West Estonian archipelago
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West Estonian archipelago ( et, Lääne-Eesti saarestik, also Moonsund archipelago) is a group of Estonian islands located in the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
around
Väinameri The Väinameri (Estonian for ''Strait Sea'' or ''Sea of Straits'') or Väinameri Sea is a strait and sub-bay of the Baltic Sea, located between the West Estonian Archipelago and the Estonian mainland, within western Estonia. It is the northern se ...
. The total area is about . The archipelago is composed of the islands
Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...
,
Hiiumaa Hiiumaa (, ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within ...
,
Muhu Muhu (also called Muhumaa in Estonian), is an island in the West Estonian archipelago of the Baltic Sea. With an area of it is the third largest island belonging to Estonia, after Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Together with neighbouring smaller is ...
,
Vormsi Vormsi, also Ormsö ( sv, Ormsö, german: Worms) is the fourth-largest island of Estonia. It is located between Hiiumaa and the mainland and has a total area of . It is part of Vormsi Parish, a rural municipality. Etymology Ormsö in Swedish ...
and about 900 other smaller islands.


Protected areas

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
established the
West Estonian Archipelago Biosphere Reserve The West Estonian Archipelago Biosphere Reserve (established 1990) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Estonia, located in the West Estonian archipelago in the eastern Baltic Sea. The reserve comprises the islands of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Vormsi an ...
in 1990 under the
Man and the Biosphere Programme Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...
.


See also

*
List of islands of Estonia This is an ''incomplete'' list of islands of Estonia. There are 2355 islands in total. Largest islands Incomplete list See also *List of islands in the Baltic Sea *List of islands Notes References {{Authority control Estonia ...
*
Estonian Swedes The Estonian Swedes, or Estonia-Swedes ( sv, estlandssvenskar, colloquially ''aibofolke'', "island people"; et, eestirootslased), or "Coastal Swedes" ( et, rannarootslased) are a Swedish-speaking minority traditionally residing in the coastal ...


References


External links


The Väinameri Sea
Estonica ''Estonica'' is a comprehensive encyclopaedia on topics relating to Estonia, particularly the culture and history of Estonia. The project has been developed by Estonian Institute since 2000. It is sponsored by, among others, Tiigrihüpe. Mater ...
Archipelagoes of the Baltic Sea
In typography, a bullet or bullet point, , is a typographical symbol or glyph used to introduce items in a list. For example: *Point 1 *Point 2 *Point 3 The bullet symbol may take any of a variety of shapes, such as circular, square, diamo ...
Biosphere reserves of Estonia Gulf of Riga {{estonia-geo-stub