Kataja is an islet south of

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 ...

in Norrbotten. It is the easternmost point of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and it is part of the

Haparanda archipelago The Haparanda archipelago ( sv, Haparanda skärgård) is a group of 792 Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. The islands are used for recreation in the summer months. They are icebound during the winter. Location The north of ...

. The islet has an area of . It is about long and wide. The name "Kataja" is Finnish for

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

. The island is divided between Sweden and Finland. The border was established in 1809 between two islands, a larger Swedish one called Kataja and a smaller Finnish one called Inakari. In the years since then post-glacial rebound has caused the land in the region to rise relative to sea level, joining the two islands. The border now crosses the southeastern part of the combined island, and is marked by two national cairns. Kataja's beaches are mostly boulders with some sand. The eastern peninsula is covered in deciduous trees such as

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus ''Sorbus'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the rose family, Rosaceae. Species of ''Sorbus'' (''s.l.'') are commonly known as whitebeam, r ...

, alder and willow, while the remainder is covered by coniferous trees.

References

Citations Sources * {{refend Extreme points of Sweden Swedish islands in the Baltic Finnish islands in the Baltic Uninhabited islands of Sweden Uninhabited islands of Finland Islands of Norrbotten County International islands Finland–Sweden border Landforms of Lapland (Finland)

See also

References