Gedser Odde
Denmark's southernmost point
Gedser Odde on the island of Falster in the Baltic Sea is Denmark's southernmost point. The terminal moraine from Idestrup through Skelby to Gedser is part of the maximum glaciation line across Falster, from Orehoved to Gedser. Fronted by low cliffs, the ridge, high, continues underwater a further south-east to Gedser Rev. Sydstenen (the south stone) marks the southernmost point.
Geology.
The coastal cliff at Gedser Odder is almost always exposed. The strata deposited during the last ice age can be clearly seen, but lake sediments have also been exposed, from the lowering of the terrain. The sediments from the postglacial period contain fossils of freshwater snails and mussels, evidence of a freshwater episode in the Baltic. The ice age strata consist mostly of moraines of clay and boulders deposited by the melting glacier. Traces of pink in the moraines come from red sandstone plucked up in the Baltic Sea.
Birds.
Gedser Odde is a good site for observing migratory birds, especially on windy days. Common eiders can be seen in large numbers around the point in the spring (from the end of March to the beginning of April) and autumn. It is not uncommon for as many as 40,000 per day to fly past. The common scoter is viewable throughout the year in flocks of as many as 3,000. In the autumn, migratory geese can be seen in their thousands. Other species crossing the area include the red-throated loon, pomarine skua, the long-tailed jaeger, and great skua. Gedser Odde is probably the area with the most little gulls in both the spring and the autumn with up to a thousand per day.
Among the birds of prey which frequent the area in fairly large numbers between the southernmost point and the Gedser Marina are the rough-legged buzzard, red kite (often flying low), the western marsh harrier and common buzzard. Smaller birds also occur, including the western yellow wagtail, meadow pipit, common chaffinch and brambling. Much less common species have on occasion also been observed in the area, such as little egret, black stork, Steller's eider, short-toed snake eagle, Blyth's reed warbler, great reed warbler, eastern olivaceous warbler, barred warbler, brown warbler and rock bunting.
Features.
Gedser Fyr, a square, lighthouse, sits north-west of Gedser Odde point. The tower features a light and a racon, or radar transponder, and can be ascended. Extending for about north from Gedser Odde, Falster's east coast is protected by a dyke. Submarine cables extending north-east, south-east, and south-south-east lie off Gedser Odde.
References.
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Baltic Sea
Sea in northern Europe
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North and Central European Plain regions.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. It is a shelf sea and marginal sea of the Atlantic with limited water exchange between the two, making it an inland sea. The Baltic Sea drains through the Danish straits into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, Great Belt and Little Belt. It includes the Gulf of Bothnia (divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea), the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga and the Bay of Gdańsk.
The "Baltic Proper" is bordered on its northern edge, at latitude 60°N, by Åland and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula.
The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea–Baltic Canal and to the German Bight of the North Sea via the Kiel Canal.
Definitions.
Administration.
The Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area includes the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat, without calling Kattegat a part of the Baltic Sea, "For the purposes of this Convention the 'Baltic Sea Area' shall be the Baltic Sea and the Entrance to the Baltic Sea, bounded by the parallel of the Skaw in the Skagerrak at 57°44.43'N."
Traffic history.
Historically, the Kingdom of Denmark collected Sound Dues from ships at the border between the ocean and the land-locked Baltic Sea, in tandem: in the Øresund at Kronborg castle near Helsingør; in the Great Belt at Nyborg; and in the Little Belt at its narrowest part then Fredericia, after that stronghold was built. The narrowest part of Little Belt is the "Middelfart Sund" near Middelfart.
Oceanography.
Geographers widely agree that the preferred physical border between the Baltic and North Seas is the Langelandsbælt (the southern part of the Great Belt strait near Langeland) and the Drogden-Sill strait. The Drogden Sill is situated north of Køge Bugt and connects Dragør in the south of Copenhagen to Malmö; it is used by the Øresund Bridge, including the "Drogden Tunnel". By this definition, the Danish straits is part of the entrance, but the Bay of Mecklenburg and the Bay of Kiel are parts of the Baltic Sea.
Another usual border is the line between Falsterbo, Sweden, and Stevns Klint, Denmark, as this is the southern border of Øresund. It is also the border between the shallow southern Øresund (with a typical depth of 5–10 meters only) and notably deeper water.
Hydrography and biology.
Drogden Sill (depth of ) sets a limit to Øresund and Darss Sill (depth of ), and a limit to the Belt Sea. The shallow sills are obstacles to the flow of heavy salt water from the Kattegat into the basins around Bornholm and Gotland.
The Kattegat and the southwestern Baltic Sea are well oxygenated and have a rich biology. The remainder of the Sea is brackish, poor in oxygen, and in species. Thus, statistically, the more of the entrance that is included in its definition, the healthier the Baltic appears; conversely, the more narrowly it is defined, the more endangered its biology appears.
Etymology and nomenclature.
Tacitus called it the Suebic Sea, Latin: after the Germanic people of the Suebi, and Ptolemy "Sarmatian Ocean" after the Sarmatians, but the first to name it the "Baltic Sea" () was the eleventh-century German chronicler Adam of Bremen. The origin of the latter name is speculative and it was adopted into Slavic and Finnic languages spoken around the sea, very likely due to the role of Medieval Latin in cartography. It might be connected to the Germanic word "belt", a name used for two of the Danish straits, the Belts, while others claim it to be directly derived from the source of the Germanic word, Latin "belt". Adam of Bremen himself compared the sea with a belt, stating that it is so named because it stretches through the land as a belt ("Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam").
He might also have been influenced by the name of a legendary island mentioned in the "Natural History" of Pliny the Elder. Pliny mentions an island named "Baltia" (or "Balcia") with reference to accounts of Pytheas and Xenophon. It is possible that Pliny refers to an island named Basilia ("the royal") in "On the Ocean" by Pytheas. "Baltia" also might be derived from "belt", and therein mean "near belt of sea, strait".
Others have suggested that the name of the island originates from the Proto-Indo-European root "*bʰel" meaning "white, fair", which may echo the naming of seas after colours relating to the cardinal points (as per Black Sea and Red Sea). This '*bʰel' root and basic meaning were retained in Lithuanian (as ), Latvian (as ) and Slavic (as ). On this basis, a related hypothesis holds that the name originated from this Indo-European root via a Baltic language such as Lithuanian. Another explanation is that, while derived from the aforementioned root, the name of the sea is related to names for various forms of water and related substances in several European languages, that might have been originally associated with colors found in swamps (compare Proto-Slavic "*bolto" "swamp"). Yet another explanation is that the name originally meant "enclosed sea, bay" as opposed to open sea.
In the Middle Ages the sea was known by a variety of names. The name Baltic Sea became dominant after 1600. Usage of "Baltic" and similar terms to denote the region east of the sea started only in the 19th century.
Name in other languages.
The Baltic Sea was known in ancient Latin language sources as or even . Older native names in languages that used to be spoken on the shores of the sea or near it usually indicate the geographical location of the sea (in Germanic languages), or its size in relation to smaller gulfs (in Old Latvian), or tribes associated with it (in Old Russian the sea was known as the Varanghian Sea). In modern languages, it is known by the equivalents of "East Sea", "West Sea", or "Baltic Sea" in different languages:
History.
Classical world.
At the time of the Roman Empire, the Baltic Sea was known as the or "Mare Sarmaticum". Tacitus in his AD 98 "Agricola" and "Germania" described the Mare Suebicum, named for the Suebi tribe, during the spring months, as a brackish sea where the ice broke apart and chunks floated about. The Suebi eventually migrated southwest to temporarily reside in the Rhineland area of modern Germany, where their name survives in the historic region known as Swabia. Jordanes called it the "Germanic Sea" in his work, the "Getica".
Middle Ages.
In the early Middle Ages, Norse (Scandinavian) merchants built a trade empire all around the Baltic. Later, the Norse fought for control of the Baltic against Wendish tribes dwelling on the southern shore. The Norse also used the rivers of Russia for trade routes, finding their way eventually to the Black Sea and southern Russia. This Norse-dominated period is referred to as the Viking Age.
Since the Viking Age, the Scandinavians have referred to the Baltic Sea as "Austmarr" ("Eastern Sea"). "Eastern Sea", appears in the "Heimskringla" and "Eystra salt" appears in "Sörla þáttr". Saxo Grammaticus recorded in "Gesta Danorum" an older name, "Gandvik", "-vik" being Old Norse for "bay", which implies that the Vikings correctly regarded it as an inlet of the sea. Another form of the name, "Grandvik", attested in at least one English translation of "Gesta Danorum", is likely to be a misspelling.
In addition to fish the sea also provides amber, especially from its southern shores within today's borders of Poland, Russia and Lithuania. First mentions of amber deposits on the South Coast of the Baltic Sea date back to the 12th century. The bordering countries have also traditionally exported lumber, wood tar, flax, hemp and furs by ship across the Baltic. Sweden had from early medieval times exported iron and silver mined there, while Poland had and still has extensive salt mines. Thus, the Baltic Sea has long been crossed by much merchant shipping.
The lands on the Baltic's eastern shore were among the last in Europe to be converted to Christianity. This finally happened during the Northern Crusades: Finland in the twelfth century by Swedes, and what are now Estonia and Latvia in the early thirteenth century by Danes and Germans (Livonian Brothers of the Sword). The Teutonic Order gained control over parts of the southern and eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they set up their monastic state. Lithuania was the last European state to convert to Christianity.
An arena of conflict.
In the period between the 8th and 14th centuries, there was much piracy in the Baltic from the coasts of Pomerania and Prussia, and the Victual Brothers held Gotland.
Starting in the 11th century, the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic were settled by migrants mainly from Germany, a movement called the "Ostsiedlung" ("east settling"). Other settlers were from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Scotland. The Polabian Slavs were gradually assimilated by the Germans. Denmark gradually gained control over most of the Baltic coast, until she lost much of her possessions after being defeated in the 1227 Battle of Bornhöved.
In the 13th to 16th centuries, the strongest economic force in Northern Europe was the Hanseatic League, a federation of merchant cities around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden fought wars for "Dominium maris baltici" ("Lordship over the Baltic Sea"). Eventually, it was Sweden that virtually encompassed the Baltic Sea. In Sweden, the sea was then referred to as "Mare Nostrum Balticum" ("Our Baltic Sea"). The goal of Swedish warfare during the 17th century was to make the Baltic Sea an all-Swedish sea ("Ett Svenskt innanhav"), something that was accomplished except the part between Riga in Latvia and Stettin in Pomerania. However, the Dutch dominated the Baltic trade in the seventeenth century.
In the eighteenth century, Russia and Prussia became the leading powers over the sea. Sweden's defeat in the Great Northern War brought Russia to the eastern coast. Russia became and remained a dominating power in the Baltic. Russia's Peter the Great saw the strategic importance of the Baltic and decided to found his new capital, Saint Petersburg, at the mouth of the Neva river at the east end of the Gulf of Finland. There was much trading not just within the Baltic region but also with the North Sea region, especially eastern England and the Netherlands: their fleets needed the Baltic timber, tar, flax, and hemp.
During the Crimean War, a joint British and French fleet attacked the Russian fortresses in the Baltic; the case is also known as the Åland War. They bombarded Sveaborg, which guards Helsinki; and Kronstadt, which guards Saint Petersburg; and they destroyed Bomarsund in Åland. After the unification of Germany in 1871, the whole southern coast became German. World War I was partly fought in the Baltic Sea. After 1920 Poland was granted access to the Baltic Sea at the expense of Germany by the Polish Corridor and enlarged the port of Gdynia in rivalry with the port of the Free City of Danzig.
After the Nazis' rise to power, Germany reclaimed the Memelland and after the outbreak of the Eastern Front (World War II) occupied the Baltic states. In 1945, the Baltic Sea became a mass grave for retreating soldiers and refugees on torpedoed troop transports. The sinking of the "Wilhelm Gustloff" remains the worst maritime disaster in history, killing (very roughly) 9,000 people. In 2005, a Russian group of scientists found over five thousand airplane wrecks, sunken warships, and other material, mainly from World War II, on the bottom of the sea.
Since World War II.
Since the end of World War II, various nations, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have disposed of chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea, raising concerns of environmental contamination. Today, fishermen occasionally find some of these materials: the most recent available report from the Helsinki Commission notes that four small scale catches of chemical munitions representing approximately of material were reported in 2005. This is a reduction from the 25 incidents representing of material in 2003. Until now, the U.S. Government refuses to disclose the exact coordinates of the wreck sites. Deteriorating bottles leak mustard gas and other substances, thus slowly poisoning a substantial part of the Baltic Sea.
After 1945, the German population was expelled from all areas east of the Oder-Neisse line, making room for new Polish and Russian settlement. Poland gained most of the southern shore. The Soviet Union gained another access to the Baltic with the Kaliningrad Oblast, that had been part of German-settled East Prussia. The Baltic states on the eastern shore were annexed by the Soviet Union. The Baltic then separated opposing military blocs: NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Neutral Sweden developed incident weapons to defend its territorial waters after the Swedish submarine incidents. This border status restricted trade and travel. It ended only after the collapse of the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.
Finland and Sweden joined NATO in 2023 and 2024, respectively, making the Baltic Sea almost entirely surrounded by the alliance's members, leading some commentators to label the sea a ″NATO lake″. Such an arrangement has also existed for the European Union (EU) since May 2004 following the accession of the Baltic states and Poland. The remaining non-NATO and non-EU shore areas are Russian: the Saint Petersburg area and the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave.
Storms and storm floods.
Winter storms begin arriving in the region during October. These have caused numerous shipwrecks, and contributed to the extreme difficulties of rescuing passengers of the ferry MS "Estonia" en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, in September 1994, which claimed the lives of 852 people. Older, wood-based shipwrecks such as the "Vasa" tend to remain well-preserved, as the Baltic's cold and brackish water does not suit the shipworm.
Storm surge floods are generally taken to occur when the water level is more than one metre above normal. In Warnemünde about 110 floods occurred from 1950 to 2000, an average of just over two per year.
Historic flood events were the All Saints' Flood of 1304 and other floods in the years 1320, 1449, 1625, 1694, 1784 and 1825. Little is known of their extent. From 1872, there exist regular and reliable records of water levels in the Baltic Sea. The highest was the flood of 1872 when the water was an average of above sea level at Warnemünde and a maximum of above sea level in Warnemünde. In the last very heavy floods the average water levels reached above sea level in 1904, in 1913, in January 1954, on 2–4 November 1995 and on 21 February 2002.
Geography.
Geophysical data.
An arm of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic Sea is enclosed by Sweden and Denmark to the west, Finland to the northeast, and the Baltic countries to the southeast.
It is about long, an average of wide, and an average of deep. The maximum depth is which is on the Swedish side of the center. The surface area is about and the volume is about . The periphery amounts to about of coastline.
The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish inland seas by area, and occupies a basin (a "Zungenbecken") formed by glacial erosion during the last few ice ages.
Extent.
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Baltic Sea as follows:
Bordered by the coasts of Germany, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, it extends north-eastward of the following limits:
*"In the Little Belt." A line joining Falshöft () and Vejsnæs Nakke (Ærø: ).
*"In the Great Belt." A line joining Gulstav (South extreme of Langeland Island) and Kappel Kirke () on Island of Lolland.
*"In the Guldborg Sound." A line joining Flinthorne-Rev and Skjelby ().
*"In the Sound." A line joining Stevns Lighthouse () and Falsterbo Point ().
Subdivisions.
The northern part of the Baltic Sea is known as the Gulf of Bothnia, of which the northernmost part is the Bay of Bothnia or Bothnian Bay. The more rounded southern basin of the gulf is called Bothnian Sea and immediately to the south of it lies the Sea of Åland. The Gulf of Finland connects the Baltic Sea with Saint Petersburg. The Gulf of Riga lies between the Latvian capital city of Riga and the Estonian island of Saaremaa.
The Northern Baltic Sea lies between the Stockholm area, southwestern Finland, and Estonia. The Western and Eastern Gotland basins form the major parts of the Central Baltic Sea or Baltic proper. The Bornholm Basin is the area east of Bornholm, and the shallower Arkona Basin extends from Bornholm to the Danish isles of Falster and Zealand.
In the south, the Bay of Gdańsk lies east of the Hel Peninsula on the Polish coast and west of the Sambia Peninsula in Kaliningrad Oblast. The Bay of Pomerania lies north of the islands of Usedom/Uznam and Wolin, east of Rügen. Between Falster and the German coast lie the Bay of Mecklenburg and Bay of Lübeck. The westernmost part of the Baltic Sea is the Bay of Kiel. The three Danish straits, the Great Belt, the Little Belt and The Sound ("Öresund"/"Øresund"), connect the Baltic Sea with the Kattegat and Skagerrak strait in the North Sea.
Temperature and ice.
The water temperature of the Baltic Sea varies significantly depending on exact location, season and depth. At the Bornholm Basin, which is located directly east of the island of the same name, the surface temperature typically falls to during the peak of the winter and rises to during the peak of the summer, with an annual average of around . A similar pattern can be seen in the Gotland Basin, which is located between the island of Gotland and Latvia. In the deep of these basins the temperature variations are smaller. At the bottom of the Bornholm Basin, deeper than , the temperature typically is , and at the bottom of the Gotland Basin, at depths greater than , the temperature typically is . Generally, offshore locations, lower latitudes and islands maintain maritime climates, but adjacent to the water continental climates are common, especially on the Gulf of Finland. In the northern tributaries the climates transition from moderate continental to subarctic on the northernmost coastlines.
On the long-term average, the Baltic Sea is ice-covered at the annual maximum for about 45% of its surface area. The ice-covered area during such a typical winter includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, the archipelago west of Estonia, the Stockholm archipelago, and the Archipelago Sea southwest of Finland. The remainder of the Baltic does not freeze during a normal winter, except sheltered bays and shallow lagoons such as the Curonian Lagoon. The ice reaches its maximum extent in February or March; typical ice thickness in the northernmost areas in the Bothnian Bay, the northern basin of the Gulf of Bothnia, is about for landfast sea ice. The thickness decreases farther south.
Freezing begins in the northern extremities of the Gulf of Bothnia typically in the middle of November, reaching the open waters of the Bothnian Bay in early January. The Bothnian Sea, the basin south of Kvarken, freezes on average in late February. The Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga freeze typically in late January. In 2011, the Gulf of Finland was completely frozen on 15 February.
The ice extent depends on whether the winter is mild, moderate, or severe. In severe winters ice can form around southern Sweden and even in the Danish straits. According to the 18th-century natural historian William Derham, during the severe winters of 1703 and 1708, the ice cover reached as far as the Danish straits. Frequently, parts of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland are frozen, in addition to coastal fringes in more southerly locations such as the Gulf of Riga. This description meant that the whole of the Baltic Sea was covered with ice.
Since 1720, the Baltic Sea has frozen over entirely 20 times, most recently in early 1987, which was the most severe winter in Scandinavia since 1720. The ice then covered . During the winter of 2010–11, which was quite severe compared to those of the last decades, the maximum ice cover was , which was reached on 25 February 2011. The ice then extended from the north down to the northern tip of Gotland, with small ice-free areas on either side, and the east coast of the Baltic Sea was covered by an ice sheet about wide all the way to Gdańsk. This was brought about by a stagnant high-pressure area that lingered over central and northern Scandinavia from around 10 to 24 February. After this, strong southern winds pushed the ice further into the north, and much of the waters north of Gotland were again free of ice, which had then packed against the shores of southern Finland. The effects of the aforementioned high-pressure area did not reach the southern parts of the Baltic Sea, and thus the entire sea did not freeze over. However, floating ice was additionally observed near Świnoujście harbor in January 2010.
In recent years before 2011, the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea were frozen with solid ice near the Baltic coast and dense floating ice far from it. In 2008, almost no ice formed except for a short period in March.
During winter, fast ice, which is attached to the shoreline, develops first, rendering ports unusable without the services of icebreakers. Level ice, ice sludge, pancake ice, and rafter ice form in the more open regions. The gleaming expanse of ice is similar to the Arctic, with wind-driven pack ice and ridges up to . Offshore of the landfast ice, the ice remains very dynamic all year, and it is relatively easily moved around by winds and therefore forms pack ice, made up of large piles and ridges pushed against the landfast ice and shores.
In spring, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia normally thaw in late April, with some ice ridges persisting until May in the eastern extremities of the Gulf of Finland. In the northernmost reaches of the Bothnian Bay, ice usually stays until late May; by early June it is practically always gone. However, in the famine year of 1867 remnants of ice were observed as late as 17 July near Uddskär. Even as far south as Øresund, remnants of ice have been observed in May on several occasions; near Taarbaek on 15 May 1942 and near Copenhagen on 11 May 1771. Drift ice was also observed on 11 May 1799.
The ice cover is the main habitat for two large mammals, the grey seal ("Halichoerus grypus") and the Baltic ringed seal ("Pusa hispida botnica"), both of which feed underneath the ice and breed on its surface. Of these two seals, only the Baltic ringed seal suffers when there is not adequate ice in the Baltic Sea, as it feeds its young only while on ice. The grey seal is adapted to reproducing also with no ice in the sea. The sea ice also harbors several species of algae that live in the bottom and inside unfrozen brine pockets in the ice.
Due to the often fluctuating winter temperatures between above and below freezing, the saltwater ice of the Baltic Sea can be treacherous and hazardous to walk on, in particular in comparison to the more stable fresh water-ice sheets in the interior lakes.
Hydrography.
The Baltic Sea flows out through the Danish straits; however, the flow is complex. A surface layer of brackish water discharges per year into the North Sea. Due to the difference in salinity, by salinity permeation principle, a sub-surface layer of more saline water moving in the opposite direction brings in per year. It mixes very slowly with the upper waters, resulting in a salinity gradient from top to bottom, with most of the saltwater remaining below deep. The general circulation is anti-clockwise: northwards along its eastern boundary, and south along with the western one .
The difference between the outflow and the inflow comes entirely from fresh water. More than 250 streams drain a basin of about , contributing a volume of per year to the Baltic. They include the major rivers of north Europe, such as the Oder, the Vistula, the Neman, the Daugava and the Neva. Additional fresh water comes from the difference of precipitation less evaporation, which is positive.
An important source of salty water is infrequent inflows (also known as major Baltic inflows or MBIs) of North Sea water into the Baltic. Such inflows, important to the Baltic ecosystem because of the oxygen they transport into the Baltic deeps, happen on average once per year, but large pulses that can replace the anoxic deep water in the Gotland Deep occur about once in ten years. Previously, it was believed that the frequency of MBIs had declined since 1980, but recent studies have challenged this view and no longer display a clear change in the frequency or intensity of saline inflows. Instead, a decadal variability in the intensities of MBIs is observed with a main period of approximately 30 years.
The water level is generally far more dependent on the regional wind situation than on tidal effects. However, tidal currents occur in narrow passages in the western parts of the Baltic Sea. Tides can reach in the Gulf of Finland.
The significant wave height is generally much lower than that of the North Sea. Quite violent, sudden storms sweep the surface ten or more times a year, due to large transient temperature differences and a long reach of the wind. Seasonal winds also cause small changes in sea level, of the order of . According to the media, during a storm in January 2017, an extreme wave above has been measured and significant wave height of around has been measured by the FMI. A numerical study has shown the presence of events with significant wave heights. Those extreme waves events can play an important role in the coastal zone on erosion and sea dynamics.
Salinity.
The Baltic Sea is the world's largest brackish sea. Only two other brackish waters are larger according to some measurements: The Black Sea is larger in both surface area and water volume, but most of it is located outside the continental shelf (only a small fraction is inland). The Caspian Sea is larger in water volume, but—despite its name—it is a lake rather than a sea.
The Baltic Sea's salinity is much lower than that of ocean water (which averages 3.5%), as a result of abundant freshwater runoff from the surrounding land (rivers, streams and alike), combined with the shallowness of the sea itself; runoff contributes roughly one-fortieth its total volume per year, as the volume of the basin is about and yearly runoff is about .
The open surface waters of the Baltic Sea "proper" generally have a salinity of 0.3 to 0.9%, which is border-line freshwater. The flow of freshwater into the sea from approximately two hundred rivers and the introduction of salt from the southwest builds up a gradient of salinity in the Baltic Sea. The highest surface salinities, generally 0.7–0.9%, are in the southwestern most part of the Baltic, in the Arkona and Bornholm basins (the former located roughly between southeast Zealand and Bornholm, and the latter directly east of Bornholm). It gradually falls further east and north, reaching the lowest in the Bothnian Bay at around 0.3%. Drinking the surface water of the Baltic as a means of survival would actually hydrate the body instead of dehydrating, as is the case with ocean water.
As saltwater is denser than freshwater, the bottom of the Baltic Sea is saltier than the surface. This creates a vertical stratification of the water column, a halocline, that represents a barrier to the exchange of oxygen and nutrients, and fosters completely separate maritime environments. The difference between the bottom and surface salinities varies depending on location. Overall it follows the same southwest to east and north pattern as the surface. At the bottom of the Arkona Basin (equaling depths greater than ) and Bornholm Basin (depths greater than ) it is typically 1.4–1.8%. Further east and north the salinity at the bottom is consistently lower, being the lowest in Bothnian Bay (depths greater than ) where it is slightly below 0.4%, or only marginally higher than the surface in the same region.
In contrast, the salinity of the Danish straits, which connect the Baltic Sea and Kattegat, tends to be significantly higher, but with major variations from year to year. For example, the surface and bottom salinity in the Great Belt is typically around 2.0% and 2.8% respectively, which is only somewhat below that of the Kattegat. The water surplus caused by the continuous inflow of rivers and streams to the Baltic Sea means that there generally is a flow of brackish water out through the Danish straits to the Kattegat (and eventually the Atlantic). Significant flows in the opposite direction, salt water from the Kattegat through the Danish straits to the Baltic Sea, are less regular and are known as major Baltic inflows (MBIs).
Major tributaries.
The rating of mean discharges differs from the ranking of hydrological lengths (from the most distant source to the sea) and the rating of the nominal lengths. Göta älv, a tributary of the Kattegat, is not listed, as due to the northward upper low-salinity-flow in the sea, its water hardly reaches the Baltic proper:
Coastal countries.
Countries that border the sea: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden.
Countries lands in the outer drainage basin: Belarus, Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia, Ukraine.
The Baltic Sea drainage basin is roughly four times the surface area of the sea itself. About 48% of the region is forested, with Sweden and Finland containing the majority of the forest, especially around the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.
About 20% of the land is used for agriculture and pasture, mainly in Poland and around the edge of the Baltic Proper, in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. About 17% of the basin is unused open land with another 8% of wetlands. Most of the latter are in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.
The rest of the land is heavily populated. About 85 million people live in the Baltic drainage basin, 15 million within of the coast and 29 million within of the coast. Around 22 million live in population centers of over 250,000. 90% of these are concentrated in the band around the coast. Of the nations containing all or part of the basin, Poland includes 45% of the 85 million, Russia 12%, Sweden 10% and the others less than 6% each.
Cities.
The biggest coastal cities (by population):
Other important ports:
Geology.
The Baltic Sea somewhat resembles a riverbed, with two tributaries, the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia. Geological surveys show that before the Pleistocene, instead of the Baltic Sea, there was a wide plain around a great river that paleontologists call the Eridanos. Several Pleistocene glacial episodes scooped out the river bed into the sea basin. By the time of the last, or Eemian Stage (MIS 5e), the Eemian Sea was in place. Instead of a true sea, the Baltic can even today also be understood as the common estuary of all rivers flowing into it.
From that time the waters underwent a geologic history summarized under the names listed below. Many of the stages are named after marine animals (e.g. the Littorina mollusk) that are clear markers of changing water temperatures and salinity.
The factors that determined the sea's characteristics were the submergence or emergence of the region due to the weight of ice and subsequent isostatic readjustment, and the connecting channels it found to the North Sea-Atlantic, either through the straits of Denmark or at what are now the large lakes of Sweden, and the White Sea-Arctic Sea. There are a number of named and dated stages in the evolution of the Baltic Sea:
The land is still emerging isostatically from its depressed state, which was caused by the weight of ice during the last glaciation. The phenomenon is known as post-glacial rebound. Consequently, the surface area and the depth of the sea are diminishing. The uplift is about eight millimeters per year on the Finnish coast of the northernmost Gulf of Bothnia. In the area, the former seabed is only gently sloping, leading to large areas of land being reclaimed in what are, geologically speaking, relatively short periods (decades and centuries).
The "Baltic Sea anomaly".
The "Baltic Sea anomaly" is a feature on an indistinct sonar image taken by Swedish salvage divers on the floor of the northern Baltic Sea in June 2011. The treasure hunters suggested the image showed an object with unusual features of seemingly extraordinary origin. Speculation published in tabloid newspapers claimed that the object was a sunken UFO. A consensus of experts and scientists say that the image most likely shows a natural geological formation.
Biology.
Fauna and flora.
The fauna of the Baltic Sea is a mixture of marine and freshwater species. Among marine fishes are Atlantic cod, Atlantic herring, European hake, European plaice, European flounder, shorthorn sculpin and turbot, and examples of freshwater species include European perch, northern pike, whitefish and common roach. Freshwater species may occur at outflows of rivers or streams in all coastal sections of the Baltic Sea. Otherwise, marine species dominate in most sections of the Baltic, at least as far north as Gävle, where less than one-tenth are freshwater species. Further north the pattern is inverted. In the Bothnian Bay, roughly two-thirds of the species are freshwater. In the far north of this bay, saltwater species are almost entirely absent. For example, the common starfish and shore crab, two species that are very widespread along European coasts, are both unable to cope with the significantly lower salinity. Their range limit is west of Bornholm, meaning that they are absent from the vast majority of the Baltic Sea. Some marine species, like the Atlantic cod and European flounder, can survive at relatively low salinities but need higher salinities to breed, which therefore occurs in deeper parts of the Baltic Sea. The common blue mussel is the dominating animal species, and makes up more than 90% of the total animal biomass in the sea.
There is a decrease in species richness from the Danish belts to the Gulf of Bothnia. The decreasing salinity along this path causes restrictions in both physiology and habitats. At more than 600 species of invertebrates, fish, aquatic mammals, aquatic birds and macrophytes, the Arkona Basin (roughly between southeast Zealand and Bornholm) is far richer than other more eastern and northern basins in the Baltic Sea, which all have less than 400 species from these groups, with the exception of the Gulf of Finland with more than 750 species. However, even the most diverse sections of the Baltic Sea have far fewer species than the almost-full saltwater Kattegat, which is home to more than 1600 species from these groups. The lack of tides has affected the marine species as compared with the Atlantic.
Since the Baltic Sea is so young there are only two or three known endemic species: the brown alga "Fucus radicans" and the flounder "Platichthys solemdali". Both appear to have evolved in the Baltic basin and were only recognized as species in 2005 and 2018 respectively, having formerly been confused with more widespread relatives. The tiny Copenhagen cockle ("Parvicardium hauniense"), a rare mussel, is sometimes considered endemic, but has now been recorded in the Mediterranean. However, some consider non-Baltic records to be misidentifications of juvenile lagoon cockles ("Cerastoderma glaucum"). Several widespread marine species have distinctive subpopulations in the Baltic Sea adapted to the low salinity, such as the Baltic Sea forms of the Atlantic herring and lumpsucker, which are smaller than the widespread forms in the North Atlantic.
A peculiar feature of the fauna is that it contains a number of glacial relict species, isolated populations of arctic species which have remained in the Baltic Sea since the last glaciation, such as the large isopod "Saduria entomon", the Baltic subspecies of ringed seal, and the fourhorn sculpin. Some of these relicts are derived from glacial lakes, such as "Monoporeia affinis", which is a main element in the benthic fauna of the low-salinity Bothnian Bay.
Cetaceans in the Baltic Sea are monitored by the countries bordering the sea and data compiled by various intergovernmental bodies, such as ASCOBANS. A critically endangered population of harbor porpoise inhabit the Baltic proper, whereas the species is abundant in the outer Baltic (Western Baltic and Danish straits) and occasionally oceanic and out-of-range species such as minke whales, bottlenose dolphins, beluga whales, orcas, and beaked whales visit the waters. In recent years, very small, but with increasing rates, fin whales and humpback whales migrate into Baltic sea including mother and calf pair. Now extinct Atlantic grey whales (remains found from Gräsö along Bothnian Sea/southern Bothnian Gulf and Ystad) and eastern population of North Atlantic right whales that is facing functional extinction once migrated into Baltic Sea.
Other notable megafauna include the basking sharks.
Environmental status.
Satellite images taken in July 2010 revealed a massive algal bloom covering in the Baltic Sea. The area of the bloom extended from Germany and Poland to Finland. Researchers of the phenomenon have indicated that algal blooms have occurred every summer for decades. Fertilizer runoff from surrounding agricultural land has exacerbated the problem and led to increased eutrophication.
Approximately of the Baltic's seafloor (a quarter of its total area) is a variable dead zone. The more saline (and therefore denser) water remains on the bottom, isolating it from surface waters and the atmosphere. This leads to decreased oxygen concentrations within the zone. It is mainly bacteria that grow in it, digesting organic material and releasing hydrogen sulfide. Because of this large anaerobic zone, the seafloor ecology differs from that of the neighboring Atlantic.
Plans to artificially oxygenate areas of the Baltic that have experienced eutrophication have been proposed by the University of Gothenburg and Inocean AB. The proposal intends to use wind-driven pumps to pump oxygen-rich surface water to a depth of around 130 m.
After World War II, Germany had to be disarmed and large quantities of ammunition stockpiles were disposed directly into the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Environmental experts and marine biologists warn that these ammunition dumps pose an environmental threat with potentially life-threatening consequences to the health and safety of humans on the coastlines of these seas.
Future change.
Climate change, and pollution from agriculture and forestry, impose such strong effects on the ecosystems of the Baltic sea, that there is a concern the sea will turn from a carbon sink to a source of CO2 and methane. Modelling climate change and the impact of well characterised factors such as post-glacial rebound before the year 2050, is complicated by the unique properties of the Baltic Sea area compared to say the adjacent North Sea and controversy as to the relative contributions of socio-economic factors such as land use to any warming component.537 These include its current brackish water, the southern subbasin tendency to have a vertical stratification of the halocline, and the northern subbasin seasonal sea ice cover.458 High confidence future projections include: air temperature warming, more heavy precipitation episodes, less snow with less perifrost and glacial ice mass in northern catchment areas, more mild winters, raised mean water temperature with more marine heatwaves, intensified seasonal thermoclines without change in the thermohaline circulation, and sea level rise. There are many more projections but these have lower confidence.
Economy.
Construction of the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark (completed 1997) and the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel (completed 1999), linking Denmark with Sweden, provided a highway and railroad connection between Sweden and the Danish mainland (the Jutland Peninsula, precisely the Zealand). The undersea tunnel of the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel provides for navigation of large ships into and out of the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is the main trade route for the export of Russian petroleum. Countries neighboring the Baltic Sea have expressed concerns about this since a major oil leak in a seagoing tanker would be especially disastrous for the Baltic given the slow exchange of water in the ecosystem. The tourism industry surrounding the Baltic Sea is naturally concerned about oil pollution.
Much shipbuilding is carried out in the shipyards around the Baltic Sea. The largest shipyards are at Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, Poland; Kiel, Germany; Karlskrona and Malmö, Sweden; Rauma, Turku, and Helsinki, Finland; Riga, Ventspils, and Liepāja, Latvia; Klaipėda, Lithuania; and Saint Petersburg, Russia.
There are several cargo and passenger ferries that operate on the Baltic Sea, such as
Construction of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link between Denmark and Germany is due to finish in 2029. It will be a three-bore tunnel carrying four motorway lanes and two rail tracks.
Through the development of offshore wind power the Baltic Sea is expected to become a major source of energy for countries in the region. According to the Marienborg Declaration, signed in 2022, all EU Baltic Sea states have announced their intentions to have 19.6 gigawatts of offshore wind in operation by 2030.
Tourism.
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The Helsinki Convention.
1974 Convention.
For the first time ever, all the sources of pollution around an entire sea were made subject to a single convention, signed in 1974 by the then seven Baltic coastal states. The 1974 Convention entered into force on 3 May 1980.
1992 Convention.
In the light of political changes and developments in international environmental and maritime law, a new convention was signed in 1992 by all the states bordering on the Baltic Sea, and the European Community. After ratification, the Convention entered into force on 17 January 2000. The Convention covers the whole of the Baltic Sea area, including inland waters and the water of the sea itself, as well as the seabed. Measures are also taken in the whole catchment area of the Baltic Sea to reduce land-based pollution. The convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992, entered into force on 17 January 2000.
The governing body of the convention is the Helsinki Commission, also known as HELCOM, or Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission. The present contracting parties are Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.
The ratification instruments were deposited by the European Community, Germany, Latvia and Sweden in 1994, by Estonia and Finland in 1995, by Denmark in 1996, by Lithuania in 1997, and by Poland and Russia in November 1999.
See also.
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Notes.
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References.
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Falster
Island in south-eastern Denmark
Falster () is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sound area, it is part of Region Zealand and is administered by Guldborgsund Municipality. Falster includes Denmark's southernmost point, Gedser Odde, near Gedser.
The largest town is Nykøbing Falster with over 40% of the island's inhabitants. Other towns include Stubbekøbing, Nørre Alslev and Gedser.
Falster has motor and railway links both to the larger island of Zealand to the north and to the island of Lolland to the south-west. These links also lead to the smaller islands of Masnedø and Farø. European route E47 links Copenhagen to Hamburg (Germany) via Falster.
History.
From medieval times until 1766, most of Falster belonged to the crown. King Valdemar's Census Book from c. 1231 lists all the parishes and most of the villages. Falster's two main towns, Nykøbing and Stubbekøbing, were both founded towards the end of the 12th century.
In medieval times, the island was marked by wars with the Wends in 1158 and with Lübeck in 1253. The census of 1509 includes only 90 of the 110 villages mentioned earlier. By contrast, it mentions 29 new settlements mainly along the coast.
In the 16th century, Falster had a number of farms which were owned by the local nobility but, from 1560 to 1630, they were slowly returned to the crown which once again owned the entire island. Therefore, Falster could therefore be used as the dowry for Frederick III's wife, Sophie Amalie but as a result of the high taxes which resulted, many of the farms were deserted.
Falster was managed as a crown estate from 1718 until 1766 when it was sold by auction and divided up into ten large farms, five of which were given large new fields. But as the fields had to be prepared through the serfdom of local peasants, this led to many disputes.
The villages were replaced by the community from 1778 to 1814, and gradually moved to freehold tenants, a process which was only completed in about 1860.
Falster experienced significant economic expansion after 1880 when, with the establishment of cooperative dairies and slaughterhouses, farming was concentrated on livestock production and forage crops. There was also an increase in the cultivation of sugar beet which was processed in factories at Nykøbing and Stubbekøbing between 1890 and 1914. Many seasonal workers, especially women, from Sweden and Poland came to help with harvesting the sugar beet and some of them stayed.
With the new railway from Orehoved to Nykøbing in 1872 and railway ferries to Masnedø (1884) and Warnemünde (1903), Falster slowly became a traffic hub. Its position was reinforced by the construction of the Storstrøm Bridge (1937) and Farø Bridges (1985).
Since 1975, Falster has been marked by high unemployment as a result of harder times for both farming and industry.
Towns and villages.
As of 2012[ [update]], populations were as follows:
Tourism.
With its marinas, sandy beaches and cycle tracks, Falster attracts tourists who wish to have relaxing holidays in unspoilt surroundings. One of the most popular resorts is Marielyst on the east coast.
Nykøbing offers a number of attractions including its old-town atmosphere with narrow streets. Of particular interest are the Middle Ages Centre, which is an open-air museum build as a part of a medieval town around year 1400 and the biggest attraction of the town. Among other attractions in Nykøbing are the Abbey Church ("Klosterkirke") which was built in the 15th century, a City Museum and a zoo.
Scattered around the island are several minor museum such as Danish Tractor Museum and Crocodile Zoo in Eskilstrup, a motorbike and radio Museum in Stubbekøbing and a geological museum in Gedser, which holds the world's largest polished garnet by the name of "Nordstjernen" (the Northern Star).
Transport.
Falster has a motorway and trunk roads linking its towns and villages.
Falster is connected to the larger island of Zealand to the north by the Farø Bridges (Farøbroerne) on European route E47 linking Copenhagen to Hamburg and the south. The Farø bridges join on the small island of Farø, and from there a further bridge gives access to the eastern neighbouring island of Møn. Falster is also connected to Zealand via the Storstrøm and Masnedsund bridges, via the island of Masnedø.
To the south-west, the E47 connects Falster to the island of Lolland via a tunnel under the Guldborgsund strait. There are two other bridges connecting to Lolland: the Guldborgsund Bridge at the northern end of the strait and the Frederick IX Bridge at Nykøbing Falster.
Nykøbing Falster's railway station is operated by Danish State Railways. There are regular passenger train services to Copenhagen via Ringsted. International trains operating between Copenhagen and Hamburg (via the train ferry between Rødby and Puttgarden) also call at the station. The company Lokaltog operates a rail service to Nakskov. The railway takes the Frederick IX bridge to Lolland and the Storstrøm and Masnedsund bridges to Zealand.
There are also frequent bus services linking Nykøbing with other towns and villages on the island as well as with destinations on Lolland, Møn and Zealand.
Notable residents.
People who were born, or have lived on Falster include:
References.
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Skanör med Falsterbo
Skanör med Falsterbo is a statistical locality (Swedish "tätort", locality code 3672), situated in Vellinge Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 6,937 inhabitants in 2010. It consists of the two old towns of Skanör and Falsterbo which have grown together and were unified in 1754, but are still regarded as different communities by locals. The preposition "med" means "with". Thanks to its southerly and maritime position, the locality is the mildest in Sweden, with winter lows barely averaging frosts.
Background.
It is a conurbation consisting of the two medieval towns of Skanör and Falsterbo. Both towns are located on the elongated reef-like western part of the Falsterbo Peninsula, ("Falsterbonäset"), Falsterbo to the south and Skanör to the north. The towns are separated by a several kilometers long bank built of earth and seaweed, and have never geographically been considered the same town.
The peninsula forms the southwesternmost tip of the Scandinavian Peninsula. It marks the border between the Baltic Sea and the Øresund, the sound that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania.
Geography.
The locality is situated south of the city of Malmö, 28 km from Skanör and 30 km from Falsterbo, based on the local distance signs along the motorway. During the 20th century the towns have become affluent suburbs for people working in the Malmö-Lund region, as well as a popular site among older people who have retired from higher positions abroad or in the capital.
The peninsula is divided by the Falsterbo Canal, a waterway at the base of the Falsterbo Peninsula that shortens the route between the Øresund and the Baltic Sea, which was built to avoid mines laid in Øresund during WWII. The canal goes between the bays Höllviken (north) and Kämpingebukten (south).
Climate.
The Swedish meteorological institute SMHI operates a weather station in Falsterbo. Like the rest of Scania, it has an oceanic climate (Cfb), but with greater maritime effects than in Malmö for example, due to its unsheltered position on the peninsula. It is also the southernmost official station in Sweden. This combination renders it have a January mean for 1961–1990 above freezing, a very unusual occurrence in Sweden. Falsterbo is often cooler than Malmö during the day and milder during the night due to the low diurnal temperature variation. The great maritime effects as well as the ice-free winters of the region contributes to both yearly heat and cold records being subdued by Swedish standards, however specific climate events have shrunk the temperature to and raised it to . In 2006, Falsterbo had an absolute December minimum of , exceptionally mild by Swedish standards. The precipitation normal value from 1961–1990 is , making it a very dry climate considering it being oceanic.
Due to the very marine nature, Falsterbo is the mildest weather station in Sweden, in spite of summer highs being far below surrounding areas. It also makes it sunnier than inland Lund, with 1902 hours of bright sunshine annually compared to the 1801 hours of Lund in the 2002–2016 period, this due to less convection build-up during spring and summer. Even being part of the Nordic mainland, Falsterbo also has a similar annual temperature to Carlisle in hypermaritime coastal England in spite of being slightly further north.
History.
Origin.
The origin of Skanör can be traced back to the end of the 12th century and Falsterbo is believed to have arisen shortly before. In around 1220 the Danish king built the Skanör fortress. S:ta Gertrud church in Falsterbo dates back to the 13th century, possibly the 12th.
Growth.
During the Late Middle Ages both towns grew in importance and wealth as during late summer and autumn the peninsula was an important centre of trade and herring fishing in the annual Scania Market ("Skånemarknaden"). The market was held on the beach stretch between Skanör and Falsterbo and was dominated by the north German Hanseatic cities, primarily Lübeck. The Danish king delegated specific areas along the beach to these cities, so called "fit" or "fed", where they had the right to carry out trade during the Scania Market. A large fishing village was located along the beaches of Øresund.
Soon thereafter a castle was raised in Falsterbo. In 1311 the castle was destroyed by the Hanseatic League (specifically the trade towns of Rostock, Wismar and Greifswald) in the war between these and the Danish king Erik Menved. After the war the king raised a new and larger castle in 1318 called Falsterbohus. The old castle in Skanör thus lost its importance thereafter. Olav IV of Norway, son of queen Margaret I of Denmark, died in 1387 in Falsterbohus.
After the herring population declined during the 16th century the Scania Market was dismantled and subsequently the two cities lost their former importance, but retained the town privileges, with joint administration.
Recent history.
The two medieval towns Skanör and Falsterbo were united economically under the same mayor in 1754. Even so, they have geographically never been considered the same town, and they did not grow into a contiguous settlement until the late 1960s.
Falsterbo and Skanör remained small fishing towns until the rail line from Malmö to Falsterbo via Vellinge was built in 1904. Between 1904 and 1971 Skanör and Falsterbo each had their own railway stations. New residential areas grew up along the railway. Due to its small size Skanör med Falsterbo was the last city in Sweden to get a City Council (1934), but it had its own jurisdiction and a City Court ("rådhusrätt") up until 1947. It is now a locality within Vellinge Municipality and has no administration of its own. The railway closed in 1971 and was dismantled the following year.
Skanör Cement factory.
During the first world war a track was laid to the new cement factory located in the Skanör harbour. There are rumours that the cement factory was used as a depot for military equipment in case the war reached Sweden. Others claim that the factory was built under German influence only to serve as a disguise for a giant artillery foundation and that the bricks in the walls were placed upright to save costs. The cannon together with its counterpart in Køge in Denmark had as a purpose to guard the Øresund. In any case the cement factory was dismantled a few years thereafter. Of the cement factory only the foundation still exists today.
Notability.
Falsterbo is known for the Falsterbo Bird Observatory, since most migratory birds leave the Scandinavian Peninsula via the 5 km long reef south of Falsterbo. The very same reef, and the fine sand beaches on the peninsula, offers some of the best sea bathing of Sweden.
Falsterbo also has an annual horse show (show jumping and dressage), the Falsterbo Horse Show. Skanör used to host the annual market, Skanörs sillamarknad.
References.
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Falsterbo
Town in Sweden
Falsterbo (, ) is a town located at the south-western tip of Sweden in Vellinge Municipality in Skåne. Falsterbo is situated in the southern part of the Falsterbo peninsula. It is part of Skanör med Falsterbo, one of Sweden's historical cities.
Climate.
"See Skanör med Falsterbo#Climate for more data."
History.
Falsterbo historically enjoyed trading privileges with the Hanseatic League. During the Middle Ages, it was a rich and prestigious town owing to its location in a center of trade and herring fishery. On the beach between Falsterbo and neighboring town Skanör was the Scania Market where merchants from various parts of Europe had fixed market places.
Scania Market was a major fish market which took place annually starting about 1200. The market became an important trade center on the Baltic Sea and remained so for 250 years; it was a major source of the Hanseatic League's wealth. The rich herring fishing around the Falsterbo Peninsula accounted for the market's popularity, but the market declined in importance during the 15th century when herring populations decreased. The cities were politically merged into a single city, Skanör med Falsterbo.
Local attractions.
Falsterbo is mostly known as a holiday destination where people go to spend their summer vacations. The beaches of Falsterbo are known for their white sand and family-friendly bathing opportunities. Falsterbo is also known for one of the better golf courses in Europe – Falsterbo Golf Club. Another attraction in Falsterbo is the annual International Horse Jumping Grand Prix (part of the Falsterbo Horse Show) every July.
Local landmarks include Falsterbo Lighthouse which lies on the site of the oldest known beacon in Scandinavia. Other sites of note include Falsterbo Bird Observatory, Falsterbo Museum and the historic Falsterbo church.
Falsterbo is also known for its Bird Observatory, which regularly undertakes bird ringing. The bird observatory has ringed over a million birds.
Sweden's oldest nature reserve, Måkläppen, an important breeding area for shorebirds and seals, is nearby.
Falsterbohus.
Falsterbohus was the name of a number of historic castles dating from the mid-13th century. The building now known as Falsterbohus was built in 1908. There have been a number of archaeological excavations where the original castles stood. The first was in the early 20th century by (1859–1939), founder of , the Cultural Museum of Southern Sweden located in Lund.
A second and more extensive excavation was conducted between 1934 and 1935 by Ragnar Blomqvist. Most of the artifacts from the earlier excavations are located in the Cultural Museum in Lund and Falsterbo Cultural Museum. Most of the archaeological finds from the second excavations are in Stockholm
References.
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Gulf of Finland
Arm of the Baltic Sea
The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg - the second largest city of Russia - to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn. The eastern parts of the gulf belong to Russia, and some of Russia's most important oil harbors are located there, including Primorsk. As the seaway to Saint Petersburg, the gulf is of considerable strategic importance to Russia. Some of the environmental problems affecting the Baltic Sea are at their most pronounced in the shallow gulf. Proposals for an undersea Helsinki–Tallinn Tunnel through the gulf have been made.
Geography.
The Gulf of Finland has an area of . The length (from the Hanko Peninsula to Saint Petersburg) is and the width varies from near the entrance to on the meridian of Moshchny Island; in the Neva Bay, it decreases to . The gulf is relatively shallow, with the depth decreasing from the entrance to the gulf to the continent. The sharpest change occurs near Narva-Jõesuu, which is why this place is called the Narva wall. The average depth is with the maximum of . The depth of the Neva Bay is less than ; therefore, in March 2019, a channel was dug at the bottom for safe navigation. Because of the large influx of fresh water from rivers, especially from the Neva River (two-thirds of the total runoff), the gulf water has very low salinity – between 0.2 and 0.3 ‰ at the surface and 0.3–0.5 ‰ near the bottom. The average water temperature is close to in winter; in summer, it is at the surface and at the bottom. Parts of the gulf can freeze from late November to late April; the freezing starts in the east and gradually proceeds to the west. Complete freezing usually occurs by late January, and it may not occur in mild winters.
Frequent strong western winds cause waves, surges of water and floods.
The northern coast of the gulf is high and winding, with abundant small bays and skerries, but only a few large bays (Vyborg) and peninsulas (Hanko and Porkkalanniemi). The coast is mostly sloping; there are abundant sandy dunes, with occasional pine trees. The southern shores are smooth and shallow, but along the entire coast runs a limestone escarpment, the Baltic Klint, with a height up to . In the east, the gulf ends with Neva Bay; in the west it merges with the Baltic Sea.
The gulf contains numerous banks, skerries and islands. The largest include Kotlin Island with the city of Kronstadt (population 42,800), Beryozovye Islands, Lisiy Island, Maly Vysotsky Island with the nearby city of Vysotsk (population 1706), Gogland (Suursaari), Moshtchny (Lavansaari), Bolshoy Tyuters (Tytärsaari), Sommers, Naissaar, Kimitoön, Kökar, Seskar (Seiskari), Pakri Islands and others.
Starting in 1700, Russia constructed nineteen artificial islands with fortresses in the gulf. They aimed to defend Russia from maritime attacks, especially in the context of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. Such fortresses include Fort Alexander, Krasnaya Gorka, Ino, Totleben and Kronshlot.
The largest rivers flowing into the gulf are the Neva (from the east), the Narva (from the south), and the Kymi (from the north). Keila, Pirita, Jägala, Kunda, Luga, Sista and Kovashi flow into the gulf from the south. From the north flow the Sestra River, Porvoo, Vantaa and several other small rivers. The Saimaa Canal connects the gulf with the Saimaa lake.
Extent.
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the western limit of the Gulf of Finland as a line running from Spithami (59°13'N), in Estonia, through the Estonian island of Osmussaar from SE to NW and on to the SW extremity of Hanko Peninsula (22°54'E) in Finland.
Geological history.
The modern depression can be traced to the incision of large rivers during the Cenozoic prior to the Quaternary glaciation. These rivers eroded the sedimentary strata above the Fennoscandian Shield. In particular the eroded material was made up of Ediacaran (Vendian) and Cambrian-aged claystone and sandstone. As erosion progressed, the rivers encountered harder layers of Ordovician-aged limestone, leading to the formation of the cliffs of Baltic Klint in northern Estonia and Ingria. Subsequently, the depression was somewhat reshaped by glacier activities. Its retreat formed the Littorina Sea, whose water level was some 7–9 metres higher than the present level of the Baltic Sea. Some 4,000 years ago the sea receded and shoals in the gulf have become its islands. Later uplifting of the Baltic Shield skewed the surface of the gulf; for this reason, its ancient northern shores are significantly higher than the southern ones.
Flora and fauna.
The climate in the area is humid continental climate, characterized by temperate to hot summers and cold, occasionally severe winters with regular precipitation. The vegetation is dominated by a mixture of coniferous and deciduous forests and treeless coastal meadows and cliffs. The major forest trees are pine, spruce, birch, willows, rowan, aspen, common and gray alder. In the far eastern part of the gulf vegetation of the marshy areas consists mainly of bulrush and reeds, as well as fully aquatic plants, such as white and yellow waterlilies and acute sedge. Aquatic plants in the shallow waters of the gulf include "Ruppia" and spiny naiad.
Fish species of the gulf include Atlantic salmon, viviparous eelpout, gobies, belica, loach, European chub, common minnow, silver bream, common dace, ruffe, Crucian carp, stickleback, European smelt, common rudd, brown trout, tench, pipefish, burbot, perch, gudgeon, lumpsucker, roach, lamprey, vendace, garfish, common whitefish, common bream, zander, orfe, northern pike, spined loach, sprat, Baltic herring, sabre carp, common bleak, European eel and Atlantic cod. Commercial fishing is carried out in spring and autumn. Grey seal and ringed seal are met in the gulf, but the latter is very rare.
History.
Many ancient sites were discovered on the shores of the gulf dated to up to 9000 years old. Humans began to inhabit these places soon after the ice age glaciers retreated and the water level of the Littorina Sea lowered to reveal the land. Remains of about 11 Neolithic settlements were found since 1905 in the mouth of the river Sestra River (Leningrad Oblast). They contain arrow tips and scrapers made of quartz, numerous food utensils and traces of fire camps – all indicative of hunting rather than agricultural or animal husbandry activities.
The gulf coast was later populated by Finnic peoples. Estonians inhabited the region of the modern Estonia, Votes were living on the south of the gulf and Izhorians to the south of Neva River. Korela tribes settled to the west of Lake Ladoga. They were engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting and fishing. From the 8th to the 13th century, the Gulf of Finland and Neva were parts of the waterway from Scandinavia to the Byzantine Empire.
From the 9th century, the eastern coast of the gulf was controlled by Veliky Novgorod and was called "Vodskaya Pyatina". As a result of the 1219, crusade and the Battle of Lindanise, northern Estonia became part of Denmark (Danish Estonia). In the 13th century, the city of