The Piteå archipelago ( or ''Pite skärgård'') is a group of Swedish islands in the north part of the
Bay of Bothnia
The Bothnian Bay or Bay of Bothnia (; ) is the northernmost part of the Gulf of Bothnia, which is in turn the northern part of the Baltic Sea. The land holding the bay is Post-glacial rebound, still rising after the weight of ice-age glaciers ha ...
, at
Piteå
Piteå (; ) is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. Piteå is Sweden's 58th largest city, with a population of 23,326.
Geography
Piteå is located at the mouth of the Pite River (), at the shore of ...
in the southeast of
Norrbotten County
Norrbotten County (, Meänkieli/, ) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares borders with Västerbotten County to the southwest, the Gulf ...
. A few of the islands have small permanent populations, but most are used only for recreation in the summer months. They are icebound during the winter.
Location
The north of the bay of Bothnia contains a large archipelago area.
The islands in the Swedish sector make up the
Norrbotten archipelago
The Norrbotten archipelago () is a group of Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. A few of the islands have small permanent populations, but most are used only for recreation in the summer months. They are icebound during the win ...
.
It is divided into the archipelagos of Piteå (550 islands),
Luleå
Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...
(1,312 islands),
Kalix (792 islands) and
Haparanda
Haparanda (; Meänkieli and Finnish: ''Haaparanta'', ) is a locality and the seat of Haparanda Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda has a population of 9,166 inhabitants (2024).
Haparanda is ...
(652 islands).
Due to
post-glacial rebound
Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound an ...
the land is rising at from annually, so the shoreline can retreat by as much as in one person's lifetime.
As a result, the islands are growing in size and the waters and harbors are becoming shallower.
Climate
The archipelago is only south of the
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle.
The Arctic Circl ...
, so there is daylight for up to 24 hours in the summer, and moonshine may be visible all day in the winter.
The waters around the archipelago are brackish, with less the 10% of the salt content of the Atlantic.
The sea freezes in January and remain frozen until March–April.
Islands
Baggen is one of the larger islands, with an open-air chapel and rental cabins.
Fingermanholmen is almost in the center of Piteå, accessible by boat or kayak in summer, and by ski in winter.
Mellerstön has the only permanent residents of the archipelago.
Pite-Rönnskär, with a chapel and a lighthouse, is located across the county boundary, in
Västerbotten
Västerbotten (), sometimes called West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in northern Sweden, located by the Gulf of Bothnia. It borders the provinces of Ångermanland, Lapland and Norrbotten. The region is famous for Väs ...
.
Other islands include
Inre Mörögrund,
Mosesholmen,
Hällskäret,
Stenskär,
Stor-Räbben,
Svinöra and
Vargön.
Nature reserves
There are several nature reserves, including islands and large areas of water. The Bondöfjärden nature reserve is about to the southeast of Piteå town. Bondöfjärden (with Stenskär and other islands), Stor-Räbben and Vargön are state nature reserves, but Piteå Municipality owns the land and manages the reserves.
The former Patta Peken reserve, with
Pite-Kluntarna and other islands, is since 2018 part of the larger Kallfjärden reserve (which also includes some islands of the
Luleå archipelago
The Luleå archipelago ( or ''Lule skärgård'') is a group of Swedish islands in the north part of the Bay of Bothnia. They lie offshore from the city of Luleå and the mouth of the Lule River. A few of the islands have small permanent populatio ...
).
The Döman reserve is about south of Piteå town, covering the islands of Gråsjälen and Döman to the south of Jävre-Sandön.
See also
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List of islands of the Piteå archipelago
References
Citations
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitea archipelago
Swedish islands in the Baltic
Archipelagoes of Sweden
Landforms of Norrbotten County
Gulf of Bothnia
Piteå Municipality