Björkö (Korsholm)

Björkö is an island in Korsholm municipality, Finland. It is situated in the Kvarken area of the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast (West ...

. The chief settlement is called Björköby. In addition to the main island, the Björkö area includes 350

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland * Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh * Skerry, County Antrim, a ...

and its total area is 72 km². In 1973, the Björköby municipality merged to Korsholm. During the Swedish reign over Finland, the island was notable for being a post transport base in the archipelago on the Finnish side. Mail was ferried by the inhabitants of Björkö to the islands of Holmöarna, Sweden. They got reductions in taxes and exemption from military service for this (strategic) service. Ferry services to the regional capital Vaasa began in 1907 and in 1954, a causeway was built to the major island of the archipelago, Replot, which was connected to the mainland by a car ferry. In 1997, the

Replot bridge The Replot Bridge ( sv, Replotbron; fi, Raippaluodon silta) is a cable-stayed tuftform bridge connecting the island of Replot with the mainland in Korsholm, near Vaasa, Finland. It is long and the longest bridge of Finland. Two supporting pylon ...

finally connected also Björkö to the mainland by road. Finnish islands in the Baltic Korsholm Landforms of Ostrobothnia (region) {{WesternFinland-geo-stub