Archipelago Sea
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Archipelago Sea (Finnish Saaristomeri, Swedish Skärgårdshavet) is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland, within Finnish territorial waters. It is the largest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, although the islands tend to be very small and clustered in a small area. The sea area is shallow, with a mean depth of 23 m. Most of the channels are not navigable for large ships.
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[edit] Geology
The Archipelago Sea has a very large number of islands. The exact number of islands depends on the definition of the term "island", as the sizes of the pieces of dry land vary from small rocks peeking out of the water to large islands with several villages or even a small town. 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 18000. If the number of smallest uninhabitable rocks and skerries is accounted in the grand total, 50,000 is probably a good estimate. (In comparison, the estimates on the number of islands in Indonesia range between 13,000 and 18,000) The area is roughly divided into inner and outer archipelagos, with the outer archipelago consisting mainly of smaller, uninhabited islands. The archipelago covers a roughly triangular area with the cities of Mariehamn, Uusikaupunki and Hanko at the corners.
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.
[edit] Demographics and administration
The islands are divided between the province of Western Finland and the autonomous province of Åland. The border between the provinces runs roughly along Kihti, a relatively open sea area. Together with the islands near the coast of Sweden the area forms a Euroregion.
The number of permanent residents on the islands is roughly 60,000, with 27,000 of them living in Åland. Most municipalities in the area are monolingually Swedish-speaking or a Swedish-speaking majority. The main ports in the area are Turku on the continent, and Mariehamn on the Åland islands.
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. The summer residents are mostly 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 on the island is the number of twins. The tendency for non-identical twin births is partly hereditary, and the necessary genes are prevalent in the archipelago. In the 18th and 19th centuries the proportion of twin births were 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. On the other hand, fishing was hazardous and caused many fatalities, increasing the benefit of multiple births. Due to the small size of the islands people often married their cousins or second cousins, allowing the necessary genes to enrich in the gene pool.
[edit] Economy and communications
The islands generally enjoy a high standard of living 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 potatoes of the summer. The significance of tourism to the economy of the islands is constantly increasing.
The islands communities on the "Finnish" side of Kihti are linked by the Archipelago Ring Road, a chain of bridges and ferries. Islands lying farther away are linked by ferries, and in case of Åland, a small airport. The ferries are divided into two categories. The "yellow" ferries (lossi in Finnish) are free of charge and operate on short routes between adjacent (large) islands. They are raft-like in construction. The "white" ferries (yhteysalus in Finnish) are ship-like and charge a small fee. They operate on longer routes covering several smaller or more distant islands. Large cruiseferries connect the Finnish cities of Turku and Helsinki to Åland and Sweden.
During cold winters official ice roads are established between some islands. 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 (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.
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 lighthouses of varying sizes and navigational marks.
[edit] Nature and conservation
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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 trees, but still harbour rich plantlife. 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 plantlife.
The conditions can vary radically even within one small island. There may be small patches of fresh-water bogs, ponds of fresh water, ponds of brackish water, bushes, meadows, barren rocks, wind-beaten shores and sheltered coves on an island only a few tens of meters in diameter. Many plants have altered phenotypes due to the environment. For example, junipers on small islands grow only to a height less than 0,5 metres, but can cover several square metres.
The islands are a haven for seabirds. The species include mute swan, black guillemot, great crested grebe and numerous species of sea gulls. Recently great cormorants have spread to the archipelago and their numbers are increasing. This not necessarily viewed as a good thing by nature lovers, since great cormorants live in dense colonies which will eventually poison surrounding plantlife by their excrement.
The greatest threat to the environment is eutrophication caused mainly by agriculture and fish farms. This 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 are also many small nature conservation areas and the Southwestern Archipelago National Park, where landing to some islands is restricted only to scientists.
[edit] History
The islands began rising from the sea (at that stage called the Yoldia Sea) 10,000 years ago. The oldest archaeological finds date back to ca. 4000 BC and represent the Pit-Comb Ware culture.
The archipelago occupies 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 1809 Sweden was forced to cede the islands to Russia, and they became part of the Grand Duchy of Finland.
During the Crimean war 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 area remains so even today.
Finland gained its independence from Russia 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.
[edit] 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
[edit] References
- A study about historical demographics in Finland (In Finnish). Accessed June 27th, 2006.
