Lilla Värtan () or simply Värtan is a

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Separating mainland Stockholm from the island and municipality

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

, it stretches from

Blockhusudden Blockhusudden is the eastern tip of the island of Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. This place takes its name from "blockhus" meaning a strong, fortification, and "udden" meaning the point, the cape. Blockhusudden is bordered to the north and east ...

in the south to Stora Värtan in the north, and is joined by the

Stocksundet Stocksundet is a strait in Stockholm County in Sweden. It connects the Edsviken sea inlet, to the west, with the Lilla Värtan strait and eventually the Baltic Sea, to the east. The strait also forms the border between the suburb of Stocksund in ...

mid-way. Two bridges, collectively called

Lidingöbron Lidingöbron () is the name of two existing and three historical bridges across the strait of Lilla Värtan between the mainland Norra Djurgården at Ropsten, at the eastern part of Stockholm, and the island of Lidingö. History First pontoon ...

("Lidingö Bridge") stretch over the strait. While most of the coasts surrounding the strait are occupied by industries and the ferry terminals and oil tanks in the harbour area of

Värtahamnen Värtahamnen is a port in Stockholm, Sweden. Värtahamnen and the adjacent Stockholm Free Port at Lilla Värtan is Stockholm's main port. Värtahamnen primarily serves passenger ferries for the shipping company Silja Line as well as freighters f ...

, natural beaches are found in both the southern and the northern end of the strait and the strait forms part of the

Royal National City Park The Royal National City Park () is a national urban park, established by the Swedish Parliament in 1995, and located in the municipalities of Stockholm, Solna and Lidingö in Sweden. 1/ km²2/ Population per km² Gallery Some places in th ...

. Most common fish species are Baltic

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales ...

, and

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

. Stationary predator fishes, e.g.

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

and

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

, are exposed to raised levels of mercury. The area is considered an important wintering location for several birds species, including

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

Eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

common pochard The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina''), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in the steppe regions of Scandinavia and Si ...

tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

black-headed gull The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters fu ...

lesser black-backed gull The lesser black-backed gull (''Larus fuscus'') is a large gull that breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa. However, it has increased dramatically in North America, especi ...

gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown th ...

, and

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...

. The strait constitutes an important locale, especially ice-free winters, besides the lake

Isbladskärret Isbladskärret is a small lake on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. The lake is much appreciated among bird-watchers, and, being part of the Royal National City Park, also carefully monitored by several organizations, including ...

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

. Vegetation on the shore lines of Lilla Värtan includes

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

purple loosestrife ''Lythrum salicaria'' or purple loosestrifeFlora of NW Europe''Lythrum salicaria'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Pr ...

common valerian Valerian (''Valeriana officinalis'', Caprifoliaceae) is a perennial flowering plant native to Eurasia. It produces a catnip-like response in cats. Crude extracts of valerian root may have sedative and anxiolytic effects; however, the clinical ...

yellow loosestrife Yellow loosestrife is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Lysimachia'' and may refer to: * ''Lysimachia'' × ''commixta'', native to eastern North America *'' Lysimachia punctata'' *''Lysimachia vulgaris ''Lysimachia vulgaris'', th ...

reed canary-grass ''Phalaris arundinacea'', or reed canary grass, is a tall, perennial bunchgrass that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, northern ...

tall fescue ''Lolium arundinaceum'', commonly known as tall fescue, is a cool-season, perennial C3 grass species native to Europe and introduced to North America and other parts of the world. It naturally occurs in grasslands and coastal marshes.Texas Park ...

, lesser periwinkle, and giant knotweed. Levels of

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...

and

organic waste Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, ana ...

are high in the bottom silt and nutrient levels high in the water. The level of

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

was 29 μg/L in 2005.

References

Geography of Stockholm Straits of Sweden {{Stockholm-geo-stub

See also

References