The West Estonian archipelago (, also Moonsund archipelago) is a group of Estonian islands located in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

around

Väinameri The Väinameri (Estonian language, Estonian for ''Strait Sea'' or ''Sea of Straits''; ) or Väinameri Sea is a strait and sub-bay of the Baltic Sea, located between the West Estonian Archipelago and the Estonian mainland, within western Estonia. ...

. The total area is about . The archipelago is composed of the islands

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

Hiiumaa Hiiumaa ( , ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within ...

Muhu Muhu (also called Muhumaa in Estonian) is an island in the West Estonian archipelago of the Baltic Sea. With an area of , it is the third largest island belonging to Estonia, after Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Together with neighbouring smaller i ...

Vormsi Vormsi () is the fourth-largest island of Estonia, measuring and a registered population of around 400. It is located in the Baltic Sea, northwest of the mainland and east of Hiiumaa island, and is part of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsu ...

and about 900 other smaller islands.Eesti entsüklopeedia. ''Lääne-Eesti saarestik.''
Retrieved 27 January 2023 The archipelago is separated from the Estonian mainland by the Väinameri Sea.

Protected areas

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

established the

West Estonian Archipelago Biosphere Reserve The West Estonian Archipelago Biosphere Reserve (established 1990) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Estonia, located in the West Estonian archipelago in the eastern Baltic Sea. The reserve comprises the islands of Saaremaa, Hiiumaa, Vormsi and ...

in 1990 under the

Man and the Biosphere Programme Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments. MAB engages w ...

References

External links

The Väinameri Sea

Estonica ''Estonica'' is a comprehensive encyclopaedia on topics relating to Estonia, particularly the culture and history of Estonia. The project has been developed by Estonian Institute since 2000. It is sponsored by, among others, Tiigrihüpe. Materi ...

Archipelagoes of the Baltic Sea

• In typography, a bullet or bullet point, , is a typographical symbol or glyph used to introduce items in a list. For example: * Monica * Erica * Rita * Tina * Sandra * Mary * Jessica The bullet symbol may take any of a variety of shapes, s ...

Biosphere reserves of Estonia Gulf of Riga {{estonia-geo-stub

Protected areas

See also

References

External links