Gotska Sandön (literally translated as "The Gotlandic Sand Island") is an uninhabited Swedish island north of Gotland 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 ...

. It has been a national park since 1909.

Geography

Gotska Sandön is situated north of

Fårö Fårö () or Fåre in Gutnish is a Baltic Sea island just north of the island of Gotland, itself off mainland Sweden's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own language ...

in the

. Legally a part of Gotland province, it is approximately long and wide, with a total area of approximately . The island is part of Fårö

socken Socken is the name used for a part of a county in Sweden. In Denmark similar areas are known as ''sogn'', in Norway ''sokn'' or ''sogn'' and in Finland ''pitäjä'' ''(socken)''. A socken is a country-side area that was formed around a church, ...

(not to be confused with

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

). It comprises the same area as the

administrative Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

Fårö District, established on 1January 2016. On the northwest tip of the island is a church, Gotska Sandön Chapel. , Gotska Sandön Chapel along with

Fårö Church Fårö Church ( sv, Fårö kyrka) is the main church on Fårö island in Sweden, in the Diocese of Visby. Parts of the church were built in the 14th century, but much of the building dates from reconstructions in the 18th and 19th centuries. Får� ...

belong to Fårö

in Norra Gotlands

pastorat The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swede ...

. During the summer, there are regular boat tours from

Island and

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid 19th Century, it was only with the opening of the ...

on the mainland.

Nature of Gotska Sandön

The island consists mostly of sand and is dominated by beaches, dunes and especially pine forests. Aside from a colony of

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or " ...

s, the higher

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

is not very rich. Terrestrial or aerial mammals include mountain hares and

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

s. However, the island is home to many rare insects and plants, including the Kashubian vetch and several species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

Climate

Despite its isolation from sizeable landmasses, Gotska Sandön's oceanic climate is warm for its latitude. The Scandinavian Peninsula to the west, Gotland to the south and the Baltic landmass to the east contribute to warmer summers and frequent winter frost, giving the island a far broader temperature range than, for example, the similarly isolated

Fair Isle Fair Isle (; sco, Fair Isle; non, Friðarey; gd, Fara) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. Th ...

, which lies one degree further north some distance off the coast of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. In spite of this range, summer highs are cool by the standards of southern Sweden, and winter nights are among the mildest in the country. Gotska Sandön has significant

seasonal lag Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum insolation (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the minim ...

: despite dwindling daylight hours, August is much warmer than June, while March days are both longer and colder than those in December.

Gallery

File:GotskaSandon SchipkaPass1.jpg, A track through the sand dunes, popularly called "Schipka Pass" File:GotskaSandon NorthEastCoast.jpg, The north-eastern coast

References

External links

Sweden's National Parks: Gotska Sandön National Park
from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
Gotska Sandön
(in Swedish)
Gotska Sandön National Park
(in Swedish)
Gotska Sandön National Park
(English)
Birds on Gotska Sandön
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotska Sandon Gotland Swedish islands in the Baltic National parks of Sweden Protected areas established in 1909 Islands of Gotland County Tourist attractions in Gotland County 1909 establishments in Sweden Geography of Gotland County Uninhabited islands of Sweden