Hara () is a small uninhabited island off the northern coast of

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 ...

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 11 hectares. The highest point of the island is 13 meters above the sea level.

History

Prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the island had a few families as permanent inhabitants and a small fish factory operated there. After the war, the small port facing the island on the mainland was taken over by the Soviet Navy and used as a naval training area. The island's inhabitants were removed and a Soviet

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

base was constructed with facilities to demagnetise the vessels' steel hulls. The Soviets departed in 1991; the base remains, derelict. Uninhabited islands of Estonia Kuusalu Parish Estonian islands in the Baltic {{Estonia-geo-stub