The Luleå archipelago ( sv, Luleå Skärgård or ''Lule Skärgård'') is a group of Swedish islands in the north part of the
Bay of Bothnia
The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers has been removed, and wit ...
. They lie offshore from the city of
Luleå and the mouth of the
Lule River
Lule River ( smj, Julevädno, sv, Lule älv, ''Luleälven'') is a major river in Sweden, rising in northern Sweden and flowing southeast for before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Luleå. It is the second longest river by watershed area or length ...
. A few of the islands have small permanent populations, but most are used only for recreation in the summer months. They are icebound during the winter.
Location
The north of the bay of Bothnia contains a large archipelago area.
The islands in the Swedish sector make up the
Norrbotten archipelago.
They are divided into the
Piteå, Luleå,
Kalix
Kalix ( sv, Kalix; Kalix dialect: ''Kôlis'', , phonemically ; fi, Kainuu; fit, Kainus) is a locality and the seat of the Kalix Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The name Kalix is believed to originate from the Sami word ''Gáláse ...
and
Haparanda archipelagos.
The Luleå archipelago lies in the
Luleå Municipality
Luleå Municipality () is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Luleå, which is also the county seat of Norrbotten County.
Localities
There are 18 localities (or urban areas) in Luleå Municipality:
...
, part of the
Norrbotten
Norrbotten (), known in English as North Bothnia, is a Swedish province (''landskap'') in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland.
Administration
The traditional provinces of Swe ...
county.
The port of Luleå is one of the largest in Sweden in terms of tonnage, shipping iron ore and steel.
There are more than 1,312 islands in the Luleå archipelago if small or very small rocky islets are included.
Many of the islands are uninhabited, in a natural state, and are quite small with little or nothing in the way of facilities for visitors.
Due to
post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...
the land is rising at from annually, so the shoreline can retreat by as much as in one person's lifetime.
As a result, the islands are growing in size but the waters and harbors are becoming shallower.
Because of this process in 1649 the entire city of Luleå was forced to move to its present location since the channel to its previous location had become too shallow.
The islands are unofficially divided into three zones for administrative purposes. The inner zone holds the islands of Brändön, Hertsölandet, Laxön, Likskäret, Rörbäck-Sandöskatan and Sandön. The middle zone holds the islands of Altappen, Bockön, Degerön, Fjuksön, Germandön, Hamnön, Hindersön, Junkön, Kallaxön, Lappön, Långön, Mannön, Nagelskäret, Sandskäret, Sigfridsön, Storbrändön, Stor-Furuön and Tistersöarna. The outer zone contains Bastaskäret, Brändöskäret, Båtön, Estersön, Finnskäret, Kluntarna, Mjoön, Norr-Espen, Rödkallen, Sandgrönnorna, Saxskäret, Smålsön, Småskär and Sör-Espen.
Climate
The archipelago is only south of the
Arctic Circle, so there is daylight for 24 hours in the summer, and full moon all day in the winter.
In the summer many of the islands can be reached by tour boat. In the winter they can be reached by ice road, snowmobile, skiing or skating.
The waters around the archipelago are brackish, with less than 10% of the salt content of the Atlantic.
The sea freezes in January and remain frozen until March–April.
Ice road
An ice road or ice bridge is a human-made structure that runs on a frozen water surface (a river, a lake or a sea water expanse).Masterson, D. and Løset, S., 2011, ISO 19906: Bearing capacity of ice and ice roads, Proceedings of the 21st Inte ...
s are cleared to four inhabited islands. In total there are of ice roads.
The longest ice road in Sweden at runs from Hindersöstallarna on the mainland to the islands of
Hindersön
Hindersön is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago.
Location
Hindersön is one of the largest of the islands in the Luleå Archipelago.
It is about east of central Luleå.
The island ...
,
Stor-Brändön
Stor-Brändön is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago.
Location
Stor-Brändön is one of the larger islands of the Luleå archipelago, with nine permanent residents as of 2013.
It is ...
, and
Långön.
Normally the road is open from January to April. Vehicle weight restrictions apply.
Environment
The Luleå archipelago was described by the Swedish bishop
Olaus Magnus
Olaus Magnus (October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic ecclesiastic.
Biography
Olaus Magnus (a Latin translation of his birth name Olof Månsson) was born in Linköping in October 1490. Like his elder ...
in 1555. He praised the fair islands, with constant daylight in the summer, well-covered in trees, bushes and grass, with warm but refreshing air, set in a sea that was rich in fish.
The islands are rich in wild berries including lingonberries, blueberries, raspberries, Arctic raspberries, cloudberries, wild strawberries and seabuckthorn.
They have a large and varied bird population.
The outer islands are considered more vulnerable, with more sensitive vegetation.
A number of islands are in whole or part included in the
Natura 2000 ecological network of the European Union, including sixteen nature reserves that cover of which is land.
There is one
biotope protected area.
There are eight bird sanctuaries covering of which is land.
These are off-limits to visitors during the months of May, June and July, when the birds are breeding.
Most of the protected nature reserves and bird sanctuaries are in the outer zone.
Economy
![Rödkallen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/R%C3%B6dkallen.jpg)
Some of the islands are inhabited or have seasonal fishing villages used by people from the mainland.
As of 1999 there were only 80 permanent residents of the islands, mostly old people who had lived there all their lives.
There was just one farmer and twelve commercial fishermen, all single men.
However, there may be a trend for second homes on
Sandön to be transformed into permanent homes.
In some winters,
Sami
Acronyms
* SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft
* Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company
* South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
reindeer herders from the
Lule River
Lule River ( smj, Julevädno, sv, Lule älv, ''Luleälven'') is a major river in Sweden, rising in northern Sweden and flowing southeast for before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Luleå. It is the second longest river by watershed area or length ...
valley bring their herds across the ice for grazing on the islands,
but only if required by weather conditions.
there were over 8,000 small boats in Luleå, or about one for every eight people,
letting the inhabitants of the city access the islands of the archipelago for recreation.
In the winter the larger islands may be accessed via ice roads.
The most popular islands for day-trippers are
Bastaskär,
Hindersön
Hindersön is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago.
Location
Hindersön is one of the largest of the islands in the Luleå Archipelago.
It is about east of central Luleå.
The island ...
,
Kluntarna
Kluntarna or ''Pite-Kluntarna'' is a Swedish island belonging to the Piteå archipelago in Norrbotten. The island lies on the eastern edge of the archipelago; to the east lies the Gulf of Bothnia
The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, ...
,
Rödkallen and
Sandön.
Some of the other larger islands include
Altappen,
Brändöskär
Brändöskär and Uddskär are two islands in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago, joined by an isthmus.
In the past there was a large summer fishing village around the bay between the two islands ...
,
Estersön,
Finnskär,
Germanön,
Hertsöland,
Junkön
Junkön is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago.
Location
Junkön is one of the larger of the islands offshore from Luleå.
It is said to be named after a Sami named Junker who grazed ...
,
Kallaxön,
Likskär,
Långön,
Rörbäck Sandöskatan,
Sandgrönnorna,
Smålsön,
Småskär,
Stor-Brändön
Stor-Brändön is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago.
Location
Stor-Brändön is one of the larger islands of the Luleå archipelago, with nine permanent residents as of 2013.
It is ...
and
Uddskär.
the islands attracted less than 500 tourists annually.
Visitor activities include water sports and hunting in the summer and ice-fishing, skiing and snowmobiling in the winter.
In the summer there is little rain, and the temperate water and sandy beaches are attractive to visitors.
The Luleå municipality is committed to developing tourism and recreation in such a way that there is no damage to the environment or to the values of the local society.
Tourists are encouraged to visit the inner zone islands, while the ecologically more sensitive outer zone is deliberately made less accessible.
The municipality maintains navigation marks, hostels, cabins, saunas and barbecue spots, and local entrepreneurs provide other facilities for visitors.
Gallery
File:Old fishing huts at Brändöskär.JPG, Old fishing huts at Brändöskär
Brändöskär and Uddskär are two islands in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago, joined by an isthmus.
In the past there was a large summer fishing village around the bay between the two islands ...
File:Stor-brandon.jpg, Boats and boathouses at Stor-Brändön
Stor-Brändön is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Luleå archipelago.
Location
Stor-Brändön is one of the larger islands of the Luleå archipelago, with nine permanent residents as of 2013.
It is ...
around 1935
File:Brändö-Uddskär Chapel, Norrbotten, Sweden.jpg, Old chapel on Brändöskär c. 1900
File:Old fishing huts at Brändöskär today used for recreation.JPG, Old fishing huts at Brändöskär today used for recreation
See also
*
List of islands of the Luleå archipelago
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lulea archipelago
Swedish islands in the Baltic
Archipelagoes of Sweden
Landforms of Norrbotten County