The archipelago of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs skärgård) comprises northern and southern

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 ...

es. The southern archipelago is part of

Gothenburg municipality Gothenburg Municipality (''Göteborgs kommun'' or ''Göteborgs stad'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Gothenburg. When the first Swedish local government acts were implement ...

located in the province of

Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Väs ...

while the northern archipelago is

Öckerö municipality Öckerö Municipality (''Öckerö kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Öckerö on the main island, which is also called Öckerö. The municipality consists of islands in t ...

, located in the province of

Bohuslän Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...

. Trafikverket has ferries from Lilla Varholmen to the northern archipelago. Some of the islands are interconnected by bridges. Southern archipelago ferries go from Saltholmen, plus a freight ferry from Fiskebäck.

Northern archipelago

The main islands of the northern Gothenburg

are: * Björkö *

Fotö Fotö is an island and a Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 620 inhabitants in 2010. It is connected to the island of Hönö with bridge. References

Populated places in V� ...

* Grötö *

Hyppeln Hyppeln is a Swedish island in the archipelago of Gothenburg, part of Öckerö Municipality Öckerö Municipality (''Öckerö kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Öckerö ...

* Hälsö *

Hönö Hönö is a locality situated in Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Swede ...

Kalvsund Kalvsund is a urban areas of Sweden, locality situated in Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 221 inhabitants in 2010. References

Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Öckerö Munic ...

Källö-Knippla Källö-Knippla () is an island and a locality in Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most p ...

Rörö Rörö is a locality situated in Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the King ...

Öckerö Öckerö () is an island and a locality and the seat of Öckerö Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3,488 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The following sports clubs are located in Öckerö: * Öckerö IF Öckerö IF is a Swedish f ...

Southern archipelago

The southern Gothenburg archipelago lies off the coast of

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden's second-largest city. It has 5,000 permanent and another 6,000 summer residents. The

is completely car free. Transportations is carried out by means of cycles, delivery mopeds, electric cars and ferries. In the Norse sagas, it was called Elfarsker (the river islets), as the river Göta älv had its estuary there. The islands appear to have been famous as a location for holmgangar during the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

. Sagas where the location appears: * Örvar-Odds saga * Bósa saga ok Herrauðs * Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar''Hið íslenzka Biblíufélag:'' «Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar»
''(

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

)'' One of the islands,

Brännö Brännö is an island in the Southern Göteborg Archipelago and a locality situated in Göteborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 708 inhabitants in 2010 and belongs to the parish of Styrsö within Gothenburg Municipality. H ...

, is described as an important location for fairs in the '' Laxdæla saga'', and it is also considered to be the likely location of

Breca Breca (sometimes spelled Breoca or Brecca) was a Bronding who, according to the Anglo-Saxon poem ''Beowulf'', was Beowulf's childhood friend. Breca defeated Beowulf in what, by consensus, is described as a ''swimming'' match. While dining, Unferth ...

and the

Brondings The Brondings were a Germanic tribe. They and Breca the Bronding are mentioned in ''Beowulf'' (Th. 1047; B. 521.), as Beowulf's childhood friend, and in ''Widsith'' (Scóp Th. 51; Wíd. 25.), where Breca is the lord of the Brondings. They were proba ...

of the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

poems ''

Widsith "Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...

'' and ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

''. *Köpstadsö is often called Kössö. It is a small island with narrow footpaths. Not even mopeds are allowed here. The name of the island implies trading. * Styrsö: during the 1830s the Öberg family established a guesthouse there. This was the start of a bathing resort, which expanded rapidly with the start of steamboats in 1867. * Donsö is an important fishing and ship-owning community. The harbour is the center of the island. It is surrounded by 20th century fishing facilities. *

Vargö Vargö is a small island, one of the westmost in the Southern Göteborg Archipelago The archipelago of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs skärgård) comprises northern and southern archipelagoes. The southern archipelago is part of Gothenburg municipal ...

has been a nature reserve since 1986. The varied sea landscape offers a diversity of flora. It is a good place to see

razorbill The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis impe ...

s, woodland birds,

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

s and eiders. * Vrångö is the southernmost inhabited island with a small town centre and a hiking route round both the north and south of the island.

References

External links

Southern Gothenburg Archipelago

The Gothenburg Archipelago
Göteborg & Co {{Gothenburg Car-free zones in Europe

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 ...

Landforms of Västra Götaland County Archipelagoes of the North Sea Islands on the Swedish West Coast

Northern archipelago

Southern archipelago

See also

References

External links