The Norrbotten archipelago ( sv, Norrbotten skärgård) is a group of Swedish islands in the north part of the
Bay of Bothnia. 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.
It is divided into the archipelagos of
Piteå
Piteå () is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326.
Geography
Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River ( sv, Piteälven), at th ...
(550 islands),
Luleå
Luleå ( , , locally ; smj, Luleju; fi, Luulaja) is a city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban core (2018) and is the seat of Lu ...
(1,312 islands),
Kalix (792 islands) and
Haparanda
Haparanda (; fi, Haaparanta, , aspen shore or bank) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda had a population of 4,856 in 2010, out of a municipal total of 10,2 ...
(652 islands).
The largest island is
Rånön in the Kalix archipelago.
Due to
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.
Climate
The archipelago is only south of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...
, so there is daylight for 24 hours in the summer, and full moon all day in the winter.
The waters around the archipelago are brackish, with less the 10% of the salt content of the Atlantic.
The sea freezes in January and remain frozen until March–April.
Gallery
File:Old fishing huts at Brändöskär.JPG, Old fishing huts at Brändöskär
File:Rödkallen.jpg, Rödkallen in winter
File:Seskaro bridge.jpg, The bridge to Seskarö
Seskarö (Finnish: ''Seittenkaari'') is a locality situated in Haparanda Municipality
Haparanda Municipality (), () is a municipality in Norrbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Haparanda ().
In 1967 the "City of Haparanda" w ...
See also
*
List of islands of Bothnian Bay
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Norrbotten archipelago
Swedish islands in the Baltic
Archipelagoes of Sweden
Landforms of Norrbotten County