The Archipelago Sea (, ) is a part of the Baltic Sea between the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland and the Sea of Åland, within Finnish territorial waters. By some definitions it contains the largest archipelago in the world by the number of islands, estimated at around 50,000, although many of the islands are very small and tightly clustered.
The larger islands are inhabited and connected by ferries and bridges. Åland, including the largest islands of the region, forms an autonomous region within Finland. The rest of the islands are part of the region of Southwest Finland. The Archipelago Sea is a significant tourist destination.
The Guardians journalist Tristan Parker wrote an article praising the Turku Archipelago on July 29, 2021, mentioning that "nowhere has the gentle magic of the smaller islands – or their wildlife."
Geography and geology
The Archipelago Sea covers a roughly triangular area with the cities of Mariehamn, Uusikaupunki, and Hanko at the corners. The archipelago can be divided into inner and outer archipelagos, with the outer archipelago consisting mainly of smaller, uninhabited islands. The total surface area is , of which is land.
The archipelago has a very large number of islands. The exact number depends on the definition of the term "island", as the size of the patches of dry land in the area varies from small rocks peeking out of the water to large islands with several villages or even small towns. The number of the larger islands of over within the Archipelago Sea (in provinces of Åland Isles and Southwest Finland) is 257, whilst the number of smaller isles of over is about 17,700.Saarten ja vetten maa If the number of smallest uninhabitable rocks and skerries is accounted, 50,000 is probably a good estimate. In comparison, the number of islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago is 36,563. Indonesia has 17,508 islands, according to the Indonesian Naval Hydro-Oceanographic Office. The Philippines has 7,641 islands.
The islands began emerging from the sea shortly after the last ice age. Due to the post-glacial rebound the process is still going on, with new skerries and islands being slowly created and old ones enlarged or merged. The current rate of rebound is between 4 and 10 millimetres (¼" to ½") a year. Because the islands are made of mainly granite and gneiss, two very hard types of rock, erosion is significantly slower than rebound. However, due to its southern location, the effect of postglacial rebound is smaller than – for example – in Kvarken (Finnish: Merenkurkku) further north.
The sea area is shallow, with a mean depth of . Most of the channels are not navigable for large ships.
There are three crater-like formations in the archipelago. One of them, Lumparn in Åland, is a genuine impact crater. The two other formations are intrusions. The more prominent of these is the Åva Intrusion in the municipality of Brändö, which is visible in satellite photos and high-resolution maps. The other similar formation is in Fjälskär, between the main islands of Houtskär and Iniö.
Administration The islands are divided between the region of Southwest Finland and the autonomous region of Åland. The border between the regions runs roughly along Skiftet (Kihti in Finnish), a relatively open sea area. Together with the islands near the coast of Sweden the area forms a Euroregion. The main ports in the area are Turku on the continent, and Mariehamn on Åland.
Åland
The Åland region is autonomous and demilitarized. It has its own regional parliament and has Swedish as its sole official language. The regional parliament has power over wide-ranging matters, including health services, education, environment, and postal services. Monetary and foreign policy are handled by the Parliament of Finland. The president of Finland has, in theory, right to veto the laws passed by the Åland regional parliament.
Defence The eastern part of the archipelago is defended by the Archipelago Sea Naval Command, which has its main base in Turku. The defence is based largely on naval mines and coastal artillery. Both are effective in the archipelago, where the dense clusters of islands severely limit the manoeuvrability of invading vessels. The autonomous region of Åland is demilitarised. The Finnish Defence Forces are not allowed to enter the territory of Åland in peacetime (in times of war the FDF has the duty of defending Åland due to international treaties starting from the Åland crisis which resulted in Finland securing possession of the islands while becoming obliged to protect the islands' neutrality), and its residents are exempt from military service, although they can volunteer to serve in the army.
Municipalities
The archipelago is divided into 30 municipalities, grouped in the autonomous region of Åland and in the historical provinces of Varsinais-Suomi and Uusimaa. The municipalities in Åland tend to be quite small, with the municipality of Sottunga having only approximately 100 residents.Island municipalities in Varsinais-Suomi: Kimitoön (Dragsfjärd, Hitis, Kimito, Västanfjärd) Kustavi Pargas (Houtskär, Iniö, Korpo, Nagu)Coastal municipalities in Varsinais-Suomi which also include some islands: Kaarina (Kuusisto) Masku Naantali (Merimasku, Rymättylä, Velkua) Pyhäranta Salo (Angelniemi, Särkisalo) Sauvo (Karuna) Taivassalo Turku (Kakskerta, Ruissalo, Hirvensalo, Satava) Uusikaupunki (Lokalahti, Pyhämaa)Island municipalities in Åland: Brändö Eckerö Finström Föglö Geta Hammarland Jomala Kumlinge Kökar Lemland Lumparland Mariehamn Saltvik Sottunga Sund VårdöCoastal municipalities in Uusimaa which also include some islands:''' Hanko Raseborg (Bromarv)
The archipelago continues further to the east in Uusimaa, but Hanko is traditionally seen as a dividing point between the Archipelago Sea and the Gulf of Finland.
Demographics
The number of permanent residents on the islands is roughly 60,000, with 27,000 of them living in Åland. Also outside Åland most of the area has been more or less monolingually Swedish-speaking, now officially bilingual with a Swedish-speaking majority. The northern part of the area is monolingually Finnish-speaking.
Throughout its history the population of the Archipelago Sea has varied significantly. The population increased until the first half of the 16th century. After that the population went into decline as the carrying capacity of the environment was reached and wars and pestilence took their toll on the people. In the 19th century the population increased sharply as new, more efficient fishing methods were introduced. In the 20th century the population went into decline again, especially on smaller islands, due to rapid urbanization. Many smaller islands became completely uninhabited. During the recent decades increasing number of summer residences in the archipelago have revitalized some areas.History of the archipelago at the website of the Archipelago Sea National Park in Finnish
Many Finns have summer residences on the islands in the area, known for its natural beauty. Due to this the population of many islands can double or more during the summer. Although having a summer cottage in the archipelago is more common among the Swedish-speaking, the Swedish-speaking are a small minority on the mainland, and so most summer residents are Finnish-speaking, in contrast to the permanent residents. Kultaranta, the official summer residence of the president of Finland is on the island of Luonnonmaa in Naantali.
An anomalous feature in the demographics in the archipelago is the number of twins. The tendency for non-identical twin births is partly hereditary, and the necessary genes are prevalent in the archipelago. In the 18th and 19th centuries the proportion of twin births was greater than anywhere in Europe, and enormously higher than in continental Finland. The reason for this was fishing. Fish is an excellent source of protein and unsaturated fat. It was also available even when crops failed. Hence having twins maximizes lifetime reproductive success.
Economy and communications
The islands generally enjoy a high standard of living comparable to that of continental Finland. Fishing and fish processing are major industries. The archipelago is well known for its Baltic herring and rainbow trout products. Agriculture is limited by the small size and rocky nature of the islands. However, the climate is more favourable than in continental Finland and some islands, particularly Rymättylä, are famous in the nearby continental areas for producing the first new potatoes of the summer. The significance of tourism to the economy of the islands is constantly increasing.
The islands are linked by bridges and ferries, and in case of Åland, a small airport. The ferries are divided into two categories: "road ferries" (landsvägsfärja or simply färja in Swedish, lautta or lossi in Finnish) are free of charge and operate mostly on short routes between adjacent (large) islands. They are raft-like in construction and usually operated by the road administration. The small ones are cable ferries (kabelfärja in Swedish, lossi in Finnish), bigger ones do not use cables (and are called lautta in Finnish). The other ferries (förbindelsefartyg in Swedish, yhteysalus in Finnish) are more ship-like in construction, are operated by the maritime administration and may charge a small fee. They operate on longer routes covering several smaller or more distant islands. There are also large commercially operated cruiseferries connecting the Finnish cities of Turku and Helsinki to Åland and Sweden.
During cold winters official ice roads are established between some islands. It is also common to drive on ice to islands lacking official ice roads. This greatly eases transportation, as it makes it possible to simply drive a car (or even a heavy van if ice is very thick, usually every few years) from the continent to the islands. On the other hand, during spring and autumn there is a period of thaw (menföre in Swedish, kelirikko'' in Finnish) when the ice is too weak even for walking, but too thick for boating. This can leave some islands lacking a pier for large ships isolated for days or weeks. Access is only by hydrocopter, hovercraft or helicopter.
Many important shipping lanes cross the Archipelago Sea. Navigation is made hazardous by the labyrinthine archipelago, varying depth and numerous skerries. For this reason the islands are dotted with lighthouses of varying sizes and navigational marks. Maritime pilot services are maintained by the state.
Archipelago Ring Road The most inhabited islands in the eastern archipelago in Southwest Finland are connected by the Archipelago Ring Road. There are approximately of public roads and of waterways along the Ring Road. The city of Turku is usually considered the starting point of the road. The route goes through following municipalities, villages, islands and island groups:
There is also a shorter version of the route, the so-called "Small Ring Road", which utilizes a ferry connection between Rymättylä (part of Naantali) and Nagu, skipping numbers 4–11 in the list above. The length of the "Small Ring Road" is approximately .
The ring road is usually traveled by car or by bicycle. Most of the ferries along the road are free, but ferries between Houtskär and Iniö charge a small fee. It is possible to cover the Ring Road in one day by car, but usually travellers spend at least one night along the way. Approximately 20 000 tourist travel the Ring Road every year. The main tourist season is from June to August. The principal tourist attraction is scenery and nature along the way, but significant sights also include the Louhisaari manor and several medieval churches.
Culture