Christianity started to spread to Finland, starting from the archipelago and the adjacent coastal area. The islands occupy a strategic position, guarding the approaches to Stockholm, Turku and the entire Gulf of Bothnia. Therefore they were fortified by the Swedish empire
during the Middle Ages. A royal postal route used to go via the northern islands in the 16th and 17th century.
In 1808 the War of Finland broke out between Sweden
and Russia
. In April Russian troops occupied the archipelago, including Åland. Soon after the local residents, enraged by the confiscation of ships, rebelled. Aided by troops from Sweden the archipelago was cleared from Russian troops in May. The Swedish troops then used the islands as a staging area for the recapture of continental Finland. The archipelago remained in Swedish control until the end of the war, but in the subsequent Treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809 Sweden was forced to cede the area along with rest of Finland. The Archipelago Sea became part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland
under the Russian Empire.
an Anglo-French force attacked and destroyed the Bomarsund castle. In the Åland convention
of 1856 the Åland side of the archipelago was demilitarised
. The Russians moved troops back into the area in 1916, and for the next 5 years there was either Russian or Finnish military presence in Åland.
in 1917. Shortly after, the Swedish speaking inhabitants of the Åland Islands
, in the western part of the Archipelago
, appealed to Sweden to annex the islands. The request received mixed support in Sweden, but led to the Åland crisis
. The League of Nations
was called in to resolve the situation, and in 1921 the League granted the sovereignty of the entire archipelago to Finland, despite the objections of the majority of Ålanders. However, Åland was given a wide autonomy, and its demilitarised
status was reaffirmed.
In 1939 Soviet Union
invaded Finland in the Winter War
. At the end of the war in 1940 Finland was forced to rent Hanko at the eastern extreme of the Archipelago Sea to Soviet Union
as a military base. In 1941 the War of Continuation broke out. Finland sent troops to Åland to guard against a possible Soviet invasion, which didn't materialize. Finnish army also laid siege on Hanko, which was evacuated by Soviet Union later that year. Finnish troops remained in Åland until the end of the war in 1944.
In 1995 Finland became a member of the European Union
. The referendum
on the membership was held separately in Åland, leading to the possibility of different outcomes. A rejection of the EU membership by the Ålanders would have created a situation similar to that of Greenland
, which is an autonomous region of Denmark
but is not part of the EU. However, the membership was accepted in both referendums.
Throughout its history the population of the Archipelago Sea has varied significantly. The population increased until the first half of the 16th century. After that the population went into decline as the carrying capacity of the environment was reached and wars and pestilence took their toll on the people. In the 19th century the population increased sharply as new, more efficient fishing methods were introduced. In the 20th century the population went into decline again, especially on smaller islands, due to rapid urbanization
. Many smaller islands became completely uninhabited. During the recent decades increasing number of summer residences in the archipelago have revitalized some areas.
:
Coastal municipalities in Finland Proper which also include some islands:
Island municipalities in Åland:
Coastal municipalities in Uusimaa
which also include some islands:
The archipelago continues further to the east in Uusimaa
, but Hanko is traditionally seen as a dividing point between the Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Finland
.
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
between the Gulf of Bothnia
Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...
, the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
and the Sea of Åland
Sea of Åland
The Sea of Åland is the waters located in the southern Gulf of Bothnia, between the Åland islands and the Swedish mainland. The sea connects Kvarken and the Bothnian Sea with the Baltic Sea proper. The seas are often choppy here. The narrowest part is named Södra Kvarken or South Kvarken....
, within Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
territorial waters
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most from the baseline of a coastal state...
. By some definitions it contains the largest archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
(island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
group) in the world by the number of islands, although many of the islands are very small and tightly clustered.
The larger islands are inhabited and connected by ferries and bridges. The Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
, including the largest islands of the region, form an autonomous region within Finland. The rest of the islands are part of Finland Proper
Finland Proper
Finland Proper or Southwest Finland , is a region in south-western Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Tavastia Proper, Ahvenanmaa and Uusimaa.- Municipalities :...
. The Archipelago Sea is a significant tourist destination.
Geography and geology
The Archipelago Sea covers a roughly triangular area with the cities of MariehamnMariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...
(60°5′52"N 19°56′23"E), Uusikaupunki
Uusikaupunki
Uusikaupunki , is a town and municipality of Finland.It is located in the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is inland water. The population density is .The municipality is unilingually Finnish...
(60°48′4"N 21°24′50"E), and Hanko (59°50′0"N 22°58′15"E), at the corners. The archipelago can be divided into inner and outer archipelagos, with the outer archipelago consisting mainly of smaller, uninhabited islands. The total surface area is 8300 square kilometers, of which 2000 square kilometers is land.
The archipelago has a very large number of islands. The exact number depends on the definition of the term "island", as the size of the patches of dry land in the area varies from small rocks peeking out of the water to large islands with several villages or even small towns. The number of the larger islands of over 1 km2 within the Archipelago Sea is 257, whilst the number of smaller isles of over 0.5 ha is about 18,000. If the number of smallest uninhabitable rocks and skerries
Skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....
is accounted, 50,000 is probably a good estimate. In comparison, the number of islands in Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Arctic Archipelago, is a Canadian archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic...
is 36,563. Indonesia
Geography of Indonesia
Indonesia is an archipelagic island country in Southeast Asia, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is in a strategic location astride or along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean. The country's variations in culture have been shaped—although not...
has 17,508 islands, according to the Indonesian Naval Hydro-Oceanographic Office. The Philippines is generally attributed to have 7,107 islands.
The islands began emerging from the sea shortly after the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
. Due to the post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
the process is still going on, with new skerries
Skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....
and islands being slowly created and old ones enlarged or merged. The current rate of rebound is between 4 and 10 millimetres a year. Because the islands are made of mainly granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
, two very hard types of rock
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
, erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
is significantly slower than rebound. The sea area is shallow, with a mean depth of 23 m. Most of the channels are not navigable for large ships.
There are three crater-like formations in the archipelago. One of them, Lumparn
Lumparn
Lumparn is a large bay devoid of islands in the Main Island of Åland, Finland, bordered by Sund to the north, Lumparland to the east, Lemland to the south and Jomala to the west....
in Åland, is a genuine impact crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
. (60°8′22"N 20°7′37"E) The two other formations are intrusion
Intrusion
An intrusion is liquid rock that forms under Earth's surface. Magma from under the surface is slowly pushed up from deep within the earth into any cracks or spaces it can find, sometimes pushing existing country rock out of the way, a process that can take millions of years. As the rock slowly...
s. The more prominent of these is the Åva Intrusion in the municipality of Brändö
Brändö
Brändö is an island municipality of Åland, Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish and of the population are Swedish speakers....
, which is easily notable in satellite photos and high-resolution maps. (60°28′19"N 21°1′0"E) The other similar formation is in Fjälskär, between the main islands of Houtskär
Houtskär
Houtskär is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Iniö, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....
and Iniö
Iniö
Iniö is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....
. (60°18′25"N 21°22′18"E)
Post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
affects the islands, but due to their southern location, the effect is much smaller than in Kvarken
Kvarken
Kvarken is the narrow region in the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay from the Bothnian Sea...
(Finnish: Merenkurkku).
Demographics and administration
The islands are divided between the province of Western FinlandWestern Finland
Western Finland was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2010. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland.- History :...
and the autonomous province of Åland. The border between the provinces runs roughly along Skiftet (Kihti in Finnish), a relatively open sea area. Together with the islands near the coast of Sweden the area forms a Euroregion
Euroregion
In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region.-Scope:...
. The main ports in the area are Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
on the continent, and Mariehamn
Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...
on the Åland islands.
The Åland region is autonomous and demilitarized. It has its own regional parliament and has Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
as its sole official language. The regional parliament has power over wide-ranging matters, including health services, education, environment, and postal services. Monetary and foreign policy are handled by the Parliament of Finland
Parliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...
. The president of Finland
President of Finland
The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....
has, in theory, right to veto the laws passed by the Åland regional parliament.
The number of permanent residents on the islands is roughly 60,000, with 27,000 of them living in Åland. Also outside Åland most of the area has been more or less monolingually Swedish-speaking, now officially bilingual with a Swedish-speaking majority. The northern part of the area is monolingually Finnish.
Many Finns have summer residences on the islands in the area, known for its natural beauty. Due to this the population of many islands can double or more during the summer. Although having a summer cottage in the archipelago is more common among the Swedish-speaking, the Swedish-speaking are a small minority on the mainland, and so most summer residents are Finnish-speaking, in contrast to the permanent residents. Kultaranta, the official summer residence of the president of Finland
President of Finland
The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....
is on the island of Luonnonmaa
Luonnonmaa
Luonnonmaa is an island in the city of Naantali, in south-western Finland. It forms most of the city's area, but only a fraction of its population as it is rather sparsely populated. It previously belonged to the rural municipality of Naantali , but the municipality was annexed to the city of...
in Naantali
Naantali
Naantali is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the country. The municipality has a population of , and is located in the region of Finland Proper, west of Turku....
.
An interesting feature in the demographics
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...
in the archipelago is the number of twins
TWINS
Two Wide-Angle Imaging Neutral-Atom Spectrometers are a pair of NASA instruments aboard two United States National Reconnaissance Office satellites in Molniya orbits. TWINS was designed to provide stereo images of the Earth's ring current. The first instrument, TWINS-1, was launched aboard USA-184...
. The tendency for non-identical twin births is partly hereditary, and the necessary gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
s are prevalent in the archipelago. In the 18th and 19th centuries the proportion of twin births was greater than anywhere in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and enormously higher than in continental Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. The reason for this was fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. Fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
is an excellent source of protein and unsaturated fat
Unsaturated fat
An unsaturated fat is a fat or fatty acid in which there is at least one double bond within the fatty acid chain. A fat molecule is monounsaturated if it contains one double bond, and polyunsaturated if it contains more than one double bond. Where double bonds are formed, hydrogen atoms are...
. It was also available even when crops
Crop (agriculture)
A crop is a non-animal species or variety that is grown to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, fuel or for any other economic purpose. Major world crops include maize , wheat, rice, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton. While the term "crop" most commonly refers to plants, it can also include...
failed. Hence having twins maximizes lifetime reproductive success.
The eastern part of the archipelago is defended by the Archipelago Sea Naval Command
Archipelago Sea Naval Command
Archipelago Sea Naval Command is a Finnish Navy unit headquartered in Pansio, Turku. Its main operating area is the Archipelago Sea. Archipelago Sea Naval Command was formed in 1998 by combining the Archipelago Sea Fleet and Turku Coastal Regiment....
, which has its main base in Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
. The defence is based largely on naval mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s and coastal artillery
Coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications....
. Both are effective in the archipelago, where the dense clusters of islands severely limit the manoeuvrability of invading vessels. The autonomous region of Åland is demilitarised. The Finnish Defence Forces
Finnish Defence Forces
The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the defence of Finland. It is a cadre army of 15,000, of which 8,900 are professional soldiers , extended with conscripts and reservists such that the standard readiness strength is 34,700 people in uniform...
are not allowed to enter the area, and its residents are exempt from military service, although they can volunteer to serve in the army.
Economy and communications
The islands generally enjoy a high standard of livingStandard of living
Standard of living is generally measured by standards such as real income per person and poverty rate. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, income growth inequality and educational standards are also used. Examples are access to certain goods , or measures of health such as...
comparable to that of continental Finland. Fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
and fish processing
Fish processing
The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer...
are major industries. The archipelago is well-known for its Baltic herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
and rainbow trout
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
products. Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
is limited by the small size and rocky nature of the islands. However, the climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
is more favourable than in continental Finland and some islands, particularly Rymättylä
Rymättylä
Rymättylä is a former municipality of Finland. It was, together with Merimasku and Velkua, consolidated with the town of Naantali on January 1, 2009....
, are famous in the nearby continental areas for producing the first new potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es of the summer. The significance of tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
to the economy of the islands is constantly increasing.
The islands are linked by bridges and ferries, and in case of Åland, a small airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
. The ferries are divided into two categories: "road ferries" (landsvägsfärja or simply färja in Swedish, lautta or lossi in Finnish) are free of charge and operate mostly on short routes between adjacent (large) islands. They are raft-like in construction and usually operated by the road administration. The small ones are cable ferries
Cable ferry
A cable ferry is guided and in many cases propelled across a river or other larger body of water by cables connected to both shores. They are also called chain ferries, floating bridges, or punts....
(kabelfärja in Swedish, lossi in Finnish), bigger ones do not use cables (and are called lautta in Finnish). The other ferries (förbindelsefartyg in Swedish, yhteysalus in Finnish) are more ship-like in construction, are operated by the maritime administration and may charge a small fee. They operate on longer routes covering several smaller or more distant islands. There are also large commersially operated cruiseferries
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...
connecting the Finnish cities of Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
and Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
to Åland and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
During cold winters official ice road
Ice road
Ice roads are frozen, human-made structures on the surface of bays, rivers, lakes, or seas in the far north. They link dry land, frozen waterways, portages and winter roads, and are usually remade each winter. Ice roads allow temporary transport to areas with no permanent road access...
s are established between some islands. Driving on the ice is common also to islands lacking official ice roads. This greatly eases transportation, as it makes it possible to simply drive a car
Čar
Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
(or even a heavy van
Van
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...
if ice is very thick) from the continent to the islands. On the other hand, during spring and autumn there is a period of thaw (menföre in Swedish, kelirikko in Finnish) when the ice is too thin even for walking, but too thick for boating. This can leave some islands lacking a pier for large ships isolated for days or weeks. Access is only by hydrocopter
Hydrocopter
A hydrocopter is an amphibious aircraft-propelled catamaran. The vehicle has a boat-like hull, small wheels and pontoon skids . An aircraft engine with aircraft propeller and air rudder pushes the hydrocopter across water, ice, snow and land.It is very useful in arctic coastal regions during...
, hovercraft
Hovercraft
A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
or helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
.
Many important shipping lanes cross the Archipelago Sea. Navigation is made hazardous by the labyrinthine archipelago, varying depth and numerous skerries
Skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....
. For this reason the islands are dotted with lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s of varying sizes and navigational marks. Maritime pilot
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....
services are maintained by the state.
Archipelago Ring Road
The most inhabited islands in the eastern archipelago in Finland Proper are connected by the Archipelago Ring Road. There are approximately 160-190 kilometers of public roads and 30-50 kilometers of waterways along the Ring Road. The city of TurkuTurku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
is usually considered the starting point of the road. The route goes through following municipalities, villages, islands and island groups:
|
Mietoinen Mietoinen is a former municipality of Finland. It was joined to the municipality of Mynämäki in the beginning of the year 2007.Mietoinen is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality had a population of 1,697 and it covered a land area of... Taivassalo Taivassalo is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .... Kustavi Kustavi is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .... Iniö Iniö is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland.... Houtskär Houtskär is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Iniö, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland.... |
Korpo Korpo is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region... Nagu Nagu is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland.... Pargas Pargas is a former town and municipality in south-western Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Nagu to form the new town of Väståboland.... Kaarina Kaarina is a small city and municipality of Finland.It is located in the Finland Proper region and is a neighbouring town of Turku, which is the capital of Finland Proper, therefore Kaarina is a part of the Greater Turku region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of... Turku Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland... |
There is also a shorter version of the route, the so-called "Small Ring Road", which utilizes a ferry connection between Rymättylä
Rymättylä
Rymättylä is a former municipality of Finland. It was, together with Merimasku and Velkua, consolidated with the town of Naantali on January 1, 2009....
(part of Naantali
Naantali
Naantali is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the country. The municipality has a population of , and is located in the region of Finland Proper, west of Turku....
) and Nagu
Nagu
Nagu is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....
, skipping numbers 4-11 in the list above.
The ring road is usually traveled by car or by bicycle. Most of the ferries along the road are free, but ferries to and from Iniö
Iniö
Iniö is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2009, it was consolidated with Houtskär, Korpo, Nagu and Pargas to form the new town of Väståboland....
charge a small fee. It is possible to cover the Ring Road in one day by car, but usually travellers spend at least one night along the way. Approximately 20 000 tourist travel the Ring Road every year. The main tourist season is from June to August. The principal tourist attraction is scenery and nature along the way, but significant sights also include the Louhisaari manor and several medieval churches.
Culture
The culture of the archipelago resembles that of the Swedish-speaking coastal areas of Finland. Many features of typically Finnish culture, such as the popularity of saunaSauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
, have become ingrained in the culture of the islands. There are, however, several subtle differences. Maypole
Maypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...
s are an essential part of the Midsummer
Midsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
festival in the archipelago but not in the continent. On the other hand, the continental Finnish Midsummer tradition of lighting bonfire
Bonfire
A bonfire is a controlled outdoor fire used for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Celebratory bonfires are typically designed to burn quickly and may be very large...
s has been introduced to the archipelago relatively recently.
Based on the languages spoken the archipelago can be divided into three parts. The Åland archipelago in the west is almost completely Swedish-speaking, the Åboland
Åboland
Åboland is a sub-region in the archipelago of the Finland Proper region in south-western Finland.Åboland and Turunmaa are also informal names of the region, but in this context Särkisalo is normally included and in the Finnish name Turunmaa also the northern Finnish-speaking part of the...
archipelago in the south is mostly Swedish-speaking and the northern archipelago is Finnish-speaking.
Because Christianity spread to the islands before the mainland, the churches on the major islands tend to be old, dating from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, with the oldest ones in Åland. More than 80 % of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the national church of Finland. The church professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion....
, and this proportion is even higher in the archipelago, as the area doesn't have an orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
or catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
parish.
The culinary culture of the archipelago resembles continental Finnish cuisine. Naturally, there is a greater emphasis on fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, particularly baltic herring, salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
and rainbow trout
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
. The island are also famous for traditional dark bread distinguished by the use of buttermilk
Buttermilk
Buttermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. It also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly...
, syrup
Syrup
In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars but showing little tendency to deposit crystals...
, and malt
Malt
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...
among the ingredients. The main dish of the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
dinner is usually a northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
, in contrast to the ham which is eaten in mainland Finland. Every Christmas the fishermen of Korppoo deliver a pike for the president's
President of Finland
The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....
table.
Nature and conservation
The islands provide a unique and diverse environment for wildlife. The bigger islands resemble the coastal regions of continental Finland whereas skerries have a radically different environment. Smaller islands are devoid of treeTree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s, but still harbour a rich plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
life. The environment is sunny, has a relatively long growing season
Growing season
In botany, horticulture, and agriculture the growing season is the period of each year when native plants and ornamental plants grow; and when crops can be grown....
and is fertilised
Fertilizer
Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
by guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
. On the other hand, nearly constant wind
Wind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
and thin or non-existent soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
limit plant growth. The very low salinity
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...
of the Baltic Sea makes splashes of seawater more benign for plant life. While most of the islands are rocky, some are actually extensions of the Salpausselkä
Salpausselkä
Salpausselkä is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland. It is a large terminal moraine formation that formed in front of the Baltic ice lake during the Younger Dryas period about 12.250 - 10.400 years ago....
ridge system, and thus composed of terminal morraine. Such islands include Örö
Oro
Oro means gold in Italian and Spanish.Oro may refer to:Places* Oro, Estonia, a village in Estonia* Orø, an island in DenmarkIn music:*"Oro" , the Serbian entry in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest...
and Jurmo
Jurmo
Jurmo is the name of an island and a village in the municipality of Korpo in the outer islands of the archipelago off of Turku, Finland. Directly south of the island of Korpo and northeast of the island of Utö, this elongated island is in length with an average width of . The island has had its...
. The flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
in these islands is more diverse than in their rocky neighbours.
The conditions can vary radically even within one small island, due to the features of the rock on which the islands are based. There may be small patches of fresh-water bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s, pond
Pond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
s of fresh water, pond
Pond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
s of brackish water
Brackish water
Brackish water is water that has more salinity than fresh water, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing of seawater with fresh water, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root "brak," meaning "salty"...
, bushes, meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
s, barren rocks, wind-beaten shores and sheltered cove
Cove
A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often inside a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are often considered coves...
s on an island only a few tens of meters in diameter. Many plants have altered phenotype
Phenotype
A phenotype is an organism's observable characteristics or traits: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior...
s due to the environment. For example, juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
s on small islands grow only to a height less than 0.5 meters, but can cover several square meters.
In contrast to the terrestrial and coastal ecosystems of the islands, the sea itself has a relatively low biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
. The reason for this is the brackish nature of the water. The salinity in only 0.6 % in the Archipelago. The salinity has also varied greatly during the past, making it difficult for species to adapt. However, the great number of individuals indicates a favourable environment. Typical fish species are the Baltic herring, pike, white-fish, perch and flounder.
The area is home to many species which are not found elsewhere in Finland. Harbour porpoise
Harbour Porpoise
The harbour porpoise is one of six species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest marine mammals. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen...
is one example of such species. It is the only cetacean which is regularly sighted in the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The current population in the entire Baltic is estimated at 600 individuals, down from estimated 10 to 20 thousand a century ago. Another example is White-tailed Eagle
White-tailed Eagle
The White-tailed Eagle , also known as the Sea Eagle, Erne , or White-tailed Sea-eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes other raptors such as hawks, kites, and harriers...
, which has a significant breeding population in the Archipelago Sea. Rare or endangered bird and mammal species found in the archipelago also include Caspian tern
Caspian Tern
The Caspian Tern is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no subspecies accepted either...
, Greater scaup
Greater Scaup
The Greater Scaup , just Scaup in Europe, or colloquially known as "Bluebill", for its bright blue bill, is small compared to other diving ducks, however it is larger than the closely related Lesser Scaup...
, Grey seal
Grey Seal
The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus...
and Ringed seal
Ringed Seal
The ringed seal , also known as the jar seal and as netsik or nattiq by the Inuit, is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions...
.
The islands are a haven for seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s. The species include mute swan
Mute Swan
The Mute Swan is a species of swan, and thus a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and the far north of Africa. It is also an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less...
, black guillemot
Black Guillemot
The Black Guillemot or Tystie is a medium-sized alcid.Adult birds have black bodies with a white wing patch, a thin dark bill, and red legs and feet. They show white wing linings in flight. In winter, the upperparts are pale grey and the underparts are white. The wings remain black with the large...
, great crested grebe
Great Crested Grebe
The Great Crested Grebe is a member of the grebe family of water birds.- Description :The Great Crested Grebe is long with a wingspan. It is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its fish prey underwater. The adults are unmistakable in summer with head and neck decorations...
and numerous species of sea gulls. Recently great cormorant
Great Cormorant
The Great Cormorant , known as the Great Black Cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the Black Cormorant in Australia and the Black Shag further south in New Zealand, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds...
s have spread to the archipelago and their numbers are increasing. This not necessarily viewed as a good thing by nature lovers, since great cormorant
Great Cormorant
The Great Cormorant , known as the Great Black Cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the Black Cormorant in Australia and the Black Shag further south in New Zealand, is a widespread member of the cormorant family of seabirds...
s live in dense colonies which will eventually poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
surrounding plant life by their excrement.
The greatest threat to the environment is eutrophication
Eutrophication
Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the movement of a body of water′s trophic status in the direction of increasing plant biomass, by the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system...
caused mainly by agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and fish farms. This is a particular threat to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, since it is very shallow and thus has much less potential to dilute effluent from human activities. Eutrophication has been partly brought under control in Finland, but the effects are masked by the general decline in the condition of the Baltic Sea.
Many areas of the archipelago are protected from human activity by their sheer inaccessibility. The southern part of the Archipelago Sea belong to the cooperation area of the Archipelago National Park and there are many small nature conservation areas, where landing is inhibited in spring and summer.
History
Prehistory
The islands began rising from the waterPost-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
10,000 years ago. At that stage the Danish Straits
Danish straits
The Danish straits are the three channels connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea through the Kattegat and Skagerrak. They transect Denmark, and are not to be confused with the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland...
were closed and the current Baltic Sea was the fresh-water Lake Ancylus. The water around the islands turned from fresh to brackish around 7600 years ago as the saline water from the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
penetrated further to the Baltic from the recently opened straits. The oldest archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds in Dragsfjärd
Dragsfjärd
Dragsfjärd is a former municipality of Finland. On January 1, 2009, it was consolidated with Kimito and Västanfjärd to form the new municipality of Kimitoön....
date back to ca. 4000 BC and represent the Pit-Comb Ware culture
Pit-Comb Ware culture
The Pit–Comb Ware culture Comb Ceramic culture was a northeast European culture of pottery-making hunter-gatherers. It existed from around 4200 BC to around 2000 BC...
. During that period the outer archipelago was formed by the highest points of the main islands of Houtskari, Korppoo and Nauvo. Due to post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, through a process known as isostasy...
the entire archipelago has risen approximately 25 meters since, enlarging existing islands and creating many more.
Swedish rule
During the 12th and 13th centuries SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
established its control of the Archipelago Sea. At the same time Christianity started to spread to Finland, starting from the archipelago and the adjacent coastal area. The islands occupy a strategic position, guarding the approaches to Stockholm, Turku and the entire Gulf of Bothnia. Therefore they were fortified by the Swedish empire
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
during the Middle Ages. A royal postal route used to go via the northern islands in the 16th and 17th century.
In 1808 the War of Finland broke out between Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In April Russian troops occupied the archipelago, including Åland. Soon after the local residents, enraged by the confiscation of ships, rebelled. Aided by troops from Sweden the archipelago was cleared from Russian troops in May. The Swedish troops then used the islands as a staging area for the recapture of continental Finland. The archipelago remained in Swedish control until the end of the war, but in the subsequent Treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809 Sweden was forced to cede the area along with rest of Finland. The Archipelago Sea became part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
under the Russian Empire.
Grand Duchy of Finland
During the Crimean warCrimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
an Anglo-French force attacked and destroyed the Bomarsund castle. In the Åland convention
Åland convention
The Åland convention, refers to two conventions regarding the demilitarization and neutralization of the Åland Islands.Åland convention held in Paris, France....
of 1856 the Åland side of the archipelago was demilitarised
Demilitarized zone
In military terms, a demilitarized zone is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more military powers , where military activity is not permitted, usually by peace treaty, armistice, or other bilateral or multilateral agreement...
. The Russians moved troops back into the area in 1916, and for the next 5 years there was either Russian or Finnish military presence in Åland.
Independent Finland
Finland gained its independence from RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1917. Shortly after, the Swedish speaking inhabitants of the Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
, in the western part of the Archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
, appealed to Sweden to annex the islands. The request received mixed support in Sweden, but led to the Åland crisis
Åland crisis
The Åland crisis was one of the first issues put up for arbitration by the League of Nations on its formation. The Åland Islands' population's demand for self-determination was not met and sovereignty over the islands was retained by Finland, but international guarantees were given to allow the...
. The League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
was called in to resolve the situation, and in 1921 the League granted the sovereignty of the entire archipelago to Finland, despite the objections of the majority of Ålanders. However, Åland was given a wide autonomy, and its demilitarised
Demilitarized zone
In military terms, a demilitarized zone is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more military powers , where military activity is not permitted, usually by peace treaty, armistice, or other bilateral or multilateral agreement...
status was reaffirmed.
In 1939 Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invaded Finland in the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
. At the end of the war in 1940 Finland was forced to rent Hanko at the eastern extreme of the Archipelago Sea to Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as a military base. In 1941 the War of Continuation broke out. Finland sent troops to Åland to guard against a possible Soviet invasion, which didn't materialize. Finnish army also laid siege on Hanko, which was evacuated by Soviet Union later that year. Finnish troops remained in Åland until the end of the war in 1944.
In 1995 Finland became a member of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on the membership was held separately in Åland, leading to the possibility of different outcomes. A rejection of the EU membership by the Ålanders would have created a situation similar to that of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
, which is an autonomous region of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
but is not part of the EU. However, the membership was accepted in both referendums.
Throughout its history the population of the Archipelago Sea has varied significantly. The population increased until the first half of the 16th century. After that the population went into decline as the carrying capacity of the environment was reached and wars and pestilence took their toll on the people. In the 19th century the population increased sharply as new, more efficient fishing methods were introduced. In the 20th century the population went into decline again, especially on smaller islands, due to rapid urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
. Many smaller islands became completely uninhabited. During the recent decades increasing number of summer residences in the archipelago have revitalized some areas.
List of municipalities
Island municipalities in Finland ProperFinland Proper
Finland Proper or Southwest Finland , is a region in south-western Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Tavastia Proper, Ahvenanmaa and Uusimaa.- Municipalities :...
:
|
Coastal municipalities in Finland Proper which also include some islands:
|
Pyhäranta Pyhäranta is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .... Salo Salo may refer to:*Salo, Finland, a town in Western Finland*Salò, a town in Lombardy, Italy**Salò Republic or Italian Social Republic, a puppet state of Nazi Germany*Salo Township, Aitkin County, Minnesota, a township in Minnesota, U.S.... Sauvo Sauvo is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality had a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .... |
Taivassalo Taivassalo is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .... Turku Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland... Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki , is a town and municipality of Finland.It is located in the Finland Proper region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is inland water. The population density is .The municipality is unilingually Finnish... |
Island municipalities in Åland:
|
Jomala Jomala is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water... Kumlinge Kumlinge is a municipality consisting of a group of islands in Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. Kumlinge, which is also the name of the largest island in the group, means "rocky passage."... Kökar Kökar is an island municipality to the south-east of the Åland archipelago, Finland.It is also one of the municipalities of Åland. It is reachable by boat from Långnäs on Åland or from Galtby with access to mainland Finland.... Lemland Lemland is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is .The municipality is unilingually Swedish.-History:... Lumparland Lumparland is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. It is the smallest municipality on mainland Åland.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Swedish.The main village is... |
Mariehamn Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city... Saltvik Saltvik is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. The total area is 1 161,8 km², of which 150,7 km² is land, 4,7 km² lakes and 1006,4 km² sea.... Sottunga Sottunga is an island municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. The municipality is the smallest when it comes to population in Åland and in Finland, with a population of only and covers an area of ofwhich... Sund, Åland Sund is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland and is very rich in history and culture and is one of the official 27 national landscapes of Finland.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water... Vårdö Vårdö is a municipality of Åland, an autonomous territory of Finland. Vårdö is an inflatable raft. It is connected to mainland Åland only by the cable used by the ferry that is the only way to get to Vårdö unless you have a boat of your own. Unfortunately the cable tends to wear quickly and break... |
Coastal municipalities in Uusimaa
Uusimaa
Uusimaa, or Nyland in Swedish, is a region in Finland. It borders the regions Finland Proper, Tavastia Proper, Päijänne Tavastia and Kymenlaakso...
which also include some islands:
- Hanko
- RaseborgRaseborghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raseborg&action=editRaseborg is a town and municipality of Finland. It was created on January 1, 2009, when the municipalities of Ekenäs, Karis and Pohja were consolidated into a single town....
The archipelago continues further to the east in Uusimaa
Uusimaa
Uusimaa, or Nyland in Swedish, is a region in Finland. It borders the regions Finland Proper, Tavastia Proper, Päijänne Tavastia and Kymenlaakso...
, but Hanko is traditionally seen as a dividing point between the Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
.
External links
- Southwestern Archipelago National Park
- Turku Archipelago
- Steamship s/s Ukkopekka cruise Naantali-Turku
- Interactive map of the ferries in Finland
- All guest harbors in the Archipelago of Turku and Aland
- Archipelago Research Institute (In English)
- The official webpage of Åland (in English)
- Bicycling in the Archipelago (French, English, Spanish)