, image_name = , image_caption = , image_size = , map_image = Pakri location map.svg , map_caption = , native_name = Pakri saared , native_name_link = , sobriquet = , location =

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 ...

, coordinates = , archipelago = , total_islands = , major_islands = Väike-Pakri, Suur-Pakri , area_km2 = 24.7 , area_footnotes =
12.9 and 11.6 km² , rank = , length_km = , width_km = , coastline_km = 42 , coastline_footnotes =
18.7 and 23.3 km , highest_mount = , elevation_m = 17 , country = Estonia , country_admin_divisions_title = County , country_admin_divisions =

Harju County Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the sout ...

, country_admin_divisions_title_1 =

Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, country_admin_divisions_1 =

Lääne-Harju Parish Lääne-Harju Parish ( et, Lääne-Harju vald) is a rural municipality in northern Estonia. It is a part of Harju County. The municipality has a population of 12,865 (as of 1 January 2019) and covers an area of 645.71 km². The population de ...

, population = 6 , population_as_of = 2009 , density_km2 = , ethnic_groups = , additional_info = Pakri Islands ( et, Pakri saared, sv, Rågöarna, german: Groß Pakri) are two

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and ...

n islands in the Finnish Gulf: Suur-Pakri and Väike-Pakri ( sv, Stora Rågö and ). Administratively they belong to the town of

Paldiski Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri Peninsula of northwestern Estonia. Since 2017, it's the administrative centre of Lääne-Harju Parish of Harju County. Previously a village of Estonia-Swedes known by the historical ...

. For centuries the islands had been inhabited by

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 ...

, until during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the entire population was forced to leave.

Etymology

The Swedish name of the islands ''Rågöarna'' means ''Rye Islands'' - historically

rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

was the primary crop grown on the island. Thus ''Stora Rågö'' and ''Lilla Rågö'' mean ''Big Rye Island'' and ''Small Rye Island'', respectively. Alternative names for the two islands are ''Västra Rågö''/''Västerö'' and ''Östra Rågö''/''Österö'' (''West Island'' and ''East Island''). In terms of area Väike-Pakri (''Lesser Pakri'') is actually somewhat larger than Suur-Pakri (''Greater Pakri''). The reason for this contradiction is probably that Suur-Pakri had more inhabitants and better farming lands and was reckoned as more important.

Geography

The islands lie a few kilometers off the Estonian coast. Väike-Pakri lies 3 km west of

, separated from it by Paldiski (Pakri) Bay ( sv, Rågövik), over 20 m deep. The shallow 3 km wide Kurkse strait separates the islands from the mainland in south. The area of Väike-Pakri, the eastern island, is 12.9 km², Suur-Pakri covers 11.6 km² (8th and 9th largest islands in Estonia). Väike-Pakri is also higher than Suur-Pakri (17 m and 8 m, respectively). Both islands are about 6 km long (in southeast–northwest direction) and 2-2.5 km wide. A few

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

s are situated in the 1-1.5 km wide and shallow (2–4 m deep) strait between the two islands. In 1952, an embankment connecting the two islands over some of the islets was built by the

Soviet army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. A

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms when ...

cliff borders the northern coast of both islands and also the eastern coast of Väike-Pakri. Part of the

Baltic Klint The Baltic Klint (Clint, Glint; et, Balti klint, sv, Baltiska klinten, russian: Балтийско-Ладожский уступ, Глинт) is an erosional limestone escarpment and cuesta on several islands of the Baltic Sea, in Estonia, in ...

, it rises up to 4 m on Suur-Pakri and up to 13 m on Väike-Pakri. Both islands are essentially part of a larger limestone plateau in Northern Estonia.

Villages

Before the Second World War the two islands had 5 villages, three on Suur-Pakri and two on Väike-Pakri. Suur-Pakri *Storbyn ( et, Suurküla) (100 inhabitants in 1935) *Strandbyn or Åsbyn ( et, Rannaküla) (59) *Bisagidbyn ( et, Lepiku küla) (38) Väike-Pakri *Storbyn ( et, Suurküla) (88) *Lillbyn ( et, Väikeküla) (72) File:Required Suur küla (Storbyn), Suur Pakrisaar (Stora Rågö) SLS 443 11 - 1934.jpg, alt=, Suurküla (Storby) on Suur-Pakri in 1934 File:Suur küla (Storbyn), Suur Pakrisaar (Stora Rågö) SLS 443 9 - 1934.jpg, alt=, Suurküla (Storby) on Suur-Pakri in 1934 File:Ranna küla (Åsbyn), Suur Pakrisaar (Stora Rågö) SLS 443 12 - 1934.jpg, alt=, Ranna küla (Åsbyn) on Suur-Pakri in 1934 File:Irjas och Mickels och Oskit kvarnar, Rågöarna 1932 SLS 451 19.jpg, alt=, Windmills on Pakri Islands in 1932

History

When the people started to live in the islands, is unknown. In 1345, five Swedish families bought the western island from Padise monastery. According to the 1934 Estonian census, the islands had 354 inhabitants, all of them

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countri ...

except for 13

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. There were 5 villages, a total of 119 households, a small folk museum (opened in 1935, closed in 1940) and both islands had their own church and school. Following the signing of

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , long_name = Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H27337, Moskau, Stalin und Ribbentrop im Kreml.jpg , image_width = 200 , caption = Stalin and Ribbentrop shaking ...

and the subsequent action of the Soviet Union (see Soviet ultimatums in 1939), in 1940 all the islanders were forced to leave - the islands were designated as a military base for the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. Most of Pakri Swedes left for

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 ...

before 1944, during the German occupation of Estonia. After the

Väike-Pakri had a few inhabitants until 1965. During the

Soviet Era The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

, until 1992, the islands were used as a

proving ground A proving ground (US) is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. ...

for aerial bombardment by

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

countries. After control of the islands was returned to Estonia in 1994, the main aim became to clear the area of unexploded bombs. Thousands of explosive devices were destroyed and the work was mostly completed by 1997. During the land reform following the restoration of independence in Estonia some of the land was returned to its pre-war owners. The northern parts of the islands and the southern part of Väike-Pakri were incorporated to Pakri Landscape Conservation Area, created in 1998 to protect the limestone cliffs,

alvar An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie ...

s and rare species. In 2004, the islands got their first permanent inhabitant over decades, when a person born there during the Second World War returned to rebuild his parents' farm. At the end of 2009 the islands had 6 permanent inhabitants.

Climate

References

External links

The Pakri Islands' Development Foundation
{{Authority control Estonian islands in the Baltic Landforms of Harju County Gulf of Finland