The Piteå archipelago ( sv, Piteå skärgård or ''Pite 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 ...
, at
Piteå in the southeast of
Norrbotten County. 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 (550 islands),
Luleå (1,312 islands),
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 ...
(792 islands) and
Haparanda (652 islands).
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 and the waters and harbors are becoming shallower.
Climate
The archipelago is only south of the
Arctic Circle, so there is daylight for up to 24 hours in the summer, and moonshine may be visible 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.
Islands
Baggen
Baggen is an island in the northwest of the Swedish sector of the Bay of Bothnia, in the Piteå archipelago.
Location
Baggen is about from Renöhamn.
The island can be reached by boat from Piteå in 10 to 25 minutes depending on weather condi ...
is one of the larger islands, with an open-air chapel and rental cabins.
Fingermanholmen is almost in the center of Piteå, accessible by boat or kayak in summer, and by ski in winter.
Mellerstön has the only permanent residents of the archipelago.
Pite-Rönnskär, with a chapel and a lighthouse, is located across the county boundary, in
Västerbotten
Västerbotten (), known in English as West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in the north of Sweden, bordering Ångermanland, Lapland, North Bothnia, and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is known for the cheese named after the p ...
.
Other islands include
Inre Mörögrund,
Mosesholmen,
Hällskäret,
Stenskär,
Stor-Räbben,
Svinöra and
Vargön
Vargön is a locality situated in Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 4,919 inhabitants in 2010. Vargön is noted for Vargön Alloys
Vargön is a locality situated in Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland Coun ...
.
Nature reserves
There are several nature reserves, including islands and large areas of water. The Bondöfjärden nature reserve is about to the southeast of Piteå town. Bondöfjärden (with Stenskär and other islands), Stor-Räbben and Vargön are state nature reserves, but Piteå Municipality owns the land and manages the reserves.
The former Patta Peken reserve, with
Pite-Kluntarna and other islands, is since 2018 part of the larger Kallfjärden reserve (which also includes some islands of the
Luleå archipelago).
The Döman reserve is about south of Piteå town, covering the islands of Gråsjälen and Döman to the south of Jävre-Sandön.
See also
*
List of islands of the Piteå archipelago
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitea archipelago
Swedish islands in the Baltic
Archipelagoes of Sweden
Landforms of Norrbotten County