Aksi (also known as Väike-Prangli (Little Prangli) or Äksi) ( sv, Lilla Wrangelsö) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...

with an area of 59 hectares. Coordinates are It forms an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

with nearby islands of

Prangli Prangli ( sv, Vrangö) is an Estonian island in the Gulf of Finland. The first records are from 1387 when it was called ''Rango''. The first settlers came from Sweden. The Estonian culture spread to the island in the 17th century. Prangli is ...

and Keri. Aksi belongs to Idaotsa village in

Viimsi Parish Viimsi Parish ( et, Viimsi vald) is a rural municipality in Northern Estonia, located North-East and neighbouring the capital Tallinn. It occupies an area of with a population of 20 580 (). The municipality contains the Viimsi Peninsula and sev ...

Harju County Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the sou ...

. Aksi is a part of the Prangli Landscape Conservation Area. The island's northern end is stony, its southern end is sandy and covered with

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

s and

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

es. Aksi was inhabited from 1790 to 1953, when the last inhabitants were forced to leave by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

border guard. Many had fled already in 1944, mainly to Sweden. The family that lived there was Aksberg. There is a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

which was built in 1986.

External links

Aksi lighthouse - official statistics and info from Estonian Maritime Administration
Islands of Estonia Viimsi Parish {{Harju-geo-stub

See also

External links