Replot () is an island in the

Kvarken Kvarken ( (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Sweden, Swedish mainland to the Mainland Finland, Finnish ...

("The Throat"), the narrowest part of the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...

in the northern part of 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 ...

. It has about 2,100 inhabitants, almost only Swedish-speaking. The size is about , one of the largest islands of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Replot was an independent

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

until 1973, when it was consolidated to the municipality of

Korsholm Korsholm (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Korsholm is situated in Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Korsholm is approximately , while the Va ...

, near

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ), Raippaluoto

The area has been inhabited since before the time of Swedish dominion over Finland; the first habitations can be traced to at least the 11th century and possibly earlier. Today there are four major communities on the island, Replot kyrkoby, Norra Vallgrund, Södra Vallgrund and Söderudden, most of which are served by their own elementary schools, although some closures have occurred in recent years. Since 1997, Replot has been connected to the mainland via the

Replot Bridge The Replot Bridge (; ) is a cable-stayed tuftform bridge connecting the island of Replot with the mainland in Korsholm, near Vaasa, Finland. It is long and the longest bridge of Finland. Two supporting pylons are both high. The bridge was i ...

, replacing the earlier ferry connection which had been in place since 1952. The bridge is the longest bridge ever built in Finland, with a length of . Replot is part of a larger archipelago and most of the smaller islands around Replot have traditionally been used as fishing camps. Today the buildings are generally used as summer cottages since maritime activities play a large part in the culture of the region. Fishing is nowadays mostly a recreational activity, but there are still a number of professional fishermen active in Replot.

North of Replot is the island of Björkö, which formerly belonged to the municipality of Björköby, which is also the name of its main village. A large part of the Replot archipelago has been designated a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

References

External links

– Site with tourist information for the Replot area

– Information about the archipelago area around Replot

– Live webcam of Replot bridge Former municipalities of Finland Finnish islands in the Baltic Korsholm Landforms of Ostrobothnia (administrative region) {{WesternFinland-geo-stub