Oskarshamn archipelago is a cluster of island and islets 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 fr ...

, located in the south-east of Sweden in

Oskarshamn Municipality Oskarshamn Municipality (''Oskarshamns kommun'') is a municipality in Kalmar County in south-eastern Sweden, where the city Oskarshamn is seat. The amalgamations in the present municipality took place in 1967 when three rural municipalities join ...

General description

The

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

extends roughly 55 kilometers in a north–south direction, with a chain of islands along the coastline of

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized ...

. The archipelago consists of approximately 5,500 islands and islets. Most of the islands consist of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

rock. The bedrock has been shaped and smoothed by the

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

at the end of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

, about 11,000 years ago. The largest island named Runnö is located in the south part of the archipelago. Other larger islands are Blå Jungfrun (national park),

Furö Furö is an island located in the Baltic Sea five nautical miles (about 6 miles) off the east coast of Oskarshamn in Sweden. History Historically the island has been used as base for fishing (mainly cod, herring and flounder). Today there ar ...

, Storö, Ekö and Vinö.

Boat travelling

There are tourist boats which cruise the waters of Oskarshamn archipelago. There are also five guest harbours for leisure boating, for example in

Oskarshamn Oskarshamn is a coastal city and the seat of Oskarshamn Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 17,258 inhabitants in 2010. History Etymology Döderhultsvik was the original name before a town charter was granted in 1856. The name was then ch ...

and in Figeholm as well as natural harbours on many of the islands.

Gallery

File:Oskarshamns skärgård.jpg, ''Island outside

''. File:Blå Jungfrun.jpg, '' Blå Jungfrun National Park''. File:Furon.JPG, ''

''. File:Gunnarso Oskarshamn.jpg, '' Gunnarsö'' File:Finnrevet.jpg, Lighthouse outside ''

n''. File:Storö Oskarshamn Sweden.jpg, Isle of ''Storö''. Archipelagoes of the Baltic Sea Archipelagoes of Sweden Tourist attractions in Kalmar County Landforms of Uppsala County {{Sweden-geo-stub