Södertörn is a roughly triangular

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on al ...

and

artificial island An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those tha ...

in eastern

Södermanland Södermanland ( or ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latin form ''Sudermannia'' or ''Sudermania'', is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västman ...

, Sweden, which is bordered by: *Lake Mälaren and the inlet of

Saltsjön Saltsjön is a bay of the Baltic Sea that extends from Stockholm archipelago to the inner city of Stockholm. Its innermost part reaches the eastern shore of Gamla stan at Skeppsbrokajen. It is navigable for large craft and the major ferry lines ...

(a part of 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 ...

) to the north, *The

(the Stockholm Archipelago) to the east and the south, * Himmerfjärden and Hallsfjärden (parts of the Baltic Sea) to the west as well as *The

Södertälje Canal The Södertälje Canal ( sv, Södertälje kanal) is a canal connecting the lake Mälaren with the Baltic Sea, at the city of Södertälje. It is 5.2 km long, and it has one lock. The size of this lock is the largest in Scandinavia by all ...

to the northwest. The Södertälje Canal is man-made, so the area isn't fully separated from the mainland by nature. The area is classified as an island by

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( sv, Statistiska centralbyrån ; SCB) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsibi ...

, making it the third largest island in Sweden. Since 2005, the whole of Södertörn has been included in

Metropolitan Stockholm Sweden has three metropolitan areas consisting of the areas surrounding the three largest cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. The statistics have been retrieved from Statistics Sweden and the statistics released on 10 November 2014. The o ...

. Before that, the southern parts of the island, which lie within

Nynäshamn Municipality Nynäshamn Municipality (''Nynäshamns kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Nynäshamn. In 1974 the former ''City of Nynäshamn'' (itself instituted in 1946) was merged with ...

, and the western parts, which are in

Södertälje Municipality Södertälje Municipality (''Södertälje kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Södertälje. It borders to Lake Mälaren in the north and the Baltic Sea in the south, and with ...

, were – although in

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stoc ...

– not included in the metropolitan area. The northern areas of Södertörn are to a large extent made up of rift-valley countryside (and urban areas) with high ground which is either pine forest or bare. The long valleys of the south become level ground. The waters surrounding the area are either freshwater or brackish water with poor salinity. The bedrock is almost entirely

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

. The highest point on Södertörn is Tornberget in

Haninge Haninge Municipality (''Haninge kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Handen, a part of the Stockholm urban area. Haninge Municipality was formed in 1971 when ''Västerhaninge'' and ''Öst ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

. It is located in Hanveden, a large area of largely coniferous forest south of Stockholm, whose eastern areas partially form the

Tyresta National Park Tyresta National Park ( sv, Tyresta nationalpark) is a national park with a surrounding nature reserve in Sweden, located in Haninge and Tyresö municipalities in Stockholm County. Geography About from central Stockholm are the Tyresta Nati ...

. The southernmost parts of Södertörn were connected to Stockholm in 1901, when the

Nynäs Line The Nynäs Line ( sv, Nynäsbanan) is a long railway line between Älvsjö and Nynäshamn in Sweden. The line is electrified and is double track on the section from Älvsjö to Västerhaninge. The line is used by the Stockholm Commuter Rail ...

was opened. The railway runs between

Nynäshamn Nynäshamn is a locality and the seat of Nynäshamn Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 13,510 inhabitants in 2010. While interest in the area as a potentially useful port grew from the mid 19th Century, it was only with the opening of th ...

in the south and

Älvsjö Älvsjö () is a district of the city of Stockholm Municipality in Sweden, located in the borough Älvsjö in Söderort. It has the biggest rentable facility in northern Europe called Stockholm International Fairs Stockholm International Fai ...

in the north, where it joins with the main southern railway.

Etymology

Its name (''á'' ..''Taurinum'' in 1225, ''Tør'' in 1283, ''a Tørinne'' in 1383 and eventually ‘‘Södertörn’’ since 1645) derives from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

dialect word ''tor'', meaning "broken rocky beaches", which cut deep into the coast of Södertörn.

Municipalities of Södertörn

Botkyrka Botkyrka Municipality ( ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba. In 1971 ''Grödinge'' was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 ''Salem'' was adde ...

Huddinge Huddinge Municipality ( sv, Huddinge kommun) is a municipality in Stockholm County, east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Huddinge (), which is a part of Stockholm urban area. The municipality is, with its approximately 110,000 inhabitants, ...

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area The Stockholm urban area ( sv, Stockholms tätort) is the largest and most populous of the statistical localities or urban areas in Sweden. It has no adminis ...

(west of Skurusundet) *

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

* Stockholm (the

Söderort Söderort (literally "the southern place", sometimes translated to ''South Stockholm'') is the southern suburban part of the Stockholm Municipality, Sweden. It is also part of the city of Stockholm. Geography Söderort is located in the nort ...

, southern, part) *

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in ...

(east of the Södertälje Canal) * Tyresö These municipalities are located both in

and the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodertorn Geography of Stockholm County Geography of Södermanland Peninsulas of Sweden

Etymology

Municipalities of Södertörn

See also

References